So the new number of cases is fifty-eight. The Belize Central Medical Lab has been churning out COVID-19 test results every day. And despite their best efforts, the samples have been piling up as the positive cases increase and network of contacts become wider. But Director of Health Services, Doctor Marvin Manzanero says that the […]
The Central Lab is admittedly limited in resources, so is COVID-19 testing a possibility in private sector? It can be, according to Doctor Marvin Manzanero. Presently, the private medical facilities can only swab for the virus in their suspected patients after which the swab is sent for processing at the Central Medical Lab that is […]
Earlier this week a food vendor was brutally beaten and robbed by two thieves and fortunately for him, painter Alex Sanker, bravely fought off the duo. Another food vendor, Alva McKoy, has also fallen prey to thieves. This time, McKoy was robbed of more than seven hundred dollars by three thieves that pounced on her […]
The cops have been in pursuit of border jumpers and contrabandistas to minimize the risk of COVID-19. As you know, government has amended the law to impose a prison term of a year on anyone caught in the illegal activities. Police have been operating and monitoring border communities where contrabandistas continue to ply their trade. […]
Cross-border cattle trade with Guatemala was formalized several months after the illegal export of livestock was suspended due to concerns of COVID-19. Despite its informal nature, the business of transporting cattle for sale into Melchor via Bullet Tree Falls was an activity that endured for decades. Earlier this year, government put a stop to it, […]
Hulse’s announcement this morning came hard on the heels of the latest figures released by the Statistical Institute of Belize for the second quarter of 2020. During a presentation on Wednesday, the S.I.B. indicated that there has been a sixty percent decrease in the production of cattle. Hulse disputed that information, arguing that while the […]
The agro-productive sector is getting some much needed COVID relief from the Ministry of Agriculture. A sum of sixteen million dollars will be made available by the end of September for small and medium farmers in the form of cash vouchers to purchase items such as seeds and fertilizer. The relief aid will also benefit […]
Minister Hulse breaks down how the funds will be disbursed based on the constriction of the agriculture sector due to COVID-19. The Belize Agriculture Information Management System is the database used to interface with eligible farmers. Godwin Hulse, Minister of Agriculture “These are significant funds that will be injected into the agriculture sector. This […]
Students have been out of the classrooms for about five months since the COVID-19 pandemic began destroying all sectors of society. The Ministry of Education has announced that preschools and primary schools reopen on September seventh and on October fifth for secondary schools. The ministry has declared that students will not report to the classrooms […]
The ministry’s learning packages are currently being prepared and expected to be distributed to the students by next week, in time for September seventh. According to Doctor Carol Babb lessons will also be shared on the ministry’s Facebook page. Cecilia Smith, Deputy Chief Education Officer “Right now the teachers are at schools and they are […]
September is being considered as a trial month for distance learning by the Ministry of Education and so teachers are advised not to grade the work that students hand in, but to share advice, suggestions and feedback. Government and grant aided schools will be receiving textbooks to be distributed to the students. The books are […]
With five months of class sessions missed, it is not expected that students will be able to successfully sit the Primary Schools Examinations and CSEC Examinations next year. In fact, according to Chief Education Officer Doctor Carol Babb, a number of students have regressed in their studies and it is likely that Belize will not participate […]
You met him last week when he organized a four-man protest in front of the San Pedro Town Council Office on Ambergris Caye clamouring for assistance from the mayor and the government on behalf of island residents who have been devastated by the effects of COVID-19. Well tonight, Oscar Iboy is back in the news; […]
The transfer of voters closes at the end of this month which means there is a rush at Elections and Boundaries offices to get voters in the rolls to be able to vote in the upcoming general elections due in November. In Corozal Town, long lines of voters queued at the offices of the elections […]
With a deep drop in tourism arrivals due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the local airline industry has been devastated. According to the latest figures from the Statistical Industry of Belize, the pandemic interrupted land, sea and air transportation registering a twenty-eight point eight percent decline when compared to the same period in 2019. For now, […]
The economy contracted as much as twenty-three percent between April and June due to COVID-19. Most sectors felt the devastating effects of the pandemic rending thousands of Belizeans jobless. Today, the government said that the Unemployment Relief has run into trouble since inaccurate information has been provided to the banks by the applicants and money […]
Speaker of the House, Laura Tucker-Longsworth chaired a virtual meeting today for the Inter-parliamentary Committee on Education and Health of the Forum of Presidents and Presidents of the Legislative Powers of Central America, the Caribbean Basin and Mexico, also known as FOPREL. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss a regional prevention and response agenda […]
The FOPREL meeting is to define strategic actions to ensure that educational systems are strengthened to guarantee safe and inclusive access for all students. So, as a part of the knowledge exchange session, each member country spoke about their experiences navigating education during the pandemic. Minister of Education Patrick Faber represented Belize in FOPREL’s virtual […]
The traditional Queen of the Bay Pageant, held annually in August as part of the national celebrations, is on and running for its seventy-fifth year. Having reached that milestone, organizers say the show must go on and have planned a virtual event for this coming Saturday at five-thirty in the evening. The format of the […]
Are you using the right face mask? The type you choose could make a big difference. When it comes to slowing the spread of COVID-19, not all masks are equally effective. Tonight in Healthy living, you’ll find out which face coverings have been found to protect you the best. Marleni Cuellar, Reporting Even before […]
There are thirty more COVID-19 cases to report tonight. The Ministry of Health says that the new cases came out of a batch of over two hundred and fifty samples. If you saw the infographics earlier today, you would have noticed that the number of deaths increased by one, bringing the total to eleven. That […]
Back to the eleventh death. That victim is fifty-year-old Teresita ‘Tely’ Cruz of San Felipe. We reported on Cruz’s case on Tuesday – and as we shared from our interview with her son – Cruz was swabbed after she died. The housewife and mother of five experienced some fever and shortness of breath last week […]
Two suspected COVID-19 patients from San Pedro were rushed to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital late this evening. According to a colleague on the ground in San Pedro, two elderly persons were experiencing respiratory complications and needed to be emergency lifted from the island and taken to the national referral hospital. In these images captured […]
The People’s United Party launched its health plan this morning and we will come to that later in the newscast. This morning, the virtual event included experts in the sector discussing various elements of its blueprint. But the elephant in the room was the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, there are a myriad of complaints on the […]
A new Statutory Instrument has come into effect which sees a relaxation of the states of emergency in several communities within the Orange Walk and Corozal districts. With the new SI, however, are other regulations which come with stiffer penalties for offenses such as bribery and extortion. In the villages of Santa Marta, Guinea Grass […]
