And in other COVID news, medical officers - meaning doctors in the public service, are wondering when the regulations prohibiting them from engaging in private practice will be rolled back.
The most recent Statutory Instrument laying out the State of Emergency regulations still states, quote, "No medical officer employed by the Government of Belize shall engage in any independent private practice during the period of public emergency."
This is presumably to avoid the risk of any cross contamination between public and private facilities, but, without any confirmed COVID cases in Belize for the past 51 days, many of those medical officers are asking if its really necessary.
Now, they dare not test the waters, after all, a public doctor, Dr. Fausto Pineda was already criminally charged for signing off on sick leave for police officers during the state of emergency.
It puts public doctors - who don't make very much money - in a tight spot - and, yesterday, we asked the Attorney General if and when the regulations will be relaxed:
Reporter
"Is there any pressure on your office for rolling back the "No Medical Officer Employed by Government of Belize Shall Engage in any Independent Private Practice?" We know that one doctor has been charged and you're an attorney, you know how much a crown counsel in your office makes and maybe you don't know that a medical officer, a doctor who just came out of med school is making probably only $30,000 a year with $300 a month for allowance for not working in the private sector. So that works out to about $3,600 a year before taxes. I'm just saying these people are making a very small salary, they have student loans to pay, a lot of them are fresh out of school. Is that really a just law to continue it?"
Hon. Mike Peyrefitte, Minister of National Security
"Well the AG's ministry doesn't get pressure and we don't respond to pressure. SO I would advised those doctors who believe that they are not making adequate income that they should lobby the NOC, to see if maybe that part of the SI can be relaxed and if the AG's ministry is instructed by the proper authority to draft and relax that regulation the we will."
Last month, the Belize Medical and Dental Association said in a statement that it, quote, "vehemently condemns and abhors this part of the SI since it goes against the very core of our profession which is to serve our fellow human being in need."
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