BREAKING: 79 new cases detected as new variants are identified

By BBN Staff: The Ministry of Health and Wellness is reporting that 79 new cases of COVID-19 were detected today across the country. Forty-four were detected in males and 35 were in females.

Forty-one of the new cases were detected in the Belize district with Belize City alone responsible for 31 of those cases. The Cayo district was second with 19 cases, 5 of which were in San Ignacio, 2 in Belmopan and the rest were in the surrounding villages and Benque Viejo del Carmen. The Stann Creek district had 8 new cases, Orange Walk – 7, Toledo – 2, and Corozal – 1.

A total of 994 persons were tested, giving a case positivity rate of 7.95%.

Breaking Belize News (BBN) reported earlier today that the Ministry had confirmed four (4) new variants had been detected in Belize. Samples of 81 persons were tested by Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, U.S.A., and 20 were positive for variants of concern (VOC) while the other 61 are most likely the “classic” form of the virus.

Among those positive with a variant of the virus, nine (9) were found with the Delta variant originally found in India; five (5) for the Alpha V1 or English variant; three (3) for the Gamma or Japanese/Brazilian variant; and three (3) for the Epsilon or California variant which is only of interest, not a concern as cited by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the U.S.

The four (4) variants identified so far are from residents of the Corozal, Orange Walk, Belize, and Cayo districts.

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