LIBERTAD, Corozal District, Mon. Mar. 30, 2020– Six men have been detained in Libertad, and charged with drinking in public and disobedience of the COVID-19 Safety Regulations, and  a bar owner has been charged with failing to close a bar when ordered to do so.

The men are Isaiah Sedacy, 26; Jose Velasquez, 42; Eugene Fuentes, 23, Jeremy Martinez, 31; and a minor 17. All the men are laborers of Libertad, while the bar owner, Jose Quintanilla, 55, is of Libertad.

ACP Joseph Myvett said that at about 8:30 last night, police patrolling in the village saw a group of men drinking outside a club, and they were disregarding the 3-foot rule needed between them as dictated by the Ministry of Health in the effort to combat the spread of the coronavirus.

The men and the bar owner were all taken to the police station, where they were booked on the charges and detained pending arraignment for the offences.

Commissioner of Police Chester Williams said that police are simply enforcing the COVID-19 Safety Regulations so that the dreaded disease cannot take hold in Belize.