44 Active Cases in B.D.F.
The B.D.F. has at least forty-four active COVID cases. This, as the Belize District continues to have the highest transmissibility rate. While generally isolated and locked off, there are reports of cases at BATSUB and Price Barracks. News Five’s Duane Moody investigated the situation today.
Duane Moody, Reporting
Reports have been rolling in to News Five that a number of personnel at BATSUB as well as soldiers stationed at the B.D.F. Headquarters at Price Barracks have tested positive for COVID-19.
Melissa Diaz-Musa
Dr. Melissa Diaz Musa, Deputy Regional Health Manager, Central Health Region
“We tend to get a lot of concerns from many different areas so it is not to only signal out B.D.F. or BATSUB. I know B.D.F. has their own medical force. They have their doctors and nurses at the B.D.F. so we might not be getting some of their concerns. That might go directly to the health team there.”
The concerns were that enough is not being done to contain its spread. But as we found out today, there are currently forty-four known active cases at Price Barracks.
Rogelio Ramirez
Major Rogelio Ramirez, Acting Chief of Staff, B.D.F.
“We have some soldiers that have tested positive; the numbers are forty-four as of this morning and that is what the force medical officer confirmed before we went into this interview. The soldiers when they get their time off normally go home. But I need to emphasize that when we speak to the soldiers and officers in our regular morning briefs, that is one of the main things that we harp on and the commander harps on – that we need to maintain our social distance, we need to abide to the S.I. that the government issues. So we are always encouraging our soldiers to go ahead and listen and abide by all of the S.I.s and inclusively, I want to categorically mention that when our soldiers come in and they have any symptoms we ask them to get tested as quickly as possible. We have that capability here at Price Barracks. Our technicians are readily available and whosoever is not feeling well and they want to know their status, then they are encouraged to do so. So that is one of the things that we always encourage our soldiers to do; to ensure that they know their status and if they are going home to ensure that when they do go home, they remain at home and come out when it is necessary.”
So what happens if a soldier tests positive? Acting Chief of Staff Major Rogelio Ramirez breaks down the protocols in place.
Major Rogelio Ramirez
“Once the soldier tests positive, then he has to go on quarantine. We have two options: have then quarantine here at Price Barracks or if that is not the case, take them home to quarantine at home. If that is the case, we would know that they came from home and went straight to get tested because we wouldn’t want the family of this particular soldier to give them the COVID. So if they came from home and they come to the medic center because they weren’t feeling well and test positive, then we would allow them to quarantine at home. But if that is not the case, then we want to ensure that the soldiers remain here at Price Barracks so that they are quarantined here and they can go through the days that is given to them to quarantine.”
Duane Moody for News Five.
