KHMH Struggles Amid Dengue Outbreak  

There’s growing concern tonight as dengue cases continue to spike across Belize District. The Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital says it’s seeing three times the usual number of patients, and the emergency unit is feeling the pressure. Most of the cases are coming from the Belize District, and with the rainy season in full swing, health officials are urging everyone to take extra precautions. Today, we asked Health Minister Kevin Bernard what the government is doing to get ahead of the outbreak before it spirals out of control.

 

Kevin Bernard, Minister of Health & Wellness

“I must confess that there has been an outbreak of dengue in the Belize District. I know a few weeks ago when I was reformed through my director of public health that we’ll have to scale up spraying in the Belize District. Immediately we sourced the required malathion that was, that is needed for the spring. We had to hire temporary workers immediately. I think we have, we got about eight temporary workers to go in to assist the vector team in Belize district so that we could get screen done. I know we are also putting out ads. We are also doing house to house campaigns and to ensure that people are aware that dengue can be protected. I mean, catching dengue can be protected. You have encourage people to get rid of containers with pooling water, tires, and all the old things in their yard. But at the same time, the ministry is doing its best to ensure that we could keep on spraying the, in the Belize district area. Unfortunately you know we have had an increase of stays in the hospital at KHMH because of Dengue. And we’re hoping that it doesn’t lead to more serious issues. I must also mention before I do, I figure that’s one question that there is a case of a female teacher down south who passed away. And initially her test result was that she was positive for Dengue. But we are also ascertaining other, because that’s the reason why the team at KHMH has requested an autopsy, which I understand is going to be done this week to ensure that we could really verify whether or not the person died because of the complication of dengue or if were there any other serious other complications may have caused her death.”