San Pedro Still on Lockdown
Marvin Manzanero
Director of Health Services, Dr. Marvin Manzanero, reported earlier today that as many as one hundred and three tests have been conducted across the country to detect the presence of the novel corona virus. Of those tests, only three have since returned positive. The most recent case involves a Belize City man who is recovering. He came from New York via Atlanta. Manzanero also provided an update on the state of affairs in San Pedro which has been under a state of emergency since last Monday. According to the DHS, several persons were allowed to leave the island over the weekend, but another imminent lockdown will allow the Ministry of Health to get a better handle on the situation on Ambergris Caye.
Dr. Marvin Manzanero, Director of Health Services
“We are continuing to swab patients and we are going to continue to now expand our testing across the country in terms of doing random testing for potential cases in the community. To date, we have done a hundred and three tests now. Three of those are the cases you all know as positive. Indeed, what the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition have said in terms of procuring items, up to date we have spent, I know initially we had talked about a budget of nine hundred thousand dollars but that’s gone through the roof now and I think we need to stress the support we have gotten in that regard. I know that some people came off the island Friday, Saturday and Sunday, people who were ill and got trapped, if you will, on the island. Those were pre-screened by Dr. Canul and his team in San Pedro. I’m aware of people traveling, U.S. citizens that were on the island and a flight that came to pick them up on Saturday and took them out. That flight went directly to the airport and they left country on Saturday. When we were asked, we said at least can we keep that lockdown, if you will, for the next fourteen days to see what other else would happen. Some of the tests that were screened on Sunday were from San Pedro, they were negative. So I think by the end of this week, in terms of the health situation, we should have a better understanding to see if anyone else is developing signs or symptoms of those initially mapped on the list. I think after this weekend, contingent on the state of emergency now being declared here, we should have a better grasp in terms of the health situation.”
