It was circulating on social media today, and now it is confirmed: there will be lots of vacancies opening up at the nation’s main referral hospital—four in upper management. News five has confirmed positions will be advertised for Chief Executive Officer, a post formerly held by Michelle Cox Hoare; the position of Human Resource Manager […]
As many as thirty-five nurses, the majority of whom are from the Republic of the Philippines, have resigned from the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. They are either returning to their home country after years of service to Belize or pursuing a career in healthcare elsewhere. Over the past week, six nurses have resigned from the […]
After Minister of Health, Michel Chebat confirmed that nurses are leaving the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, the Nurses Association of Belize responded. They say they find the Minister’s position to be disrespectful to local nurses. According to the President of the Association, Darrell Spencer, there is no shortage of Belizean nurses, what there is a […]
We also asked President Spencer if he thinks nurses are leaving the country to serve elsewhere because of better compensation. He says this is not true, and they also feel non-Belizean nurses get better treatment overall. Darrell Spencer, President, Nurses Association “That is a narrative and a talking point created by I don’t know […]
Finally, from the Nurses Association, President Spencer says nurses need clarification on the issue of overtime under the new reduced hours for public officers. Darrell Spencer, President, Nurses Association of Belize “So the Government has said they are going to do a ten percent cut. That is done. They also said that they are […]
UNICEF Belize has donated refrigerators for COVID-19 vaccination storage to the Ministry of Health and Wellness. The handing over at the National Vaccine Building in Belmopan includes fourteen refrigerators that will be used for the cold storage chain in the districts. According to UNICEF, the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the most vulnerable groups, while […]
While health officials in Belize have been trying to encourage reluctant citizens to go for their COVID-19 vaccinations, the situation in Trinidad was just the opposite this week. Due to the state of emergency in that country caused by so many cases of COVID-19, thousands of people turned out for their free jab. This put […]
The Belize Red Cross is working with seven communities through a climate change and disaster resiliency preparedness project. As a part of the project, they are carrying out a number of workshops with to train first responders to recognize violence in shelters, as well as how to make those spaces more gender friendly and safe […]
On Monday, we told you about a COVID-19 cluster identified in Santa Cruz village in the Stann Creek District. Well apparently this is not the only area of concern. This morning the Minister of Health and Wellness Michel Chebat appeared on Open Your Eyes this morning to give an update on several other communities. He […]
While an account of how many children have been infected so far could not be shared, the spread of the virus in schools is an eventuality that the country was attempting to avoid. Two weeks ago, several schools in Belize City and up north had to close down after positive cases of COVID-19 were identified. […]
Those additional cases have pushed the country over the hundred mark once again. For weeks now, the number of active cases has been low, despite several clusters popping up here and there in schools and at the Princess Casino. But with an additional thirty-eight new cases identified over the weekend, the country now has one […]
Before we get to additional details about the COVID-19 situation in the country, the Minister of Health and Wellness also confirmed that about twenty-five to thirty nurses from the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital are leaving the institution to pursue opportunities outside of the country. Minister Chebat says that millions of dollars have been invested in […]
The Minister of Health and Wellness has once again made an appeal for teachers to get inoculated. Currently about forty-seven percent of the teaching population has received a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. There is also a campaign to get more Belizeans vaccinated, while working with the business community and opening up phase-four of […]
Later this week, a third shipment of Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine is expected to arrive in country through the COVAX facility. But the Ministry of Health and Wellness is also in the process of acquiring the Johnson and Johnson vaccine. As it relates to the Pfizer and the Moderna vaccines, there is need for cold storage […]
Tonight, residents of Santa Cruz Village are on edge after a cluster of twenty-one positive COVID-19 cases has been identified in their community. According to a release from the Ministry of Health, the virus was first discovered in a staffer at the Santa Cruz Primary School on the third of June. Health officials then proceeded […]
Prime Minister John Briceño also weighed in on the reopening of the borders to visitors only. As you’ll recall, there was some opposition, primarily from doctors. But today, PM Briceño said it is all about achieving balance between safety and jobs. Prime Minister John Briceño “We have to balance as to how and where […]
As schools plan for their September reopening and others are already in phased reopening, there is a need for supplies to keep the children and staff COVID-free. Today, there was a donation of much needed materials and News Five was there. Isani Cayetano, Reporting A hundred and fifty-seven sanitization stands, along with ninety-eight gallons […]
It is a birth defect that affects more than two hundred thousand children each year, and on Thursday, countries across the globe recognized World Clubfoot Day. It is a day set aside to celebrate partners who have been working to heal children. In Belize, the World Pediatric Project has an established programme to provide preventative […]
For those of you who have been feeling like Belize is now post-pandemic, tonight there is a reminder that we still need to exercise caution. As you know, on Tuesday, there was an additional COVID-19 related death, bringing Belize’s total to three hundred and twenty-five since the start of the pandemic some fifteen months ago. […]
On Wednesday, we reported of a positive case of COVID-19 detected within the staff at Wesley High School in Belize City. Two weeks earlier, a number of students had tested positive at two primary schools; they were closely related to an outbreak that was detected at the Princess Casino. In all instances, there are protocols […]
Minister Chebat says that it is even more important that teachers get vaccinated because they are the first line of protection for the children who are expected to return to classrooms for in-person learning come August or September when schools reopen. Michel Chebat, Minister of Health & Wellness “This is the only way to […]
Last Thursday, we reported that some fifty thousand people had received their first jab of the COVID-19 vaccine since the inoculation process began in early March. That number is up by seven thousand so far, as the second dose is also being administered for the first three phases of the rollout exercise. Today, Health and […]
Today at the Mexican Embassy in Belmopan, Belize received a report on the Meso-America Hunger Free School Feeding project in the South. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation completed the pilot project where several schools in Toledo were introduced to gardening – where they […]
In 2019, a study carried out in Belize showed that one in six Belizeans have some form of chronic kidney disease, and as many as three out five Belizeans are at risk of developing the disease. It’s a worrying reality and these growing numbers put pressure on existing care and treatment infrastructure. And so when […]
Students and teachers at Wesley College were dismissed from classes this morning when it was discovered that a member of staff had tested positive for COVID-19. While that individual is reportedly asymptomatic, management is taking no chances. Out of an abundance of caution, classes were called off for the remainder of the week while a […]
