Cabinet and COVID-19: Extension of free testing sites and new regulations approved

Published by BBNTEAM at November 18, 2021

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Posted: Thursday, November 18, 2021. 1:04 pm CST.

By Aaron Humes: Cabinet has announced that in its weekly session, it approved extensions to the free testing sites scheduled to close at the end of November, which will now continue to operate countrywide until the end of the year.

Public officers have been told they must be vaccinated, no exceptions, after December 15, and the numbers of vaccinated have been slowly climbing.

4,020 booster shots have been issued since the start of the booster shot program and the Ministry is now opening booster shots to everyone.

Additionally, Cabinet approved recommendations from the Ministry of Tourism and Diaspora Relations to make certain adjustments to the current COVID-19 public health measures to take effect next Monday, November 22, 2021. These measures will be published shortly by the Ministry of Health & Wellness. They are expected to include a relaxation of curfew hours to 10 p.m. on weekdays from Sunday to Thursday and 11:00 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, the removal of the requirement for vaccination cards to enter restaurants, and other things.

Minister of Health and Wellness Michel Chebat also informed Cabinet that this year alone the Ministry issued close to $700,000 in food assistance to persons who had to go into isolation due to COVID-19. This was as a result of lockdowns in villages in the lower Stann Creek and Toledo District in May and June.

As of November 15, 208,168 persons or 48.3 percent had received at least one dose of the vaccine, and 190,031 or 41.1 percent have been fully vaccinated.

Belize currently has more than 373,868 vaccines on hand of AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccine.

As we celebrate Garifuna Settlement Day, Cabinet sends its best wishes and asks that everyone wears masks, maintains physical distance, washes hands regularly, and for those not fully vaccinated to do so as soon as possible. Vaccines save lives.

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