Belize at Breaking Point; New COVID-19 Restrictions to be Announced
Francis Fonseca
It has been confirmed – Prime Minister John Briceño will be addressing the nation shortly to announce new restrictions that will take effect soon. Word to News Five is that among the measures to be implemented are an extension of curfew hours and further restriction of movement. Unconfirmed reports that have been circulating on social media are that gyms, casinos and other establishment will be closed down for at least two weeks in an effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19. But again, these are not confirmed. At news time tonight, the number of active cases is at one thousand four hundred and seventy-four and there are three hundred and eighty-five COVID-related deaths. Today, Education Minister Francis Fonseca, without pre-empting the PM’s announcement, confirmed that Belize is at its breaking point and the new measures are to send a strong message to the Belizean people.
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education & Culture
“The Prime Minister will be announcing later today some more restrictions so we will hear those later today. But we hope that after these two weeks, just in time – that’s why we did it for these two weeks; that just in time for October fourth, we can then get back into the classroom in a safe and responsible way.”
Duane Moody
“Let’s talk about some of those measures that will be put in place.”
Francis Fonseca
“I don’t want to pre-empt anything that will be said, the Prime Minister will address the nation tonight so he will deal with that. But I think the message that we want to send, the very clear strong message that we want to send to the nation is that we are at a breaking point and whether or not we go over the cliff depends on the actions of the Belizean people. We all have a responsibility to each other; we have a responsibility to our healthcare system to our healthcare workers who are on the frontline of this fight against COVID [and] they are at breaking point. So we have a special duty and obligation as citizens of this country to recognize that, to acknowledge that, and to do our part. And the best thing that we can do, the only thing that we can do right now that will help us to get beyond this COVID crisis is to get vaccinated.”
