GUINEA GRASS, Orange Walk District, Tues. July 7, 2020– Guatemalan national, Elias Hernandez Lopez, 50, a farmer living in Guinea Grass, was placed in quarantine yesterday in Orange Walk Town, after he visited Mexico and came back into Belize by crossing illegally from La Union, Mexico.

He was found in the village yesterday. When confronted by police and Ministry of Health officials, he was truthful and told authorities that he went to Mexico. He cooperated with the officers, and the COVID-19 pandemic protocols were followed and he was swabbed and placed in quarantine for 14 days.

If he tests negative for the COVID-19 virus after the period of quarantine, he will face a charge of illegal entry.

Dr. Marvin Manzanero, Director of Health Services in the Ministry of Health, said that persons who jump the border could spread the COVID-19 virus because they circumvent the safety net that has been put in place to contain the virus.

Persons who enter the country through the established programs for reentry are swabbed and quarantined to ensure that they are not infected with the virus before they are released, whereas the border jumpers come in illegally and can unknowingly be infected with the virus . Dr. Manzanero calls on members of the community to be vigilant and to report anyone who enters into the country illegally.