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A Task Force and a Committee. Belize's Pandemic Response
posted (March 12, 2020)

Now, all these activities will be overseen by a COVID-19 Task Force and a COVID-19 National Oversight Committee.  The Prime Minister said this will be co-chaired with the leader of the opposition:

Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow - Prime Minister
"I have asked the Leader of the Opposition, and he has accepted, to co-chair with me the National Oversight Committee. Apart from Government and Opposition, the Committee will be made up of representatives from the Belize Council of Churches, the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Belize National Network of NGOs and the Belize Social Security Board. The NTUCB has also been invited to name a representative but has not yet responded. The purpose of this Committee is to provide ultimate overall supervision of Belize’s efforts to deal with COVID-19. It will especially zero in on the economic aspects of the crisis. Thus, at our first meeting scheduled for this coming Monday, we will hear from the Governor of the Central Bank, the Financial Secretary, and the CEO of the Ministry of Economic Development. They, together with SSB, will help the committee map out the necessary response to deal with the impacts of the crisis on employees, employers and all sectors of the Belize economy.  Matters we will be looking at include: emergency aid to workers; a possible tax payment extension; a supplementary allocation for Corona-related outlays; duty free importation of essential supplies; a moratorium on loan repayments at banks and credit unions; and post-Corona stimulus by even more accelerated capital spending, salary advances etc."

While the task force will deal with those overarching issues - the day to day public health response will be dealt with by the Ministry of Health and the COVID-19 Task Force, chaired by Dr. Marvin Manzanero.  They are also seeking expert assistance for the committee, including from Cuba and Taiwan. 

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