BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Apr. 16, 2020– The entire nation has been facing the effects of a countrywide lockdown as of Saturday, April 11, at 8:00 p.m. due to Belize’s second recorded death caused by COVID-19.
Patient #10, 65-year-old Conrad Everett, was suffering from complications due to the novel coronavirus and subsequently passed away on Good Friday, April 10.
Everett’s passing followed a series of events that were classified as “nightmarish” by Prime Minister Dean Barrow in a recorded public address. These events entailed the infected person coming in contact with a number of Belize City residents and healthcare providers from the Belize Healthcare Partners Limited, as well as the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital Intensive Care Unit.
Prime Minister Barrow’s address stressed the dire need for the government to act quickly and more aggressively, given that patient #10’s social activity leading up to his death produced a cluster of about 100 persons who were exposed.
After consultation with the medical arm of his team and the National Oversight Committee, Prime Minister Barrow announced a number of changes to the Statutory Instrument governing the State of Emergency.
Primarily, the entire country has been placed under quarantine for fourteen days while the mapping exercise takes place for possible cases of persons who had been exposed to Patient #10.
The conditions levied under the State of Emergency in the Cayo District have now been in effect for all remaining districts since last Saturday. This means that throughout the nation, residents can only leave their home to procure food, medicine, fuel and financial services. Grocery shops, pharmacies, and fuel stations are now operating under reduced hours, and banks and other lending institutions have been limited to operations between 8:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon.
Public transportation has ceased countrywide; however, farms and farmers are allowed to work per the norm.
PM Barrow also acknowledged the need for essential workers to be afforded transportation, which the government has made arrangements to provide.
Prime Minister Barrow also acknowledged that he and his family have been in self-isolation because an officer assigned to his home was the nephew of Patient #10, and it had not yet been determined whether or not he had been in contact with his uncle during his ailment.
The Prime Minister urged persons entering the public to use masks and gloves at all times, and he urged employers to make masks and gloves available to all members of staff.
Notably, during Wednesday’s segment of “Ask the Experts,” Attorney General Michael Peyrefitte discussed new measures that are to be added to the Statutory Instrument for the state of emergency. These are to be implemented as of Friday, April 17, 2020.
Under these new measures, banks and financial institutions will be allowed to be open from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. to accommodate the number of persons receiving checks as a part of the unemployment relief program.
Feature photo: PM Dean Barrow