BELIZE CITY, Mon. Aug. 17, 2020– Late Friday evening, the Office of the Director of Health Services announced the third COVID-19-related death in Belize. That person has since been identified as 52-year-old Luis Romero, Sr.
Avid social media users would recall a photo of Romero that went viral during the time of the ICJ campaign. In that photo, he was on the street during that year’s September 10 parade and was wearing an umbrella hat and a pair of cartoonish sunshades that bore the colors of the Belizean flag, along with a Belizean flag that was draped around his shoulders like a cape and a homemade T-shirt that was imprinted with an expletive, followed by the word “Guatemala”. He stood in that photo with defiance and swagger.
Romero’s family said that Romero displayed flu symptoms since last Thursday, but even after the family begged the Ministry of Health that he be tested, he was not administered a COVID-19 test, since, the Ministry said, he had no link to any positive case.
His daughter took to social media on Friday evening and said, “My dad passed away just some hours ago; he had symptoms during this week which progressed within one day. My brother begged MOH to test him from last week Thursday. They said he had no links to any positive case, and a bad flu is going around and if he went to a clinic, they will give him meds and that’s it.”
According to the daughter, on the night prior to his death, Romero went to sleep feeling dizzy. When the family awoke, he was just moaning and groaning, and an ambulance was called to pick him up. He was admitted to the ICU at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital (KHMH), and was intubated. The family was informed of his death a few hours later.
In a release issued by the Ministry of Health, the Ministry said that Romero’s test was not confirmed until Friday afternoon. He was in the ICU, intubated, for less than 12 hours.
On Sunday night, the Director of Health Services, Dr. Marvin Manzanero, announced another death — that of a 63-year-old man who died while being treated for a heart condition. It was confirmed posthumously that he was also infected with COVID-19. This person has been identified as Carlos Peralta, Sr., an Orange Walk resident.
La Inmaculada Church has issued a public notice that he attended mass on Wednesday and has advised its members who attended on that day to go into isolation. The church will be closed until further notice.
On Sunday, April 5, the first death from COVID-19 was recorded in Belize; that person was Hubert Pipersburgh, former Economic Development Manager at the Belize City Council.
The second death was announced by the government on April 10. This person, Conrad Everett, a retired BATSUB mechanic, was confirmed to be the 10th positive case. The condition of Everett, who was receiving treatment at a private facility, further deteriorated and he was transferred to the KHMH, where he tested positive for the coronavirus and died three days later, despite ventilation support.