Turning to COVID-19…the frustrations shared by many who have had to be swabbed and tested for COVID-19 include the lengthy waiting time for results to be made available. With the sudden increase in cases and a singular testing facility in the country, there has been a growing backlog of pending results. The accumulation of tests […]
The use of rapid tests has up until now proven fairly unreliable, despite the quick turnaround time for results to be made known. Consequently, the Ministry of Health has relied primarily on PCR tests which are more accurate. The constant complaint of delayed results, sometimes times as much as five days, has forced government to […]
On Thursday, the United States announced that Abbott Laboratories has commenced trials for its rapid coronavirus test to determine whether it could effectively be used on asymptomatic people. This followed an emergency approval from the Food and Drug Administration for a COVID antigen test which it says will sell for five U.S. dollars and can […]
As to the patients, three are on ventilators at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. A doctor from the Cayo District, the ministry’s epidemiologist from the Western Health Region, is intubated at the K.H.M.H. He was admitted at the K.H.M.H. twenty-four hours before being placed on a ventilator. According to Doctor Manzanero, thirty-six healthcare workers are […]
The other big news out of the PM press conference is in respect of international travel. A fixed date for the reopening of the Phillip Goldson International Airport has been set for October first. The resumption of operations at the P.G.I.A. will coincide with the beginning of the 2020 tourist season and will see the […]
As of November twenty-second, Delta Airlines will resume flights to Belize. According to PM Barrow, the use of the Abbott Rapid Test should simplify the process of verifying one’s health status upon arrival in the country. Prime Minister Dean Barrow “Delta, that had earlier asked for September third, even before we made a decision […]
The twelfth person to die from COVID-19 was a man from the Mennonite community in Indian Creek Village, Orange Walk. Sixty-year-old David Wall began to experience breathing problems before he was transported to a private facility in Belize City. His breathing problems worsened and he died on Thursday. He was diagnosed with COVID-19 posthumously, but he […]
Belize has registered eight hundred and seventy cases of the novel coronavirus. Seven hundred and sixty-five are active cases – three hundred and thirty-two are females and four hundred and thirty are males. Ninety-three persons have recovered and twelve persons have died. The latest infographic shows that fifty-two new positive cases were identified in three […]
During the press conference today, Director of Health Services Doctor Marvin Manzanero confirmed that the Belize Central Medical Lab has caught up with backlogged samples. And as reported, rapid testing will now be introduced to ease the burden. Doctor Manzanero says that the lab technicians managed to catch up with the backlog with the more than […]
Public officers on the frontline of the fight against COVID-19 will also be tested as required, that’s according to PM Barrow, who emphasized earlier today that government’s resources, in respect of rapid and PCR tests, will be made available for use to test police officers, nurses and other personnel. Prime Minister Dean Barrow “We […]
From rapid testing to the inventory at the Ministry of Health. The number of testing kits, as well as personal protective equipment for medical personnel on the frontline of the war against COVID-19 has been an area of concern for many in the public health sector. The Ministry of Health has been able to procure […]
The present supply of resources available to the Ministry of Health can last up to nine months; that is with M.O.H. sharing drums of hand sanitizers and other items with various government departments, including customs and immigration. According to Doctor Gough, as many as twenty-six thousand COVID-19 tests can also be conducted with the existing […]
Byron Manuel Guevara, a farmer in Bullet Tree Village, reported to police that armed robbers held him at gunpoint on Thursday night just after seven o’clock on the Pilar Road, just outside of the village. Guevara was traveling in his two-door Toyota pickup, along with his wife, his five and thirteen-year-old children and granddaughter when […]
Two Guatemalans, who were picked up in the south earlier this week, were placed in a quarantine facility. Thirty-eight-year-old Junior Espinosa and forty-two-year-old Alfredo Colon were detained when they entered the country on two boats carrying contraband goods. Police Officers in Independence Village were tipped off about the vessels and lay waited their arrival at […]
Two men were involved in stabbing incident on Thursday in the incident. Preliminary reports say that the incident happened between a step-father and step-son. The step-son reportedly got into an argument with his stepfather and shortly after he inflicted the injuries on his step-father at a house in south side Belize City. Chester Williams, […]
Corozal policeman Reginald Diego is in trouble again with the law. As we reported on Tuesday, Diego was arrested and charged for the crime of extortion. He met bail and was released. He was subsequently placed on interdiction and expected to face internal disciplinary measures. But after he was released, on Wednesday Diego reportedly went […]
On Thursday we told you about the lifting of the lockdown in Guinea Grass, Ship Yard and Santa Martha. As you know, police officers were critical in helping to maintain that lockdown – with checkpoints set up at the entrance and exit to the villages, as well as carrying out other policing duties in the […]
Two men have been charged and arraigned for the murder of Rosa Chinchia. On August seventeenth, the fifty-nine-year-old was cut to the throat by a twenty-five-year-old man who asked to borrow some money and Chinchia refused. She was rushed to Belize Healthcare Partners where she underwent surgery. One week later, Chinchia died. Angel Adolfo Garcia […]
It wouldn’t be election season without tensions between opposing political candidates. As you know, campaigns are in high gear and transfer close on Monday so political candidates are rushing to get residents registered to vote in the upcoming election. Well, there is some tension brewing in the Mesopotamia Division. The issues appear to be between […]
Earlier this week, the Statistical Institute of Belize released its latest figures on the performance of the economy. The past three months have been dismal, to say the least, as the economy has contracted in most areas. In fact it shrunk by twenty-three percent. But all is not lost, says the prime minister, notwithstanding the […]
With the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the north, will the Orange Walk and Corozal districts face a lockdown in the days ahead? That notion is frowned upon by government which is now taking its cue from the World Health Organization. Recently, the W.H.O. disapproved of the idea of a total lockdown because of […]
In San Pedro, meanwhile, the number of coronavirus cases is at a plateau and all indications are that the state of emergency on the island town will be lifted on September fourth. PM Barrow says that based on the latest numbers the infection rate has stabilized. Prime Minister Dean Barrow “I don’t see that. […]
An elderly man is dead after he was stung to death by bees. Seventy-four-year-old Roy Martinez, a bulldozer operator, was working in the Chiquibul area when he was attacked by bees. According Laura Martinez, her husband tried to get away, but couldn’t. She says that the incident happened around three on Thursday afternoon, but he […]
To close the news tonight, as of today there have been more than twenty four million confirmed cases of COVID-19 globally, including more than eight hundred thousand deaths reported to the World Health Organization. In Belize, rapid testing will be introduced for quicker results now that the P.G.I.A. is to open on October first. According […]
A twelfth person dies from COVID-19 in Belize. The most recent data released from the Office of the Director of Health Services confirmed late this evening that another person who was at a private institution in Orange Walk has died and that the post-mortem showed the individual was COVID-positive. The victim is David Wall of […]
