And while the Public does its part, GOB is tasked with making the hard choices such as which tests, donated or not, can be incorporated into an expanded testing effort. 

As we told you, the government of Belize is buying a significant number of tests from our neighbour, Grand Cayman which has a super abundance.  They brought it from South Kore and are selling it to their Caribbean neighbours at cost.  

Today we asked the Director of Health Services Dr. Marvin Manzanero why the Cayman tests sourced from South Korea will work when the tests CABEI donated to Central America, also from South Korea wouldn't.

Dr. Marvin Manzanero - Director of Health Services
"I know that there is discussion between the two Lab directors because a test from Cayman even though they are compatible also requires extraction enzymes which we have not procured we have procured enzymes for the current PCR tests that we have."

The Dialogue Between Doctors

In other news, we've told you that the Belize Medical and Dental Association says it has been given very little say in government planning for the pandemic. And to add injury to insult their representative was locked out of a task force meeting last week.

But this afternoon DHS Manzanero said he's been chatting with BMDA president Jose Moguel. They haven't hashed out many issues but the Ministry of Health is ensuring that doctors are furnished with information and additional training at this time.

Dr. Marvin Manzanero - Director of Health Services
"I did speak briefly with the president of the BMDA Dr. Moguel not necessarily to address the press release but to ensure that we continue to be engaged because we have one common ground on which we need to partner and that's COVID-19, expressing the support of my desk to ensure that CME continues to ensure that medical information is provided to medical doctors across the country and that we would provide the zoom platform for it to be used so that people across the country would have access to any educational sessions that we have and we are trying to see if we can get some of the doctors to get some credit from some of the ongoing sessions that we have as you would recall in last week session we had mentioned that in tandem with a team of doctors lead by Dr. Hidalgo we had a virtual platform where we are giving one hour sessions two to three P.M. every day and there is a 14-day training program for medical officers across the country."

Can Bodies Be Contagious?

You've seen mass burials in Italy and New York City and heard heart-wrenching stories of COVID-19 patients made to die alone, their disease too contagious to risk the exposure of their families. But can the body of a COVID-19 victim transmit the disease? Health Inspector John Bodden addressed that concern today.

John Bodden - Principal, Public Health Inspector
"That still has no been identified and as such the disinfectant. Question: Are we considering deaths that appear normal related to COVID-19 but without us knowing may be COVID related? And that's why in terms of the protocol that's developed it says either known or suspected so these procedures will also be applied to those that are either COVID case or those that are suspected to be of COVID origin."

In COVID Era, Funeral Traditions End

Belizean funerals have rituals which are ingrained cultural practices. We say farewell to our dead with all the caring we showed them in life. But at the height of this pandemic where funerals are limited to 10 persons, and all of our norms are suspended, the spectre of COVID 19 makes it even more difficult to bury a loved one.   Today, Bodden discussed why, right now, it's difficult to allow families unfettered access to their dead. 

John Bodden - Principal, Public Health Inspector
"We are trying to control the amount of interaction between the individuals and bodies in fact we know that at funerals very often people would want to have some interaction with the body and at times during the grieving process it's hard to control these individuals and we've seen that in a number of cases in fact even when we have the advisory to limit the number of persons to the event or funeral to ten at the maximum we still have a funeral that was conducted last weekend which had in excess of that amount of individuals. While we can put on all the PPE's sometimes people cannot really control themselves when they see their loved ones and so there is that issue we have to be very worried about in terms of people having interaction with the body itself."

Strict Rules For Burying A COVID Patient

And Bodden took some time to explain the protocols GOB has put in place for the handling of deceased persons with known or suspected COVID-19. 

John Bodden - Principal, Public Health Inspector.
"In general, we have four specifics areas that we focus on and one of them was actually to draft the management of protocols for deceased persons with known or suspected COVID-19 cases and as you know now that we have progressed with the emergency we now have two deaths and of course that triggered the need for the burial of those individuals. Primarily what happens in the management of these individuals is primarily the same approaches but with some modification. At that point in time, the body bag would then be disinfected thoroughly with a disinfectant and normally its bleach disinfectant 1 in 100 or 1%, so the entire body bag would be disinfected. Immediately after that, it would be placed in a casket and this is where there is a differentiation between what used to happen in the routine time and now in this emergency because the body is then moved directly from that morgue table into the casket. The Casket is then disinfected as well and then taken out for burial. Now in terms of that procedure, it must be done immediately or as early as possible with very little interaction and you'll realize that we didn't talk about doing any type of invasive procedures there, for example, any autopsy and that is not really what is expected to be done unless there is a coroner's case that will require that but at this point in time we know that the person died of COVID and so there's the urgent need for us to do the final disposal of the individual and this can be done in two mediums. It's either one by cremation or two by burial. While some people might prefer cremation because the body can actually or the ashes can be then used in terms of a funeral service later after the event has done, some people chose that and in other cases, some people chose to do the burial."

Take a Break From The Barrel

And switching gears now to some of the important public notices we didn't get to in yesterday's Meet the Experts session…If you are one of those Belizeans who regularly receive barrels of goods and or other cargo from family or friends living in the US, the Attorney General is hoping that you will curtail your shipping needs, at least until the COVID-19 threat is over. 

Here's how he explained his stance on the issue:

Hon. Michael Peyrefitte - Attorney General
"The law is here, that Ameri-Jet is open. Fed Ex is open. Those port for cargo and the like are open for 24 hours. Those aren't closed down. So, as far as the law is concerned, that should not be an issue."

Dorian Pakeman - Director, Government Press Office
"So, can people pick up? Or, does that service have to deliver to them?"

Hon. Michael Peyrefitte
"Well, I mean, delivery would have to take place. Delivery is the best thing.  And I am telling you - let me say this from now. Most of these places where you pick up from is a congested area. So, delivery is always the best thing to arrange for. However, I'd like the public to understand that preference will be given for medical supplies. So, those will be the things that will be distributed first, I can imagine. And a focus will be on those. So, we ask everybody to be patient. And we ask everybody to not be ordering too many things from abroad that you don't absolutely need right now. If you full up the plane or the cargo with unnecessary things, you're not making space for medical supplies and things that we need. So, we ask people to hold back on that as much as possible. But, if you need it, you need it, and the services are there because they are allowed to operate - port operations and services connected with loading and unloading of ships and aircraft, and delivery to and from ports, that's open twenty-four hours."

AG: Give Essential Workers A Break

The Attorney General is also asking the management of companies that are allowed to conduct business until 4 p.m. during weekdays to be reasonable with their employees. 

He notes that as of Friday there will be a 4 p.m. children's curfew and  some of these employees are parents who have to make babysitting arrangements.

Hon. Michael Peyrefitte - Attorney General
"I do want to thank, as well, the people who not only give us their verbal support, which is very encouraging and very uplifting but the people who actually make real contributions. I have a couple of friends who asked for special permission if they could prepare some food, and then, they went - because they have to deal with the checkpoints. They're essential service workers, and they see the police officers standing in the sun all day, some of them for hours. A simple gesture when you're going to the shop, and your buying a bottle of water, give the policemen one. One company - I don't want to announce it yet because I don't want to pre-empt it - 1 local company has offered each person in Belize City - they want to start there because that's where the company is - 1 plate of food per day, for the remainder of the emergency. So that at least each officer can have lunch for that day. All of the people who make small but important gestures, such as bringing a snack for the policemen, such as taking food for the policemen, it's greatly appreciated. They enable the rest of us to sleep at night."

Deliver, Don't Take Out

And, Peyrefitte warns, restaurants also have to make accommodations. That's mainly because under the national state of emergency rules which went into effect on Saturday night, restaurants and eateries can only make deliveries:

Body Found, No Foul Play

On Tuesday we told you that the body of 70-year old Salvadoran national Pedro Fuentes was found at his workplace, a dumpsite near a valley of peace. Fuentes left for work on Easter Monday but by nightfall when he hadn't returned home a search party was organized to locate him.

That search ended on Tuesday afternoon when Fuentes was dead and in a partially decomposed state.

And yesterday when a postmortem was conducted on Fuente's body it yielded no signs of visible injuries but due to its an advanced state of decomposition, his cause of death could not be determined.