Belize City Mayor Back on the Job after Bout with COVID

Bernard Wagner

Belize City Mayor Bernard Wagner was back on the job today after days of being in isolation for his COVID infection. The mayor told News Five that he tested negative for the virus on Monday, exactly fourteen days after he had tested positive.  Mayor Wagner was one of eight people at City Hall who have now tested positive for the virus, with more test results on other staffers still pending. The entire third floor at City Hall remains closed and some of its staff are in isolation while others are working remotely.  The mayor shared that prior to getting infected, he had only taken the first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, and he spent the better part of two weeks battling the effects of the virus. 

Bernard Wagner, Belize City Mayor

“I’m telling you, in some instances, I would have AC off, I would have fan off and I would still be covering with a quilt, still shaking. That da one ah the main ones I suffered from, the chills. I had a dry cough as well. I feel painy all over in your ribcage, and it feels like someone beat you with a baseball bat in your back. Sometimes in the night you would just get striking pains like in your joints, in your knees, in your elbows.  I was fortunate to have been able to get the first shot. I got the first shot ending of June and was supposed to get the second shot ending of August. I believe that may have to be delayed now. I will have to speak to my doctor on that.  At least I got that first shot. I could imagine facing the virus without not even having the first shot. It would have been, I believe, really rough. I’m being very proactive in ensuring that we have put in place the necessary measures to ensure safety and to mitigate against the spread of the virus within City Hall and within all departments that work for the city.”

Meanwhile, we’ve learned that a staffer in the Prime Minister’s office has tested positive for COVID. The PM’s office confirmed however that everyone has taken rapid tests and that all persons, except for that one individual, are not infected. Out of an abundance of caution, however, we’re told that everyone from that office has gone into quarantine until the results of the PCR tests are in.