The COVID cluster that surfaced in Caye Caulker over the weekend has already begun to have a negative impact on tourism. Today, President of the Belize Hotel Association, Alina Saldivar, told News Five there have already been cancellations. Not only that, but she said that bookings are trickling in slowly, instead of with the frequency […]
Saldivar says that despite the sluggish season, and also because of it, the Belize Hotel Association is aggressively marketing its members’ hotels and guest houses so that when the current third wave subsides, they can restore some semblance of normalcy. Voice of: Alina Saldivar, President, B.H.A. “The Belize Hotel Association is working closely not […]
On Monday night, Channel Five and the Ministry of Health and Wellness brought viewers another edition of “Get the Facts!” This week, the focus was on kids and COVID. The guests talked about the importance of vaccines for older children and teens, and how families can better protect little ones even if there is no […]
Family and friends of thirty-seven-year-old Arilee Young were shocked on Saturday morning when they woke up to the news that the well-known police officer and her daughter, a sixth-form student at SJCJC, had been shot to death inside their apartment on Fourth Street in Belize City. The grisly discovery followed a phone call to police […]
In the wake of the chilling incident, there has been controversy over the police department’s response time since a phone call was placed sometime around three o’clock on Saturday morning. According to members of a neighborhood watch group in King’s Park, the responding officers did not show up until several hours later. That claim, however, […]
It’s a mother’s worst nightmare, but one that Joan Ramsey and her family woke up to Sunday morning when her son David Castillo, who went missing two weeks ago, was found murdered. News Five’s Marion Ali has the story in this report. Marion Ali, Reporting Sometime around eight on the night of Thursday, August […]
Twenty-nine-year-old Ismael Matura lost his life on Saturday night when he was stabbed multiple times during an altercation with someone he was socializing with in Corozal Town. The incident happened during curfew hours. Shortly after eleven p.m., police were summoned to a location where they observed Matura with an open wound and breathing heavily. It […]
There’s another murder in Punta Gorda to report on tonight. It happened on Friday night in the Water Supply neighborhood where Ernel Caliz was fatally shot as he rode a bicycle on Cayetano Street. Since the beginning of the year, we have been reporting on a steady increase in homicides in that southern municipality. While […]
As part of the new back-to-school readiness, this morning as early as seven-thirty, high school and sixth form students from across the country went out to respective vaccination centers. They were getting their first jab of the Pfizer vaccine, which has been approved for young people, ages twelve to seventeen. News Five’s Duane Moody headed […]
Coming close on the heels of the COVID cluster from two public health facilities in the Cayo District last Friday, another cluster has been detected in Caye Caulker. Today, the Caye Caulker Village Council put up a Facebook post in which it informed that twenty-one cases had surfaced in that community and that Coast Guard […]
The virus moves when you move, so there is need to reduce movement and keep wearing your masks. Now, the healthcare system is already strained because the team is dealing with the outbreak as well as the vaccination efforts, so the public needs to adhere to restrictions. Doctor Melissa Diaz-Musa, the Deputy Regional Health Manager […]
Viewers may have to make some additional adjustments to their eating, drinking and work life, as G.O.B. announces several changes to the COVID-19 regulations. With the exception of the tourist destinations of San Pedro and Caye Caulker, all restaurants in the Belize District can now offer outdoor dining only, at fifty percent capacity, via advanced […]
Well-known internist, Doctor Fernando Cuellar has been hospitalized after testing positive for COVID-19. On Saturday, he began feeling congested with a headache and low-grade fever. One day later, he experienced excessive weakness. This morning, his oxygen saturation fell and so Doctor Cuellar checked himself into the hospital. A CT scan showed bilateral pneumonia and so […]
And while we have another COVID cluster detected in Caye Caulker, the nurses at the Central Health Region’s lab remain on regular hours as they feel they deserve to be paid the overtime for hours they worked for the past three months. President of the Belize Nurses’ Association, Darrell Spencer told News Five this evening […]
The President of the National Teachers Union, Senator Elena Smith, says the Ministry of Education’s decision – that schools will reopen using online and distance learning only – comes as a relief to teachers. Smith says they have been monitoring the increasing number of COVID-19 cases and says that now is not the best time […]
President Smith also discussed the problems associated with some of the digital tools given to students last year by the Ministry of Education under the past administration. She says many of them malfunctioned and the repairs were expensive. Senator Elena Smith, National President, B.N.T.U. “As we understand, the devices would have been for first […]
And while access for students has become an ever-present challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic, many parents are struggling to meet schools fees. The crippling effects of the pandemic on the economy have caused many families to lose their only source of income, while others have had to cut back significantly. Parents are now calling on […]
President Smith also spoke about her members’ position on the cancelation of standardized testing for primary school level students. Smith says teachers are in support of the move and that in fact, it is long overdue. Senator Elena Smith, National President, B.N.T.U. “We did a quick polling, just on our Facebook page, to gather […]
When public servants and teachers underwent the ten percent salary cut, one concession was that working hours would be cut by five hours weekly. Public officers now work fewer hours, but the change has yet to be finalized for teachers. President Smith says the union has communicated with the Ministry of Education that teachers have […]
The Central Bank announced today it has “amicably resolved all issues” surrounding the employment of the former governor, Gustavo Manuel Vasquez. According to Prime Minister John Briceño, the board had been unable to work with him and had recommended letting him go after only four months. Today, via a press release, the PM said that […]
An iconic part of Belize’s highway system will finally be replaced. The government announced today that it has awarded a thirty-million Belize-dollar contract for the Haulover Bridge Replacement Project to M&M Engineering Consultants Limited. The project will be implemented by the Ministry of Infrastructure Development, while an Italian company that specializes in bridges, Politecnica Ingegneria […]
The Heritage Education Network Belize is hosting its first annual Belize Kulcha Symposium. The event will be held from September first to the third, all virtually. We found out more about the event this morning. Sylvia Batty, Archaeologist “We are going to be hosting it on Facebook and on our YouTube Channel. So, if […]
After seven years, the Belize District has regained the crown of the national Queen of the Bay. Druewel Jones competed against seven other delegates from across the country on Saturday night in the seventy-sixth annual pageant, which was held virtually for the second year in a row. They all competed in the introduction, talent, curtsy, […]
Health personnel who work at several departments at the San Ignacio Community Hospital are in isolation after they tested positive for COVID-19 this week. There is a possibility that the number could rise because of the nature of their work and the persons they may have interacted with before the detection was made. Four of […]
Interestingly, the cluster at the San Ignacio and Benque Viejo health facilities happened around the same time that neighbouring Guatemala had reported a collapse of its health system due to the rise in COVID cases. Today, that country reported the presence of the deadly lambda variant as well. We asked Doctor Morey if he believes […]
