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Prime Minister Dean Barrow spoke to the nation today in a pre-recorded statement on the virus that’s turning life upside down. First, there is a third confirmed case of COVID-19. The person is from Belize City; he travelled from New York on March twentieth and is now in isolation. And now that there is a […]
Written on March 30, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on A Third Confirmed Case of COVID-19 in Belize
As of Wednesday night, the restriction of free movement of citizens across the country will come into full effect as part of the state of emergency. Only persons who are deemed essential service workers, including law enforcement officers and health professionals, will be allowed to go about their respective duties outside of the imposed curfew. […]
Written on March 30, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Fleshing Out the State of Emergency
Are there sufficient medical equipment and supplies to take us through this period of national shutdown, amid the COVID-19 crisis? According to PM Barrow, there is enough to last the country for a six-month period. As far as financial aid, in the form of loans from the Inter-American Development Bank, the prime minister admits that […]
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Comments Off on PM Barrow – Outside Financial Aid A Little Slow to Come By
To tide Belizeans over while funding from the international financial institutions is made available, government will be drawing down on monies that have been earmarked from its majority-owned utility companies, as well as the Social Security Board. Plans are also in place to bolster existing initiatives such as the BOOST and food pantry programmes. […]
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Comments Off on Disbursements for Unemployed Belizeans Commences this Week
The thirty-eight-year-old Belizean male, who contracted COVID-19 before traveling to Belize from New York City, remains in self-isolation tonight. Patient three is in Belize City, the economic and political hub of the nation, so the Barrow Administration is enforcing quarantine measures to prevent the spread of the deadly disease. Health experts say that patient three […]
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Comments Off on Patient Three “Doing Good Overall”; M.O.H. Looking at 2 Other Persons
The Ministry of Health is acquiring more equipment to be used to fight the virus. Doctor Manzanero says that further testing will be carried out to detect potential cases. According to the Director of Health Services, health officials have not been able to ascertain community transmission since all three cases are linked to imported cases. […]
Written on March 30, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on COVID-19 Testing to be Scaled Up
There are more details tonight on the ten million-dollar donation granted by Lord Michael Ashcroft to the government to assist in the combat against COVID-19. The donation has been deposited with the Belize Bank in the name of “The Belize COVID-19 Response Fund” and is designated for the health and economic sectors. The Ministry of […]
Written on March 30, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Lord Michael Ashcroft & the Belize COVID-19 Response Fund
The COVID-19 pandemic is the cause of worldwide instability. Huge chunks of economies are shutting down, businesses are closing and the unemployment figures continue to rise. It is estimated that as many as twenty thousand persons have already been left jobless in Belize. The local bus industry is taking a hit, already operating in a […]
Written on March 30, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on COVID-19 Threatens to Shut Down Transportation System
Public transportation is necessary for the movement of people who go to work or shop. Ewart Metzgen says that one of the requests being made by the Belize Bus Association is for the government to subsidize fuel in order for the bus operations to meet the operational cost. Ewart Metzgen, Secretary, BBA “We are […]
Written on March 30, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Bus Association Writes Transport Minister for Relief
Meanwhile, in San Pedro Town, the business community has partnered with the San Pedro Tour Operators Association to sanitize public areas. With the approval and supervision of the Ministry of Health, water mixed with Clorox is being used to wash certain spots around the town. The initiative began today and Chairman of the Association, Roberto […]
Written on March 30, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Sanitizing San Pedro
A number of Belizean students, who were studying overseas, have returned home and are in self-isolation due to the novel coronavirus. There is a fourteen-day incubation period for the virus so during that time there should not be contact with other persons. During this time, public health officers also monitor to determine if persons develop […]
Written on March 30, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Belizean Students on Self-Isolation Experience
Bryton Codd returned home from Canada on March seventeenth; at the time, that country had seventeen confirmed cases of COVID-19 and schools were closing as a form of containment. On arrival, however, Codd says, he had concerns on the screening process he observed at the Philip Goldson International Airport and the risky behaviour of persons […]
Written on March 30, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Was Proper Screening Being Done at the P.G.I.A.?
Isolation comes with huge challenges since it is an abrupt departure from normal life to no contact with family members and friends. Successful self-isolation is a battle more of the mind than a physical one in a period of fourteen days that feels more like a lifetime. While there is no guidebook, there are many […]
Written on March 30, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on How to Cope Through Self-Isolation
Attorney Arthur Saldivar is the second person to be charged for spreading false information in relation to COVID-19. The charge comes after Saldivar made a Facebook post on Saturday, claiming that a group of persons coming from Los Angeles, California, including someone who isn’t a national, were being facilitated entry into Belize through the northern […]
Written on March 30, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Attorney Arthur Saldivar Charged for Spreading False News
Police say that they have arrested a group of men for failing to comply with the social distancing act in light of COVID-19. The arrest was made at a bar in the north, where the owner of the establishment was also slapped with a separate charge for refusing to close his liquor establishment. Assistant Commissioner […]
Written on March 30, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Group of Men Slapped with ‘Social Distancing’ Charge
Police are coming down hard on persons who do not observe quarantine measures in place. Over the weekend, three persons were charged for public drinking in the south. Police say that they men were drinking together outside of a business in Red Bank. The men, according to police, were also not adhering to social distancing […]
Written on March 30, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Trio Charged for Failing to Comply with Public Drinking and Social Distancing Regulations
And in a separate case – but related to the issue of public drinking – we turn to an incident that allegedly involves a senior police officer. A video was shared over the weekend on Facebook in which the voice of Deputy Commissioner of Police Edward Broaster was heard to be saying that he was […]
Written on March 30, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Was it you, ACP Alden Dawson?
On Saturday morning, around eight o’clock, police conducted a search at a residence in San Ignacio where they found unlicensed ammunition. Three persons, who were at the residence at the time, were arrested and charged. ACP Joseph Myvett, Head, National Crimes Investigation Branch “San Ignacio Police conducted a search at the home of Neville […]
Written on March 30, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on 3 Charged for Unlicensed Ammunition
Tonight, Belize has three confirmed cases of COVID-19. The first was confirmed on Sunday, March twenty-second. The patient is a thirty-eight-year-old Belizean female, who is currently in self isolation in San Pedro Town. She arrived in Belize on Thursday, March nineteenth from Los Angeles. The patient’s mother was later infected, prompting the government to extend […]
Written on March 30, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on San Pedro Patients Recovering from COVID-19
There were a number of new quarantine measures put in place over the weekend. During today’s Ask the Experts segment, Doctor Marvin Manzanero was joined by John Bodden. He is the Principal Public Health Inspector and according to Bodden, any Belizean entering the country will be quarantined for twenty-one days at different facilities. And for […]
Written on March 30, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Returning Belizeans to be Quarantine for 21 Days
Last Friday made one week since Shon Dee Emmanuel was knocked down and killed on the Melinda Road in Stann Creek. The Hope Creek resident was riding his bike, heading to work when he was hit by a freightliner. Police have said that the driver, Darren Castillo was served with an N.I.P. Today, we asked […]
Written on March 30, 2020 | Posted in
Auto Accidents,
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Comments Off on D.P.P. to Provide Directives into Fatal Melinda Road Accident
COVID-19 is having an impact in every imaginable sector. As you know, there is a backlog in cases to be heard and decisions to be delivered at the Supreme Court. But the court now has to safeguard the health and safety of judicial officers, officers of the court, staff members and the general public, while […]
Written on March 30, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on The Judiciary of Belize Response to COVID-19 Preventative Measures
Tonight, the country remains on the yellow phase, which is phase one of COVID-19. There are still only two confirmed cases of the virus in Belize and both are in San Pedro and involves a thirty-eight-year-old woman and her mother. The Ministry of Health says that the tests done between Thursday and today are all […]
Written on March 27, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on No New COVID-19 Infections; Belize Remains with 2 Positive Cases
So, as you heard just now, there are no new confirmed cases of COVID-19. The index patient and her mom remain in isolation on San Pedro. As you know, those two cases resulted in the state of emergency on the island. At this time, the ministry says the two patients are not exhibiting serious symptoms […]
Written on March 27, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Update into COVID-19 Patients
Another issue covered today by the health experts was the matter of testing kits and other medical supplies that were known to be in limited quantity. Director of Health Services, Doctor Marvin Manzanero says a shipment of test kits and personal protective equipment is on the way to Belize. He outlined the schedule of arrival, […]
Written on March 27, 2020 | Posted in
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Comments Off on 5000 More Test Kits and Other Medical Supplies for Belize
