Containing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Belize

Abstract Objective: To demonstrate how Belize, a small country in Central America with limited resources, contained the spread of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19).Methods:Information was gathered from official press releases from the Government of Belize. Statistics were accessed from the Ministry of Health’s website. Additional information was acquired from internet searches on Pubmed and the World Health Organization.Results:Total Cases: 18; Male to female ratio: 1:1; Deaths: 2; Total Tests Done: 1,128; Percentage of positive tests: 1.59%, New cases per day since first case to plateau: 0.812.Conclusion: Early intervention on a national level was key to preventing importation of cases and subsequent community transmission. Limiting the conglomeration of people, curfews, closures of school and universities, government-mandated social distancing, and extensive contact tracing may have mitigated the exponential spread of COVID-19. Mandatory mask-wearing in public may have helped to prevent spread between asymptomatic carriers to susceptible individuals. A low population density may have also contributed to containing the virus.