BELIZE CITY, Mon. July 26, 2021– Last Friday, the Minister of Health and Wellness, Hon. Michel Chebat, signed into law a Statutory Instrument (SI) containing a number of new Covid-19 regulations aimed at combating the recent spread of the virus seen across the country. These measures will be in place from July 26 to August 15.
The updated SI, Statutory Instrument 80 of 2021, has established a daily curfew period that extends from 10:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. The curfew time for children is unchanged: from 6:00 p.m. to 4 a.m. each day, unless the child is in the presence of a parent or guardian.
As the vaccination campaign continues, the Ministry of Health continues to look for ways to continue to safeguard our wider population from the eruption of yet another COVID-19 outbreak. As part of that effort, the Ministry has decided to put in place a new regulation that will require the redeployment of unvaccinated frontline workers from the various ports of entry.
Section 11A, which was inserted in the principal regulation of SI 80 of 2021, states, “Every frontline worker who works at a port of entry into and exit out of Belize shall be redeployed if that frontline worker is not vaccinated.”
The Health Ministry has also decided to close churches in specific rural areas (those outlined by regulation 59) for a 14-day period. Outbreaks of the virus in those small villages are being attributed to unregulated church services.
Churches in the villages of Conejo, Midway, and Barranco will not be allowed to host public religious services for a period of two weeks, starting July 26, 2021.
As mentioned, these regulations came into place today, Monday, July 26, 2021.