Initial reports indicate a private plane coming from the state of Louisiana,in the U.S landed at the PGIA.
The deportees were tested for the COVIDI-19 and were then taken to an isolated area in the Cayo district.
This is our data for today.
A total of 300 samples were processed today with 52 new cases identified today.
They are distributed as follows:
Toledo – 1 (Big Falls)
Cayo – 9 (2 Belmopan, 5 San Ignacio, 1 Santa Elena, 1 Armenia)
Belize – 11 (10 San Pedro, 1 Ladyville)
Orange Walk – 15 (4 Town, 2 Yo Creek, 1 Trial Farm, 2 Nuevo San Juan, 1 San Lazaro, 1 from Corozal Town but swabbed in OW, 4 from Toledo but swabbed in OW)
Corozal – 16 (10 Town, 1 Chan Chen, 1 Carolina, 1 Xaibe, 1 Santa Clara, 1 Libertad & 1 from OW)
We have had 53 recoveries so that we now have 37.7% of our cases active.
We have two patients that remaining critically ill at KHMH’s ICU.
Our surveillance team has also picked up 3 cases of co-infection with dengue, this is something that had been described in the region and something we had been looking out for given the added layer of complication this can bring. We will continue to monitor these particular situations across the country.
Follow MOE To Stay Updated
Case carried against numerous individuals by Wave Radio’s general manager, Juliet Thimbriel, has an amount of people openly apologizing for posting a disparaging article.
Under the laws of libel, anyone who shares details that is libelous is as guilty as the one who starts the defamatory act.
The suit comes from a supposedly fabricated Fb article by NBZLive where it defames Thimbriel and was hereafter propagated by an amount of people. Two of these people are Delroy Herrera and Main Lloyd Jones.
NBZLive FB Page Release:
The Only Thing “Fake” are GOB’s figures – We Stand By Our ReportThe Ministry of Education issued a press release on Independence Day refuting claims in an NBZLive report regarding the procurement of 15,500 tablets for distribution to high school and some primary school students. Minister of Education, Patrick Faber and Prime Minister Dean Barrow informed the nation in the Wednesday, September 16, 2020 meeting of the House of Representatives that the government is “fronting” $7Million BZD for the 15,500 units.
The figures put forward suggest that the GOB is “fronting” $451.61BZD per device which is an exorbitant price to pay per unit at bulk rate. Faber went to lengths to disavow notion that GOB isn’t “fronting” anything near that figure. Minister Faber explained on Wednesday, September 16, 2020:Transcript Courtesy Channel 7News”The monies that are being allotted will yield 15,500 tablets to this nation. I don’t even want to call it a tablet, because the truth is what they are trying to minimize as a tablet has develop so far that in fact if you go to big corporations in the United States, people walk around with a tablet with a keyboard attached. That is what their computer is now. But a 10 inch tablet, I think it’s Logic 10.1, something like that is the brand. You could go and look it up. I just looked it up and the retail price of it on the internet goes between $446.00 and $514.00 Belize. But that’s not what we are going to pay for it of course. Because as my friend said they do these transactions all the time it would seem. When you buy in bulk you get a better price, but when it was communicated to me that this is the device that would best suit our needs, I said I won’t accept that. We need more. So we insisted on getting more until we got all the software that we needed loaded on and just for your benefit you will know that the main bit of software that we are using on it which is Office 365 is given to this country in a licensed format free by the Microsoft Corporation, but to load it onto all the devices is a cost. I also insisted that we get a 3 year warranty on the devices, so that if there is some malfunction on the devices, that that is thrown in. I insisted that the students will get a carrying case for their device. I insisted that the students will get the Bluetooth keyboard that attaches, so that in fact when those students are using those devices you would think it’s a full computer and in truth, that is what it is. It is a big 10 inch screen with a case, with the keyboard tagged on to it connecting by Bluetooth and even when they told me that I said that’s not enough, so they threw in a headset, because you know the students will be on Zoom and Teams. Teams is what goes with the Microsoft package. It is a very loaded package for the price that we are getting it.”We invite the Government of Belize to publish the pro forma for the order showing that they are paying less per unit or are getting more units for $7MillionBZD. As for “the man (Vishal Sabnani and Karan Sabnani, owners of Cellular World) being no friend of ours”, we find that incredibl since that “PUP financier” is now the sole importer for BTL – a gig that once belonged to another company who the owner is said to be aligned with the UDP. Some way to treat someone who is not a friend of yours. Treat us like you treat the owners of Cellular World Enterprise, – show us the bill. Until the Government is able to show otherwise, we stand by our report – National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number and all.
A total of 193 tests were conducted today with a total of 34 new cases identified.
The distribution is as follows:Corozal District – 9 (7 in town, 1 Consejo, 1 San Andres)
Orange Walk District – 15 (3 in town, 3 Trinidad, 1 San Pablo, 1 San Jose, 1 Nuevo San Juan, 1 Chan Pine Ridge, 1 Guinea Grass, 1 San Luis, 1 San Lazaro, 1 from San Roman in Corozal, but identified in OW and 2 from Hiccattee Creek, Toledo but identified in OW)
Belize District – 7 (2 in Belize City, 3 San Pedro, 1 Caye Caulker, 1 from Unitedville identified at KHMH)
Cayo District – 1 (San Jose Succotz)
Stann Creek – 1 (Independence)
Toledo – 1 (from Cayo)
We have one more death to report (not reflected in infographic as this is just being confrimed) – this is in a male in his 30s from the Cayo District who had been at the ICU of KHMH for over two weeks now
We have 37 recoveries to report
Our active cases stand at 38.5% of the total identified positive cases.
Follow MOH Health to stay updated.
The Minister of Health Hon. Pablo Marin, with the support of Cabinet, is pleased to announce that all applicants presently on the Government of Belize Hemodialysis Program waiting list will be receiving one dialysis treatment a week at no cost to the patient.
The Ministry of Health first entered into a contract for “Hemodialysis Services for Patients with End Stage Renal Failure in Belize” in 2010 with the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital Authority and La Loma Luz Adventist Hospital. Thirty patients were included in that contract. In 2018, the program was expanded to cover 90 additional patients and also to include hemodialysis service at the Miguel Rosado Dialysis Center and Dialysis del Caribe.
Minister Marin saw the need to further expand the program after taking into consideration the financial constraints families are faced with due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Minister lobbied for Cabinet to cover the cost for the additional applicants on the waiting list.
The Ministry presently has a total of 30 persons on that waiting list and they will be advised of this offer.
The Ministry of Education notes the publication of a social media post created by NBZLive containing grossly false and misleading information including a fabricated quotation. The publication attempts to cast a shadow on the government’s efforts to respond to the needs of the students by procuring much needed devices in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Funding support for the procurement of the devices is expected to come primarily through the Inter-American Development Bank. This support is made possible by the modification of an existing loan program, the Education Quality Improvement Program II (EQIP II). Given the urgency to assist students to start the new school year, the Government of Belize has identified funds that can be used to commence the procurement of the devices, until the expected funds become available from the IDB later this year. The procurement process must satisfy both the GOB procurement requirements as set out in the Finance & Audit (Reform) Act as well as the the IDB’s rigorous rules and regulations as a first tier of approval.
In addition, the contract must be reviewed and approved by the Ministry of Finance and the Contractor General prior to execution. No contract has been issued to date and therefore there is no truth to the claim that BZ$$7 million dollars has been paid by the Central Bank. The Ministry of Education is in full compliance with all relevant procurement regulations to ensure the upcoming investment meets or surpasses the sector needs and that the Government of Belize receives full value for money.
Belize has been granted independence on 21 September 1981. Guatemala refused to identify the brand new nation due to its longstanding territorial dispute with the British colony, claiming that Belize belonged to Guatemala. About 1,500 UK troops remained in Belize to prevent any feasible incursions.
With Price at the helm, the PUP won all national elections till 1984. For that election, the initial nationwide election after independence, the PUP has been defeated by the United Democratic Party (UDP). UDP leader Manuel Esquivel replaced Price as the Prime minister, with Price himself suddenly dropping his own House seat to an UDP contender. The PUP under Price returned to power following elections in 1989. The next year the UK announced that it would end its armed service involvement in Belize, and the RAF Harrier detachment had been withdrawn within 12 months, having remained stationed in country constantly since its deployment had become long term in Belize since 1980. British soldiers were withdrawn in 1994, however the United Kingdom left an military training team to help with the recently created Belize Defence Force.
The UDP regained power in the 1993 national election, and Esquivel became prime minister for another time. Soon later on, Esquivel introduced the suspension of a pact with Guatemala during Price’s tenure, declaring Price had made way too many concessions to get Guatemalan acknowledgement. The pact could have curtailed the 130-year-aged border dispute between two countries. Border tensions continuing in to the early 2000s, even though two nations cooperated in the areas.
The PUP won a landslide victory in the 1998 national elections, and PUP innovator Said Musa was sworn in as prime minister. In the 2003 elections the PUP maintained its majority, and Musa continued as prime minister. He pledged to fix issues in the underdeveloped and mostly inaccessible southern section of Belize.
In 2005, Belize was area of unrest due to discontent with the PUP government, including tax increases in the nationwide budget. On 8 February 2008, Dean Barrow was sworn in as the Prime minister after his party received a landslide victory in the general elections. Barrow and the UDP had been re-elected in 2012 with a substantially smaller majority. Barrow carried the UDP to a 3rd consecutive general election victory in November 2015, growing the party’s amount of chairs from 17 to 19. Nevertheless, he mentioned the election will be his final as party head and preparations are under way for the UDP to elect his successor.
A total of 167 tests were processed today.
A total of 21 new cases were identified with breakdown as follows:
Orange Walk District – 10 (5 in OW town, 2 Guinea Grass, 1 San Jose, 1 August Pine Ridge, 1 from Toledo but swabbed/isolated in OW)
Belize District – 4 (1 in Ladyville, 3 San Pedro)
Cayo District – 5 (3 San Ignacio, 1 Bullet Tree Falls, 1 Santa Familia)
Toledo District – 2 (1 Laguna, 1 Big Falls)
There were 42 recovered cases.
Unfortunately we have another death to report, this is an elderly female from Orange Walk District who had been symptomatic but had not been diagnosed, this person died at home and the diagnosis was made post-mortem.
Our active cases are now down to 42.3% of the total cases.
Our case fatality rate in Belize is currently 1.29%.
As we go into Independence Day and some level of celebrations, we encourage all to please be responsible in doing so as we do have a curve to flatten.
Nestor Vasquez Tenders Resignation from Additional Posts.
The Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) informs that Mr. Nestor Vasquez this morning submitted his resignation as Chairman of the Social Security Board Investment Committee. He also resigned from membership of the Integrity Commission of Belize and from membership of the Central Bank of Belize.
The OPM recalls for the public that Mr. Vasquez had already on Monday of this week resigned as Chairman of the Belize Telemedia Limited Board of Directors.
