7 News Belize

Concerns About Melchor Immigration Boss’s Death
posted (June 9, 2020)
And, there is another situation that bears watching - this one is at the western border. The head of Guatemalan Immigration at Melchor has suddenly died - and whisperings in that community is that he could have died of COVID-19.

Now, an official release is saying that he died of diabetes and respiratory failure, and that the result of a posthumous test for COVID 19 is pending. Guatemalan media is reporting a confirmed case of COVID 19 at that border station and claims that other staffers have been sent into quarantine.

Now, that is what is reported on the Melchor side of the border, not in Belize.

But, there is proximity - and that has caused concern amongst Belizeans out west. Dr.Manzanero said today that he does not see a great cause for concern:

Dr. Marvin Manzanero - Director of Health Services
"I have seen the note. I did not see it say he died of respiratory failure. The note says that he died of a seeming heart condition, but because his death was so sudden and they are thinking that he was going to be swabbed and I assume tested for a Covid-19 case. Ahm, that's what I know. I haven't seen the official report that in point of fact he has been considered to be a Covid-19 case. There is also another worker there that was tested positive. We got that note yesterday. As I understand it they are not testing them there, they are just doing the swab and sending it elsewhere, but we are seeing lots of that start to come up, but we are not seeing any confirmation that in point of fact anybody at that border station point has turned out to be a positive case."

Ask the Experts Facebook Stream
"A comment on the significant of those cases for public health in Belize?"

Dr. Marvin Manzanero - Director of Health Services
"Well as far as I know the border would be closed, so I don't know how much of an interaction Belizeans would be having with people at the border entry point, if at all it would be the people who have started to come back like from Friday of last week. It would be interesting or we would need to know where he potentially got the infection from and also if you are just crossing the border entry point and you are handing your passport on to somebody, that's a casual contact. If your exchange of words is minimal whatever happens there in that short period of time that would be considered as a casual interaction. I don't know that from the public health standpoint we would routinely be that much concern."

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