March 12th, 2020 – The Prime Minister of Belize announced today at a press conference at the Best Western Belize Biltmore Plaza confirmed that to date there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country of Belize. The Government of Belize has created a COVID-19 National oversight committee as well as a separate COVID-19 Task Force to deal with the ramifications this new phenomenon is causing in Belize. The purpose of these new entities are for the “overall supervision of Belize’s efforts to deal with COVID-19.” It will be the principle responsibility of The Ministry of Health to handle any medical situations which may arise.
The National Oversight Committee led by the Prime Minister of Belize and co-chaired by the leader of the opposition will be addressing the economic aspects of the crisis. Some of the items on the table for possible implementation are:
- Emergency aid to workers
- Possible tax deferral
- Duty-free importation of essential supplies
- A moratorium on loan repayments at banks and credit unions
A National COVID-19 Task Force
The Ministry of Health, managing the National COVID-19 Task Force reaffirms the public and travelers alike that Belize is doing all they can to continue to prevent the virus from entering Belize. Our border entry points continue to inspect every person arriving in the country. Belize is the only country within the region who has been able to test for the virus for over a month now. The Ministry of Health is equipped with test kits and has all the protocols in place to handle infected persons.
Belize is also receiving assistance and support from the PAHO/WHO local office in Belize as well as remains in communication with other Caribbean Countries as they are all coping with the virus and the effects of it on their economies. It was also noted that travel bans will come into place when necessary and the authorities urge everyone to start avoiding non-essential travel.
He reiterates that together the country of Belize will conquer this crisis, we will get through this and we will recover from this, the importance of the people of Belize is the most important thing.
View the entire live stream on the Government of Belize Press Office Facebook Page >
