The Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), announced that Belize can obtain as many COVID-19 test kits (as needed) from the Cayman Islands. This announcement follows a phone call between Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow and Premier Hon. Alden McLaughlin, of the Cayman Islands on Saturday, April 11, 2020. “We have well in excess of what we need,” says Cayman Islands’ McLaughlin. “We bought 200,000 because that is the smallest amount [South Korea] was prepared to sell.” He said where Cayman could help its “brothers and sisters in the Overseas Territories”, it would. Approximately 100,000 Test Kits are available to the Caribbean region at cost price, including Belize. #CaribbeanStrong
Test Kits in Belize
Belize has so far received 2,500 tests from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and is expecting an additional 11,500 tests. Additionally, Belize has ordered 4,000 tests from the Roche Agency in Guatemala. The 2,000 test kits, are to be delivered this week and the remaining next week.
The Ministry of Health has also confirmed that a test kit is different from an actual test, and in fact, contains 100 tests.
The Office of the Prime Minister is therefore determining, with Ministry of Health, how many Cayman test kits to procure. Thereafter, the OPM will place its order as soon as the 11,500 tests from PAHO are in-country. Furthermore, the OPM confirms the Cayman kits are compatible with Belize’s PCR test processing machines. On behalf of Belize, the Office of the Prime Minister thanks Premier McLaughlin and the Cayman Islands. Belize currently has 18 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the novel coronavirus, as of 3PM local time April 14th, 2020.
