But processing those who come into the country could be made much easier by a new testing device.
International health experts are starting to show support for the GeneXpert platform as a reliable type of rapid testing. It's a machine widely used as a tuberculosis diagnostic tool, but it is being repurposed in low-income countries as a viable option for mass rapid testing.
Today the Director of Health Services said that Belize already owns two of these machines and that 2 more are being acquired:
Dr. Marvin Manzanero - Director of Health Services
"We are also in the process of procuring other than the PCR test that we are doing to do PCR test through GeneXpert machines. We already have 2 GeneXpert machines in Belize; one in Belize City, one in Belmopan that should be routinely use for tuberculosis. So what we are now in the process of procuring is the cartridges for doing test using those platforms. The turnaround time is quicker. You can get a result in 30 minutes, it's a PCR test from nasal swab, it doesn't require the process of extraction. The situation there is that you can only run 4 tests every 30 minutes and we are procuring 2 other machines, one for Orange Walk and one for Dangriga, so that will allow a quicker turnaround time at the different regional hospitals and we also assuming that we there are not going to have that higher number so that you can run 4 tests every 30 minutes."
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