7 News Belize

CABEI Cares
posted (July 17, 2020)
And in other news of assistance.
Belize has received emergency COVID-19 aid from the Central American Bank for Economic Integration, known as CABEI. It's a donation that comes as a response to a request from the presidents of The Central American Integration System.

It includes medical supplies including swabs and Korean testing kits geared at expanding Belize's testing capacity and complements the Bank's April 2020,1 million USD donation to Belize's COVID-19 response. Here's more:

Sharmayne Hyde, CEO, Ministry of Economic Development
"This is part of a regional initiative that is being implemented by the Central American center for economic integration CABEI and it's for the SICA countries of CABEI which are basically the Caribbean countries and Belize. CABEI has already contributed in terms of assistance for COVID-19 they have already contributed approximately a million US dollars in other types of equipment to do with COVID-19 So it's regional and we are very appreciative because it's all grant-funded. This donation is valued at approximately 150,000 USD so if you consider the million US and this it is and the million US was also grant. So you know it's substantial."

Aldo Sosa, Senior Medical Technologist
"We cannot ever say we have too much especially in these times when it comes to the viral swabs we know worldwide they were kind of running out. This increases our capacity by about 16,000. It's 16,000 swabs that we have."

"When it comes to tests this increases our capacity by 26,000 samples more. So we are very well equipped at the moment. You mentioned about distribution. We distribute basically to the entire country, right now it's going out by the hundreds the swabs are going out, it used to be by little boxes every week but now It's basically hundreds going out per week."

This donation is valued at BZ$300,000.

Belize had previously declared to CABEI that the kits are functional and in accordance with the diagnostic processes carried out in the country.

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