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At the start of the pandemic, Commissioner of Police Chester Williams told the media that he would attempt to get the names of persons who have tested positive for COVID-19 as away to prevent the spread of the virus. Today, we asked him for his view on the controversial S.I. 134. Williams says he supports […]
Written on September 24, 2020 | Posted in
Featured,
People & Places,
Social Issues |
Comments Off on ComPol Williams Supports the Need for a COVID-19 Patient List
The argument of confidentiality and privacy, says ComPol Williams, is valid to a certain extent, but the constitution does have limitations where public health, public interest and national security are concerned. As far as stigma, the Commissioner of Police also stated that more people have come forward with their COVID-19 status than persons infected with […]
Written on September 24, 2020 | Posted in
Featured,
People & Places,
Social Issues |
Comments Off on Chester Takes on Confidentiality and Stigma Regarding COVID-19
With the reopening of P.G.I.A. next week, rapid testing for COVID-19 is now underway which will ease back logs in testing results. On Wednesday, the Ministry of Health launched its first COVID-19 rapid test activity. It took place in the village of August Pine Ridge in the Orange Walk. The National Surveillance Officer coordinated the […]
Written on September 24, 2020 | Posted in
Featured,
Health |
Comments Off on MOH Launches Rapid Testing in August Pine Ridge
Rodrick Wade was seriously injured in a road traffic accident on Tuesday in Belize City. He was heading to work on motorcycle when he was hit by a van. Since then he has been hospitalized and the prognosis is that he will be bedridden for at six months meaning he will not be able to […]
Written on September 24, 2020 | Posted in
Auto Accidents |
Comments Off on The Mother of Accident Victim Roderick Wade Speaks Out
Mayflower resident Sandra Uter says that Police Commissioner Chester Williams has a vendetta against her family. According to Uter, five of her family members were detained in early June under the State of Emergency regulations. They were first sent to prison for thirty days and their imprisonment was later extended for sixty days. Uter is […]
Written on September 24, 2020 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Guns for Freedom?
Corporal Eldon Arzu’s challenge to the Police Association election process continued on Tuesday. It was expected that the first hearing was to be held then but the matter was adjourned to a later date. Arzu is claiming that Commissioner of Police Chester Williams failed to obey the rules of the Police Association election process. According […]
Written on September 24, 2020 | Posted in
People & Places,
Trials |
Comments Off on Eldon Arzu’s Challenge Police Association Election Process Back in Court
A mega million-dollar road project was opened today; it is the stretch of road that links the airport access road near Gentrac to the George Price Highway. Known as the Airport Link Road and now officially the John Smith Road, it is five miles long and worth thirty-three million dollars. At the opening today, Minister […]
Written on September 24, 2020 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on The John Smith Link Road is Officially Opened
On Tuesday, Foreign Affairs Minister Wilfred Elrignton met with Mexican Ambassador Carlos Quesnel Melendez, presenting him with the Key of Friendship in honour of his professional and personal accomplishments. Outgoing Ambassador Quesnel has been in Belize for five years and has been actively working on successfully achieving objectives and registering tremendous progress in the bilateral relations between […]
Written on September 24, 2020 | Posted in
Foreign Affairs,
People & Places,
Regional / International |
Comments Off on Mexican Ambassador Bids Farewell to Belize
Trade is closely linked to diplomacy. According to the affable Ambassador, one of the most noteworthy accomplishments is the exportation of cattle to Mexico. Earlier this month two hundred and forty-one heads of cattle from Blue Creek were officially exported to Mexico. Quesnel hopes that in the years to come, trade between both countries can […]
Written on September 24, 2020 | Posted in
Foreign Affairs,
People & Places,
Regional / International |
Comments Off on Mexican Ambassador Presented with a Key of Friendship
In the courts today, interdicted police officer Dwayne Sutherland and Anthony Jevon Arnold were charged with robbing Ronald Heiron with a firearm of his motorcycle which is valued at one thousand two hundred dollars. The incident occurred on the Burrell Boom Road. They both pleaded not guilty and remanded in prison until November thirtieth. Sutherland […]
Written on September 24, 2020 | Posted in
Crime |
Comments Off on Two Men, Including Interdicted Cop, Are Charged with Robbery
With the stresses associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the key focuses of the symposium will be mental health, which Daly says has been affected the entire family – from students to parents who have lost their jobs and are trying to make ends meet and even those persons who are high risk. […]
Written on September 24, 2020 | Posted in
Health |
Comments Off on Mental Health Among Issues to be Discussed at Wellness Symposium
Since the start of the pandemic, we have been exposed to a lot of medical advice on how to prevent contracting the novel coronavirus. Things like using masks and social distancing are now clearly outlined in recent laws, and we repeatedly hear health experts remind us to wash our hands. But when moving around in […]
Written on September 24, 2020 | Posted in
Health |
Comments Off on Healthy Living: Avoid Three Cs
Six persons, including a minor, were detained for the clandestine landing of a drug plane in Santa Martha Village in Orange Walk. Today, Noel Codd, the owner of a farm where the plane was found, was arraigned on a single charge of possession of prohibited ammo; in this case, a bullet allegedly found at the […]
Written on September 23, 2020 | Posted in
Featured,
Trials |
Comments Off on Noel Codd is Arraigned for Prohibited Ammunition
During the interview this afternoon, attorney Dickie Bradley alleged that the police department planted evidence against his client. He contends that the ammunition offense is being used as a holding charge for Noel Codd. Here’s how he explains it. Richard “Dickie” Bradley, Attorney “To charge Mister Codd with one round of ammunition for which—I […]
Written on September 23, 2020 | Posted in
Featured,
Trials |
Comments Off on Is Ammunition Charge Simply a Holding Charge?
In the south, Senior Customs Officer Richard Garbutt and Junior Customs Officer Jareth Tillett are among a group of seven persons who were arraigned today in respect of charges brought against them for handling contraband goods in Punta Gorda over the weekend. On Saturday night, the men were caught red-handed as they were loading up […]
Written on September 23, 2020 | Posted in
Featured,
Trials |
Comments Off on Customs Officer Refutes ComPol’s Account of Contraband Bust
News spread at the speed of lightening today about the purported resignation of Doctor Marvin Manzanero, the Director of Health Services, who has been the face in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. It came on the heels of a very controversial amendment to the quarantine regulations penalizing the DHS if he fails to provide […]
Written on September 23, 2020 | Posted in
Featured,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Doctor Marvin Manzanero is Not Resigning from his Post
The new statutory instrument took effect on Tuesday, but as the government said today, alternative recommendations will be made. Now, serious concerns were raised at the level of the National Oversight Committee regarding the responsibility of the Director of Health Services to surrender the names of all COVID-19 patients to the Minister of National Security. […]
Written on September 23, 2020 | Posted in
Featured,
People & Places,
Social Issues |
Comments Off on Statutory Instrument 134 is Broken Down
The S.I. legally compels the Director of Health Services to hand over the names of all COVID-19 patients across the country giving rise to the question of doctor/patient confidentiality. According to the Attorney General, the decision to make the list compulsory came from the National Oversight Committee and Cabinet in a recent meeting. And cabinet, […]
Written on September 23, 2020 | Posted in
Featured,
People & Places,
Social Issues |
Comments Off on Is Confidentiality being Broken with Mandatory COVID List?
With a limit of only ten patrons or congregants, restaurants and churches can once again reopen, however, there are clear rules that speak to licenses in order to operate such businesses in the case of restaurants. As far as churches, the AG says that a celebrant and his acolytes are allowed along with ten parishioners, […]
Written on September 23, 2020 | Posted in
Featured,
People & Places,
Social Issues |
Comments Off on Restaurants and Churches Reopen to Limited Customers and Congregants
The Phillip Goldson International Airport is less than a week away from reopening and once again final preparations are being made to ensure that strict protocols are put in place where COVID-19 is concerned. Despite government’s best efforts, the Belize Tourism Industry Association wrote to the Prime Minister on Independence Day urging him and the […]
Written on September 23, 2020 | Posted in
Featured,
Health,
Travel |
Comments Off on B.T.I.A. Asks Prime Minister and the N.O.C. to Rethink its COVID-19 Strategy
The National Oversight Committee met earlier today to discuss the reopening of the international airport. The three-page letter was forwarded to several tourism officials who also sit on the N.O.C., however, according to Burgos, they are not certain whether any focus was placed on the letter or the recommendations. John Burgos, Executive Director, B.T.I.A. […]
Written on September 23, 2020 | Posted in
Health,
Travel |
Comments Off on Was B.T.I.A.’s Letter Discussed at Today’s N.O.C. Meeting?
The reopening of the P.G.I.A. on October first precedes the opening of the annual tourism season by several weeks. According to B.T.I.A.’s Second Vice President Stewart Krohn, it is not expected that visitors will be arriving in large numbers at the start of the season which should give government sufficient time to rethink and re-strategize […]
Written on September 23, 2020 | Posted in
Health,
Travel |
Comments Off on B.T.I.A. to G.O.B. – Let’s Start to Review Protocols Now
There is a new COVID-19 death to report tonight. But before we tell you more, let’s take a look at the latest numbers released on Tuesday night. There are thirty-four new cases out of one hundred and ninety-three tests. There are nine new cases in Corozal; fifteen in Orange Walk; seven in Belize District; one […]
Written on September 23, 2020 | Posted in
Health,
People & Places |
Comments Off on 38-Year-Old Elias Yacab of Succotz is Latest COVID-19 Victim!
In our interview with Edwin Yacab he revealed that his brother Elias worked with Prosser Fertilizer and Agrotec Company Limited in Santa Elena. While he notes that he had contact with a wide number of people but up to now they don’t know how or where his brother contracted the virus. What they do know […]
Written on September 23, 2020 | Posted in
Health |
Comments Off on 17 Members of the Yacab Family Tested Positive for COVID-19
Notwithstanding the mortality rate associated with COVID-19, we asked the Attorney General this morning about the rationale behind limiting restaurants and churches to ten persons while allowing buses and other forms of public transportation to carry more than ten passengers within proximity of each other. Here’s how he responded to that comparison. Michael Peyrefitte, […]
Written on September 23, 2020 | Posted in
Health,
People & Places,
Social Issues |
Comments Off on Why Only Ten for Churches and Restaurants but More for Buses?
