“… very few cases … are detected actually at an entry point.” — Director of Health Services

BELIZE CITY, Wed. Mar. 4, 2020– As the COVID-19 (coronavirus) continues to spread across regions of the world and has become a major public health concern for many countries, the Government of Belize rolled out its plan to combat the virus if or when it arrives in Belize.

The Belize Ministry of Health’s coronavirus plan was presented yesterday afternoon at a press conference in Belmopan. There, Minister of Health, Pablo Marin (Corozal North), announced that Prime Minister Dean Barrow had approved a budget of almost one million dollars for Belize to combat the coronavirus.

“We have already been spending money from the Ministry of Health and I think that is something that we know will come to us anytime soon,” Marin said.

Marin also said several countries in the region have already discovered cases of coronavirus, within their borders. These countries include Mexico, Brazil and the Dominican Republic.

“We’re asking the public to listen also to the WHO and to PAHO, and one of the things that we can see is that eighty percent of the cases do not need any hospitalization and also, we want you all to know that a lot of people won’t show the symptoms,” Marin said.

The Minister of Health also expressed his thanks to the Belize Social Security Board for its assistance to government in its preparation to fight the coronavirus and to two private hospitals, the Northern Medical Plaza and Belize Medical Associates which have pledged to provide their own isolation quarters.

Other entities which Marin thanked for reaching out to the Ministry of Health in its efforts to fight the coronavirus are the University of Belize and Belize Estate Group of Companies.
Director of Health Services (DHS), Dr. Marvin Manzanero, said that the Ministry of Health will collaborate with other government agencies, including the Belize Airports Authority and the Ministry of Tourism.

Dr. Manzanero said that screening travelers at the various entry points to Belize has proven to be an ineffective use of human and financial resources. The DHS came to his conclusion on screening based on the experiences of the government of the Dominican Republic.

Dr. Manzanero said, “Other than the entities that the minister has highlighted — the Airport Authority, BTIA/BTB, NEMO — the Ministry of Education are now in full communication and there will be a meeting on Friday with general managers from across the country to lay out the potential scenarios that can happen, depending on how COVID-19 affects us and the levels of affection it will have.”

“The Ministry of Tourism has been invited and we have already highlighted the fact that we are having a major activity with UB on Wednesday, with PAHO on Thursday and today, there is a major tabletop exercise,” he mentioned.

He further explained, “What is done is basically, all regions come to the table and different case scenarios are tabled, and you go through an exercise process to identify that you are not going to miss anything.

“One of the things that I think was very clear from the Dominican Republic’s experience that was shared with us earlier today is that very few cases, and I think even the WHO Director General has been saying this, are detected actually at an entry point.

“So that in point of fact, I know people are concerned about what is happening at the airport what is happening at the borders. But when you look at the scientific evidence, and we are saying it as well, screening at ports of entry, a lot of resources are wasted, human resources and financial, with very few epidemiological substance to back it up.”