Johnny B Says Reopen the Economy, but Be Very Careful

John Briceño

Since the beginning of the week, there has been an ease on restrictions of the state of emergency and the businesses are reopening except for places such as casinos, gyms and restaurants.  Briceño, a businessman himself, sees the need to spur economic activity, but says it has to be measured to prevent the re-emergence of the coronavirus.

John Briceño, Leader of the Opposition

“We can’t let the medicine be worse than the sickness. We can’t forever be locked up so we have to start to open up the economy. We have to start to allow people to go back to work because the government obviously they are broke so they can’t give you anything. So these are steps that we have to take. What is important is that we do them carefully. What is important is that we constantly remind Belizeans that we are not free yet; we just have to be very careful. We have to ensure that we are not crossing into Mexico or to a lesser extent Guatemala where the virus has not even spike yet, is still going up, because you are putting in jeopardy not only yourself or your family, but the entire country. So it is necessary, we have to do it. I think we have been blessed that we only have eighteen cases and we managed to contain it quick enough. So we have to open up, but we have to be very careful and conscious about what we are doing and we can’t let down our guards.”