Email

Print

You'll remember that a percentage of the KHMH's staff was exposed to COVID-19 Patient #10, who later died from the virus. Now, the Administration is hoping that the complete separation between patients and doctors offered by this booth may result in a much smaller chance of infection for frontline workers.

Casilda Bowman, Unit Manager Accident and emergency/Manager, Isolation Critical Care Unit
"This contribution will be something that is very helpful because one what we're trying to do is from the point of entry to identify persons who we consider a suspected case and that we examine them and do the testing out here. So it decreases the exposure to the rest of the staff. So our first point of testing is here we have a nurse that is identified to do a triage of all the patients who come into the emergency department. They then determine if the patient has symptoms of COVID and they identify them. They would place them here a physician then is identified and also would come and do the procedure of testing the patient for COVID."

Dr. Ronaldo Siu, Head of A&E
"I really am highly appreciative of the gesture by the City major having brought the booths which create again a barrier against the COVID."

Casilda Bowman
"Of course you know this is one step in trying to reduce the number of patients who go in there and expose the staff but our, we also have our nurses being prepared assuming that everybody is a suspected case until we know that they are not."

Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City
"Essentially through my offices I was able to make contact with some donors because we felt that as a City we needed to be able to contribute to help the whole effort in this COVID pandemic. We actually lost one of our workers here and we felt compelled to help in this area. Especially in the testing area because we believe that maybe if things were much better then what happened would probably never have occurred and so instead of just moping about we said we want to ensure that we provide testing booths and so we are giving two of these testing booths to KHMH and one to Cleopatra White, and one to Matron Roberts as well."

"It was built in Belmopan through Eric Welding services. It's a new group out there and very inexpensive. It's a 50 by 49 structure with an 18,000 BTU Air Condition unit pretty safe and it met all the modeling requirements."

Cherisse Halsall:
"I've seen a few of them and, forgive me but these seem to be the most, there's more to be desired than in the others in that it's not completely sealed and I heard comments to the effect that an AC Unit can actually contaminate the unit?"

Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City
"You will have to take up that question with the other entities that deal with safety. We are trying to help but I'm uncertain that the booth as it is will not meet all the requirements but as you go along you retrofit and you go along accomodating to meet your needs."

Reporter:
"Is it a case that the place that's building them this is the model that they are building it's not that you gave them specifications, how did that work. No, we didn't give any specifications. I believe this all started last week with the first one being on TV and other entities began to go along that route."

Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City
"It's a day by day fit and retrofit type of situation I am certain that KHMH will not sit here with this booth and take it as is they will do their retrofitting to make it accommodate their needs."

The Booths are valued at $2,000 each and bring the Mayor's total donation to a value of $8,000.