29 days without a positive COVID test - Belize is one of only 12 countries in the world with that distinction. And, if you look at the trends in this region, everyone's curve is going up, while ours has flattened.
Panama, for example has 8,616 cases with 249 deaths, while Guatemala has 1,114 cases with 26 deaths.
But, right now, Belize has zero active cases, and of course, two deaths.
While the deaths are truly sad, overall, we have fared off much better than our neighbours and the rest of the world.
And, yesterday the Director of Health Services told us that's because, from early on, Belize activated a Phase 3 level response, while we were still only in phase one:
Dr. Marvin Manzanero, Director of Health Service
"The fact that we moved unto almost a complete lockdown as if we had ongoing community transmission, because what happened in Belize is, mechanisms we had set in place if we had had ongoing community transmission - we did not have that, but we took measures in that regard, drastic as they may seem. But, I think they worked."
Jules Vasquez
"And is there any part of life that should be back to normal?"
Dr. Marvin Manzanero
"I don't want to call the normal, because I think we need to establish a new normal. We need to be able to start changing our behaviour as we move along. So, I don't know that at day 28 it becomes a recess period until it becomes a new wave. I think what this should allow us to understand it, we have been successful in containing Wave , as we move along and before another case wave starts to come about, we need to start digesting and internalising personal prevention measures, family prevention measures, community prevention measures, employer prevention measures, because we will have to start living under a new norm."
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