Home » August, 2020
You are currently browsing entries posted in: August, 2020
The state of public emergency was today extended for a further period of fourteen days. Statutory instrument one hundred and ten was to expire on Thursday after it came into effect on August seventh. The government is satisfied that a public emergency persists given the COVID-19 outbreak across the country. Senator for N.G.O.s, Osmany Salas […]
Written on August 19, 2020 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places,
Politics |
Comments Off on State of Emergency Extended by 14 days
The amendment to the Labour Bill was also passed today in the Senate. The amendment has attracted major opposition from several unions, including the National Trade Union Congress of Belize. The bill looks at providing employers the ability to reduce wages where the working hours of an employee have been reduced in special circumstances. It […]
Written on August 19, 2020 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places,
Politics |
Comments Off on Senate Debate Gets Heated Over Amendment of Labor Laws
Today, a small group of residents from Guinea Grass protested against the lockdown measures which they say is bringing further hardships. The village has been on lockdown for two weeks and according to Village Chairman, Benito Uck close to twenty villagers gathered to stage a small protest and send a message to government because they […]
Written on August 19, 2020 | Posted in
Health,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places,
Social Issues |
Comments Off on Guinea Grass Residents Protest Lockdown
First, the National Trade Union Congress of Belize, which is the umbrella organization for the unions, and now the Public Service Union is lodging its discontent with the amendment to the Labour Law, which was debated and passed in the Senate this afternoon. The P.S.U. issued a statement on Tuesday concerned that the consultative process […]
Written on August 19, 2020 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on P.S.U. Rejects Amendment to Labour Law
In respect of the government’s wage bill and the need to cut costs incurred by government departments, First Vice President Dean Flowers says that a meeting is to be convened to discuss austerity measures that can taken across the public sector. Dean Flowers, 1st Vice President, P.S.U. “The Public Service Union does in fact […]
Written on August 19, 2020 | Posted in
Economy,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on P.S.U. Engaged with Cost-Saving Committee
The Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital Workers Union says that last week they were able to reach common ground on the cost cutting efforts at the K.H.M.H. as a result of budget cuts that have been proposed for similar statutory bodies. The K.H.M.H. Workers Union says that the biggest compromise was a freeze on increments, but […]
Written on August 19, 2020 | Posted in
Economy,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on K.H.M.H. Workers Union Agrees to 3 Million-Dollar Cost-Cutting Exercise
On Tuesday, we covered the risks that sanitation workers are exposed to when disposing of biohazardous material from COVID-19 patients. While it falls within the responsibility of the Central Health Region, we were informed earlier today by Regional Manager Melinda Guerra that the respective hotels and facilities being used as quarantine centres are responsible for […]
Written on August 19, 2020 | Posted in
Health,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Who’s Responsible for Collecting COVID Garbage?
A public notice of investment was published in the local newspapers by the Social Security Board where it proposes to lend three hundred thousand dollars to a private school, the Belize Elementary School. The loan facility is for fifteen years at an attractive interest rate of six percent per annum. The timing of the proposed […]
Written on August 19, 2020 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on P.S.U. Concerned about Proposed S.S.B. Loan to Belize Elementary School
This week, we have been reporting on the issues brewing at the University of Belize between the senior administration and the UB Faculty and Staff Union. The Board of Trustees issued a stern letter this week to tell the faculty to go back to teaching or else they may face terminations. While the U.B.F.S.U. has […]
Written on August 19, 2020 | Posted in
Education |
Comments Off on National Student Union of Belize Comes Out in Support of U.B.F.S.U.
The number of persons infected by the coronavirus keeps soaring; there are thirty-four new positive COVID-19 cases in the country tonight. Those results were processed today and released late this evening on the Ask the Experts webcast. The preliminary data shows that majority of the cases are in San Pedro, while four are recorded in […]
Written on August 18, 2020 | Posted in
Featured,
Health |
Comments Off on Out of the 34 New COVID-19 Cases, 29 are in San Pedro
As you may know by now, those thirty-four new cases were preceded by another twenty-three cases on Monday. Those results show that fourteen cases were recorded in the Belize District, six of which are in San Pedro. Four were recorded in the Cayo district, three of whom are healthcare workers in Belmopan. These healthcare workers […]
Written on August 18, 2020 | Posted in
Featured,
Health |
Comments Off on Update on COVID-19 Cases; 6 Hospitalized
Today, the Ministry of Health released a breakdown on the number of the COVID-19 cases in Belize. These numbers are segmented by genders and age groups. The numbers show that infections are recorded in all age groups, but majority of the cases are recorded among persons of ages twenty to thirty-nine. Infections in that age […]
Written on August 18, 2020 | Posted in
Featured,
Health |
Comments Off on Taking a Closer Look at the COVID-19 Data
There are now more than five hundred cases of the virus recorded in Belize. There is an increase in the number of healthcare workers who have tested positive for COVID-19. DHS Manzanero says that the number is now at twenty – it has doubled in a matter of days. Other frontline workers like police officers […]
Written on August 18, 2020 | Posted in
Featured,
Health |
Comments Off on To Date 20 Healthcare Workers Have Tested Positive for COVID-19
There is also a call on the public to provide accurate and timely information to the contact tracing teams. Doctor Marvin Manzanero says that the teams have been encountering persons who are not telling the truth about their contacts. To have a better handle on the situation, Manzanero says it is important to give accurate […]
Written on August 18, 2020 | Posted in
Featured,
Health |
Comments Off on Are People Lying to the COVID-19 Surveillance Teams?
And also in COVID-19 related news, Dr. Marvin Manzanero explains the classification of COVID-19 related deaths. He says that while persons may have COVID-19 and other conditions, their death certificate will list COVID-19 as a cause because the virus creates complications for some of the persons who have pre-existing conditions, such as Carlos Peralta from […]
Written on August 18, 2020 | Posted in
Featured,
Health |
Comments Off on The Classification of COVID-19 as a Contributing Factor
The coronavirus pandemic is bringing pressure to bear on many aspects of the health system and as the virus continues to spread so does its impact on healthcare. One area that has not received attention is the disposal of COVID-related waste. In Belize City, waste from persons who have tested positive, collected from the hospitals, […]
Written on August 18, 2020 | Posted in
Featured,
Health,
People & Places |
Comments Off on How is Biohazardous COVID-19 Waste Being Handled in Belize?
The full force of the law is coming down on five sailors who tested positive for COVID-19 upon their return to Belize from Roatan, Honduras. The men will face criminal charges following their recovery. They were onboard a tugboat that left from the port at Big Creek for the Bay Islands to service a barge. […]
Written on August 18, 2020 | Posted in
Featured,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Five Tugboat Sailors to be Charged Upon Recovery from COVID-19
The Commissioner of Police also says that the employers are being investigated for any possible breach of the law. But it has already been determined that the five men are facing stiff fine since they did not observe the fourteen-day quarantine period that is a requirement upon re-entering the country. Chester Williams, Commissioner of […]
Written on August 18, 2020 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on What Will Tugboat Sailors be Charged With?
The use of face masks by members of the Belize Police Department is mandatory and, to enforce its compulsory usage, the department has wasted no time reprimanding officers who are found in violation of that order. That’s because public pressure has forced the Commissioner of Police to act decisively on the matter since the men […]
Written on August 18, 2020 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Police Officers Reprimanded for Not Wearing Face Masks
As you know, border jumpers are being held responsible in large part for the spread of the corona virus and the law is coming down heavy on them. Fifty-six-year-old Alfred Usher was arrested by Orange Walk Police after he was caught with contraband cigarettes. Police say that four packs of Sunny brand cigarettes were found […]
Written on August 18, 2020 | Posted in
Health,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Alfred Usher Says He Did Not Contraband Cigarettes
Scenes of crime technician, Angela Wiltshire is furious with the Ministry of Health. Wiltshire has been pleading with health officials to be tested after one of her colleagues tested positive for COVID-19. According to Wiltshire, she had contact with her colleague who had stopped by her office to retrieve some documents last week. She is […]
Written on August 18, 2020 | Posted in
Health,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Scenes of Crime Technician Furious with M.O.H.
Wiltshire says she is not happy with not being tested and it has left her uneasy. She is now demanding to be tested. Angela Wiltshire, Scenes of Crime Technician “Most of the time I deal with a lot of people daily. For me I think it is unfair for me not getting swab. I […]
Written on August 18, 2020 | Posted in
Health,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Angela Wiltshire Demands to be Tested
The Belize City Council today confirmed that one of their own tested positive for COVID-19 and so it is closing the traffic department. The patient is a male traffic officer whose last day at work was on August seventh. He is the second employee to test positive at City Hall; in the first case, Hubert […]
Written on August 18, 2020 | Posted in
Health,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Belize City Traffic Officer Tests Positive for COVID-19
The Belize City Council says that the safety and wellbeing of its staff and residents remain a priority. Consequently, the council closed the Traffic Department office with immediate effect so that it may be fully sanitized. Until then, Councilor Allan Pollard sys that traffic services will be offered remotely and payments will be processed through […]
Written on August 18, 2020 | Posted in
Health,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Traffic Department Office Close for Sanitization
If you thought that rapid testing would increase the number of persons tested in a timelier manner locally, that won’t happen. Director of Health Services, Doctor Marvin Manzanero says that the rapid testing, once validated and cleared, will not be used for routine testing on the Belizean populace. That test, he says, would be used […]
Written on August 18, 2020 | Posted in
Health |
Comments Off on Update on the Rapid Testing Capabilities
