Monkeypox Outbreak is a Concern for Local Hotel Industry

Tonight, Belize remains free of any confirmed cases of monkeypox. But, the Belize Hotel Association is asking the Ministry of Health and Wellness to get ahead of a possible spread in Belize. Reynaldo Malik, the President of B.H.A., spoke with reporters this morning at an event in Belize City about the industry’s concerns as it relates to the global monkeypox outbreak. Malik says the outbreak is a bit more concerning to the industry than the COVID-19 pandemic because of its various modes of transmission. He believes the right time to get ahead of the outbreak is while Belize remains free of any confirmed cases.

Reynado Malik

Reynado Malik, President, B.H.A.

“It seems like the hits just keep on coming. For the time being it seems like, I don’t want to see at the mercy of, but it seems the information coming to us is a little limited. So, we have been doing our own little research, learning the basics of it. Off the top of my head, I would say this is a little bit scarier than COVID, believe it or not. Just because with COVID we could wear a mask, social distance etc. It is said the most common way it spreads is just basically off the surfaces. So it is a little bit scarier, because how are we not going to touch surfaces through our routines. But, one of the things that encourages me is that it is not an unknown, it really been around for a while. So, there are treatments and vaccines out there for it. Hopefully we will take something like this much more serious than we did with COVID in the early days, and get the necessary program, whether it is through the Ministry of Health and incorporation with the Ministry of Tourism, any business, whether tourism, or any business, we take this very seriously, and whatever guidelines they come up, anytime soon, I hope we start to exercise those guidelines.”