And while Saldivar is one target of increased police vigilance for COVID 19 public safety, police have also been cracking down on social distancing.
This weekend, the cops started cracking down countrywide on groups of people who were either engaging in public drinking or ignoring the government's call to use social distancing as a preventative measure to limit the spread of COVID-19.
We report first on a group from men in Libertad Village in the Corozal District. Police say that on Saturday night at around 8:00, they passed by a bar in the village, and that's when they spotted a group of 6 men who were drinking in public in front of a bar. As viewers are aware, social distancing was implemented as one of the main practices to limit the exposure of the Belizean population to the coronavirus. So, these men should have been at home keeping themselves safe. But, according to the cops, they weren't even respecting the recommended 3-foot, arm-length distance from each other.
At a press conference held today in Belmopan, police shared a few more details about this incident, and why they were arrested and charged:
ACP Joseph Myvette - Head, NCIB
"The next item is that on Saturday, sometime around 8 p.m., Corozal police was on patrol in Libertad Village, and also responding to a complaint. They visited a bar in Libertad Village. Upon arrival, they observed several persons congregating together very closely and drinking. As a result, those persons were spoken to, and their [identities] were learned to be Isaiah Sedacy, 26-year-old, Jose Velasquez, 42-years-old, Jose Chan, 18-years-old, Eugene Fuentes, 21-years-old, Jeremy Martinez, 39-years-old, and a 17-year-old minor, who was along with the bar owner, a Jose Quintanilla, who is 50-years-old. Those persons, with the exception of Jose Quintanilla, was charged for failing to comply with social distancing while Quintanilla was charged with refusing to close his liquor establishment when required to do so by the act."
