Home » 2020-04-14
You are currently browsing entries tagged with the keywoard: 2020-04-14
Late this evening, Chairman of the S.S.B. Doug Singh stepped down from the post. The consummate U.D.P. insider also resigned as the chairman of the Elections and Boundaries commission and as a director of B.T.L. His letter of resignation is addressed to Prime Minister Dean Barrow, thanking him for offering the opportunity to serve. Now, […]
Written on April 14, 2020 | Posted in
Featured,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Doug Singh Resigns as S.S.B. Chair, from Other Boards
The number of persons infected by COVID 19 doubled over the Easter weekend. As of this afternoon, six hundred and twenty-nine persons have been tested; of that amount eighteen persons are positive. Notably so far, the Orange Walk, Stann Creek and Toledo Districts have not reported any confirmed case but the Belize District accounts for […]
Written on April 14, 2020 | Posted in
Featured,
Health |
Comments Off on COVID-19 Cases Double Over Easter Weekend; Another Casualty is Reported
The burial of Conrad Everett took place over the weekend in line with protocols established with the World Health Organization. Now, the cluster of persons that also tested positive includes family members who worked at different establishments. The Belize Health care Partners where he was first hospitalized closed and is to re-open on Wednesday. In […]
Written on April 14, 2020 | Posted in
Featured,
Health,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on More Businesses are Looking Fumigation to Kill Coronavirus
This afternoon, Director of Health Services, Doctor Marvin Manzanero provided an update on the positive cases of COVID-19. Speaking on Ask the Experts, Doctor Manzanero says that so far, there are two clusters each involving the two casualties, Everett as well as Hubert Pipersburgh, who died a week ago. In the case of Everett, the […]
Written on April 14, 2020 | Posted in
Featured,
Health |
Comments Off on Out of Eighteen Cases – Two in Hospital – Fourteen in Home Isolation
The economy is coming to a grinding halt and being the largest employer in the country, the Government of Belize is looking to cut down on spending. With tens of millions dollars in revenue being lost as the weeks go by, the government is struggling to find funds to pay public officers. Government ministries, offices, […]
Written on April 14, 2020 | Posted in
Featured,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on GOB Loses Millions in Revenue
Financial Secretary Joseph Waight told President Smith that the government is seeking to identify and implement potential cost savings measures. One of those measures includes the proposed freezing of salary increments for public officers including teachers and members of the security forces. Waight says that the government is also proposing to temporarily discontinue the monthly […]
Written on April 14, 2020 | Posted in
Featured,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on G.O.B. Proposes Freezing of Annual Salary Increment
Just after he made those unsavory comments on who gets funds under the COVID Relief programme, Doug Singh spoke in a much saner tone to News Five. Now, one of the big issues coming out of the handling of the COVID-19 response is the unemployment relief programme; that programme is managed by the Economic Oversight […]
Written on April 14, 2020 | Posted in
Featured,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Additional 5000 Approved for COVID-19 Relief
Some of the concerns raised about the access to the COVID-19 unemployment relief programme are the lack of bank accounts and social security number. Some groups, mostly underprivileged homes, feel that system doesn’t capture them as a result of this. We asked Singh about those persons and how they fit in. He explains why those […]
Written on April 14, 2020 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Concerns About Accessing Unemployment Relief
Late last week, the Director of Health Services said the country and in fact the region is running low on viral swabs used in testing for COVID-19. This afternoon, the office of the Prime Minister informed that test kits can be obtained from the Cayman Islands where there is an excess of these kits. According […]
Written on April 14, 2020 | Posted in
Health |
Comments Off on Test Kits Update!
The leaders of the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital Authority Workers Union on Monday met with Prime Minister Dean Barrow, who is now out of isolation. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the union has been having issues with the Ministry of Health, claiming it is not well-prepared to equip staff members who are being exposed to […]
Written on April 14, 2020 | Posted in
Health,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on K.H.M.H.A. Workers Union Meets with Prime Minister Dean Barrow
The Ministry of Health of Health over the weekend said that personnel at the K.H.M.H. who were exposed to patient ten have tested negative for COVID-19. But the K.H.M.H.A. Workers Union is condemning the manner in which the K.H.M.H. Administration has compromised the safety and well-being of the frontline workers. The Union says certain areas […]
Written on April 14, 2020 | Posted in
Health,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on K.H.M.H.A. Workers Union Demand Investigation for “Breach of Protocols’
Revenue to government coffers has been shrinking due to COVID-19 and the state of emergency. So is the government broke? That is the question we asked Financial Secretary Joseph Waight today. According to Waight, large departments like the Belize Tax Services and the Customs Department collecting up to thirty million dollars in revenue a month […]
Written on April 14, 2020 | Posted in
Economy |
Comments Off on Is the Government Broke?
World oil prices continue to fall, dipping below thirty dollars a barrel. But despite falling world oil prices, here in Belize, consumers are paying more than ten dollars a gallon. Premium gasoline sells at ten dollars and ninety-two cents while regular and diesel are currently being sold at ten dollars and twenty-three cents and eight […]
Written on April 14, 2020 | Posted in
Economy |
Comments Off on Fuel Prices to Decrease This Week
Back to today’s Ask the Experts Session. Director of Health Services, Doctor Marvin Manzanero was asked about the possibility of Belize using rapid tests, as well as those that test for antibodies. Here’s what he shared about using those tests to test for COVID-19 in country: Dr. Marvin Manzanero, Director of Health Services “Has […]
Written on April 14, 2020 | Posted in
Health |
Comments Off on DHS Speaks on Future Testing Possibilities
One country that has been hailed to have successfully contained the virus is Taiwan. Today, Taiwan reported no new cases of the COVID-19 for the first time in thirty-six days. According to media reports, Taiwan has reported only three hundred and ninety-three infections in total, with most of the cases being imported, and only six […]
Written on April 14, 2020 | Posted in
Health |
Comments Off on Belize Learning from Taiwan’s COVID-19 Best Practices
Since the Ministry of Health began screening and testing exercises in detection of COVID-19, a total of six hundred tests have been conducted. That was out of a diminishing number of kits that were available locally. While additional kits will be procured from the Cayman Islands, Director of Health Services Doctor Marvin Manzanero reported earlier […]
Written on April 14, 2020 | Posted in
Health |
Comments Off on More Testing Kits a Cometh
When pressed about the twenty-five thousand kits that were being donated by South Korea through SICA, that the Ministry of Health declined in March, the DHS said that the ministry’s lab technicians are trained in administering tests using kits that were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Dr. Marvin Manzanero, Director of […]
Written on April 14, 2020 | Posted in
Health |
Comments Off on DHS Explains Why South Korean Test Kits Were Refused
Three police officers, including a corporal, have been arrested and charged following the coercion of two Belize City residents into a sexual act last Tuesday. Forty-six-year-old Jason Shaw, thirty-eight-year-old Leslie Martinez and twenty-year-old Anthony Villamil were arraigned earlier today for the crime of willful oppression. That’s because a report was filed by a forty-five-year-old laborer […]
Written on April 14, 2020 | Posted in
Crime |
Comments Off on Three Wayward Cops Arraigned for Sexual Coercion
There have been over five hundred persons and counting arrested for violating the emergency powers regulation with respect to the state of emergency and curfew. On Sunday, further restrictions were put in place in terms of movement of persons and there were a number of persons who were caught in the net. A total of […]
Written on April 14, 2020 | Posted in
Crime |
Comments Off on 94 Others Arrested Under Emergency Power Regulations, Curfew
While there a number of arrests were made over the weekend for violators of the state of emergency, police are investigating a case of sudden death in the west. Earlier today, the decomposing body of an elderly man was found near a dumpsite in the Valley of Peace Village, Cayo District. According to information reaching […]
Written on April 14, 2020 | Posted in
Crime |
Comments Off on Decomposing Body of Elderly Man Found at Dumpsite in Valley of Peace
Earlier, we reported that the K.H.M.H.A. Workers Union reached agreement on some areas during a meeting with the PM. Among the other complaints over COVID-19 that have surfaced includes one from the Belize Medical and Dental Association, which states it has been excluded from meetings. According to the association, this is a form of victimization […]
Written on April 14, 2020 | Posted in
Health,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Was the BMDA Blocked from Virtual M.O.H. Meeting?
At least three countries in the region: Cayman Islands, Bahamas and Barbados, have complained that equipment placed on order for the COVID-19 pandemic, were prevented by the U.S. authorities. The three countries had container loads of personal protective equipment purchased from U.S. vendors blocked from entering their territories by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. A […]
Written on April 14, 2020 | Posted in
Health |
Comments Off on The U.S.A. and Ventilators Delay
The National Association of Village Councils is demanding that village councils be included in the distribution of food under the COVID-19 assistance programmes. Sabido says that villages and communities are clamouring for help that is taking too long to reach them. He says that he and other chairpersons have received an overwhelming number of calls […]
Written on April 14, 2020 | Posted in
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on NAVCO Demands Village Councils Be Included in COVID-19 Food Distribution
If you are frustrated by all the new regulations being introduced including social distancing and other precautionary measures, you might want to buckle down and hang in there. Today during the Ask the Experts online session, Doctor Manzanero says that it is very likely that we’ll have to get used to some of these measures, […]
Written on April 14, 2020 | Posted in
Health |
Comments Off on Social Distancing and other Precautionary Measures May Extend for More Than a Year
The Salvation Army also provides shelter for a number of persons, primarily women and men who are without a roof over their heads. Even with the COVID-19 crisis, their services remain active and more so, but there are precautionary measures in place to protect not only the staff, but the people they serve. Major […]
Written on April 14, 2020 | Posted in
People & Places,
Social Issues |
Comments Off on Salvation Army – Safety for Employees, While Helping Those in Need
