Test! Test! Test!

Test! Test! Test! That is what international bodies such as the Pan American Health Organization and the World Health Organization are advising countries to do to effectively respond to COVID-19 since a number of persons are asymptomatic. In Belize, close to one thousand tests have been carried out and Director of Health Services, Doctor Marvin Manzanero says that after discussion with the Central Health Region, a listing of frontline persons was compiled to increase random testing in the coming days.

Marvin Manzanero

Dr. Marvin Manzanero, Director of Health Services

“In discussion with Central Health Region which deals with the Belize District I can tell you that there have been random testing that has happened at banking facilities so elements of that has happened. Some policemen, some BDF have been randomly screen. It is important for us to say that. We have also developed a listing of potential frontline workers that we can go and do random swabbing or random testing. Understand that we are not going to be testing everybody but in our listing we have people from elderly home, caregivers, coast guards, immigrations, customs, healthcare works even if they are not ill which includes nurses, doctors, pharmacists, lab technicians, bus operators, water taxi operators, tour guides. So what we are doing it developing a listing to look at number of persons in these different category and then we will do a random sampling.  Also as we are getting less people that are tied to the last cases understand that we are not going to be testing every day. Why? Because we are going to be swabbing people across the country and if you don’t have anybody that is critically ill, remember we are looking for people who are asymptomatic, we are trying to tease out asymptomatic carriers then you won’t necessarily have to rush these samples to Belize City and run them through. So we may be moving towards doing testing every two days. The lab has confirmed that they would be in a capacity to run ninety tests daily at least for the next couple of weeks to determine what our potential number is out there.   We are looking at other testing possibility.. Eventually looking at the possibility for testing for anti-bodies but we don’t have an approved test as yet. That will not replace the current test procedure which is PCR testing.”