BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Aug. 20, 2020– In a Belize City Council press release dated August 18, 2020, it was confirmed that a traffic officer tested positive for COVID-19. According to the release, employees of the council who were in close contact with that officer have been placed in isolation.

The release states, “While this officer may not have contracted the virus in the line of duty, we have asked the employees who have had close contact with the employee to go into quarantine for a two-week period.”

The council informed the public that it is working closely with the Ministry of Health to assist in the contact-tracing process for this patient.

The council also said that they plan to continue exercising all measures of caution, as their priority is the safety of their staff and residents of the community. One of such precautionary measures that they are taking is the temporary closure of the Traffic Department office on Youth for The Future Drive, in order for it to be sanitized, the council said in its release.

According to a notice shared by the council on August 19, 2020, they are encouraging residents to use their available online options and over-the-counter banking options to access Traffic Department services until the department reopens.

Of note is that the infected traffic officer is the second Belize City Council employee who has tested positive for COVID-19. The first was Hubert Pipersburgh, the council’s Local Economic Development Manager, whose passing in April 2020 was also the first recorded COVID-19- related death in the country.