Opposition Leader Says Best Defense Against COVID-19 is Social Distancing

John Briceño

Opposition Leader John Briceño co-chairs the COVID-19 Task Force. Briceño today released a pre-recorded video message, addressing the challenging times that Belize and the population will be plunged into. As the health systems in first world nations collapse due to COVID-19, Belize is standing firm. The nation’s experts are working around the clock to contain the spread of the virus and safety measures have been put in place to prevent an outbreak. Briceño says that the best practice right now is social distancing.

John Briceño, Leader of the Opposition

“Because to date there is no vaccine or pill, no known cure, drastic measures had to be taken. These measures were necessary and based on advice from our experts. For now, what we know is that the best defense we have is if we all practice social distancing and we all practice good personal hygiene.   Yes some of the measures announced by the government are hard, they not only force us to stay at home and to keep away from people we love, they are keeping our children out of school and it is limiting our ability to go to the market, to go to church, to visit a sick relative and even to comfort our friends in times of grief.   It is not easy but as I said before, we must do all these things to protect each other, it’s ironic isn’t it, in essence we are doing all this out of love. Now I know these are tough measures, not only on families, but also on businesses. Many businesses, especially small businesses are not earning any income.  Some business owners have been forced to lay off workers and they now join the thousands in the tourism and services sector who are trying to figure out how they will meet their expenses. The farmers who toil the rich Belizean soil are also seriously affected by this dark economic reality.”