At a press conference on Monday, March 23rd, Prime Minister Right Honourable Dean Barrow announced that a Belizean has tested positive for COVID-19 (Coronavirus). According to the prime minister, the person is from San Pedro Town and frequently travels to the United States of America. The person in question reportedly returned to Belize on Thursday, March 19th and went into isolation a day after arriving in the country.
The positive patient is a 38-year-old female and according to Barrow, she seems to be experiencing the mild version of the disease and has not required hospitalization. According to his statement, she is recovering and appears that she had very minimal contact with others. The only person that reportedly came in close contact with her, was the physician that attended the patient, who was properly protected. “We are hoping that the incidents of transmission will pretty much be non-existent. Of course we cannot absolute be sure and that is why the tracing and mapping exercise is so important,” Barrow said. The prime minister asked Belizeans to take this issue seriously, but not to overreact or panic. He added that he will consult with health officials in order to decide if further measures would be taken to mitigate COVID-19. Some of those measures could be a quarantine needed for the island. In the case it is implemented, it is expected to be for 48 hours only.
The Director of Health Services, Dr. Marvin Manzanero joined the prime minister and said that they are conducting an investigation to trace her movements from when she arrived in Belize and with who all she made contact with. He said that all the persons that were in the flight with her could be reached out for screening as an attempt to avoid a potential outbreak. Manzanero stated that they have ordered additional testing kits as they could possibly be faced with the need to rapidly increase testing.
In the meantime, islanders are asked not to travel to the mainland unless it is essential. At the same time, Belizeans are asked not to travel to San Pedro. Prime Minister Barrow also indicated that a group of doctors from Cuba are heading to the country to help Belizean health officials in their mitigation efforts. Also, the National Oversight Committee, headed by Barrow and the Leader of the Opposition Honourable John Briceño, will be meeting to discuss the next step forward. One of the topics to be discussed is an economic plan to help businesses and employees who have been laid off.
We will continue updating this developing story.
