ComPol Williams Takes to the Street for Face Mask Enforcement
The use of face masks is an effective way to reduce the spread of the coronavirus especially in public spaces. As you know, it is mandatory to use face and nose coverings; and if you don’t, you can be fined. But not everyone is using them properly. So today, the top brass of the police was out on the streets, to police the use of face coverings. Here is News Five’s Isani Cayetano with a report.
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
Enforcing the mandatory use of face masks in public settings has been a serious challenge for the Belize Police Department. To prevent the spread of COVID-19, it is compulsory for everyone to wear protective face covering as a simple barrier to avoid respiratory droplets from traveling into the air and onto other people when someone wearing a mask sneezes or coughs. This afternoon, Commissioner of Police Chester Williams and several other officers drove through the streets of Belize City and what they observed leaves a lot to be desired.
Chester Williams
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“We saw where moving around the city, we saw a number of persons not wearing masks and a number of those who are wearing masks, they are not wearing it properly. In other words, the mask is either below the nose or under the chin which is not the proper way and it is really and truly frustrating because we try our utmost best to educate the public as to the importance of wearing the mask, as well as how to wear the mask properly.”
COVID-19 spreads mainly among people who are in proximity of each other, within six feet, therefore the use of masks is particularly important in places where people are close to each other or where there is congestion and social distancing is difficult to maintain.
Chester Williams
“Despite the educational campaign that we have embarked on, we are still seeing that for some reason or the other people are not getting the message. As I said before, it is frustrating for us because we all know that we are in a pandemic and as we have been guided by the Ministry of Health that the best defense against the COVID virus is the wearing of masks and proper hand sanitization and these sorts of things. And if it is that we as a society are not listening or not taking heed to the protocols and warnings being issued to us then we are surely in a bad position.”
And, from the look of things, we are indeed in a precarious situation, taking into account the steady increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in the past week.
Chester Williams
“I have given strict instructions that we are not going to give any break to anybody who is found not wearing a face mask or not wearing their mask properly. I think that we have surpassed the stage of warning and if it is that we are going to constantly be warning, warning, warning then nobody is going to take us seriously and enforcement is very, very key to ensure that we put a stop to the further spread of this virus. If it is that we who are supposed to enforce are too lax in enforcement then we are giving the virus that vehicle that it needs to spread more widely among us.”
COVID-19 can be transmitted by persons who do not have symptoms and do not know that they are infected, hence the importance for everyone to wear a mask in public and practice social distancing. Reporting for News Five, I am Isani Cayetano.
