For late last week, our newsroom has been receiving persistent reports that a group of staff members of the Toledo Institute for Development and Environment (TIDE) are currently in isolation at a facility in Big Falls. That's after they interacted with a team of scientists from FUNDAECO, their Guatemalan counterparts. We have been informed that a member of the FUNDAECO team has tested positive for COVID.
As viewers are aware, these two conservation organizations have a collaboration agreement since January of this year. That's when they agreed to conduct joint research on the Corona Reef, or the Cayman Crown, as it is officially known. We are told that the two sides agreed to conduct a research mission last week at Hunting Caye.
Reliable sources tell us that the Guatemalan research team traveled by boat directly to the Caye and that they departed from a port in Guatemalan. We understand that border officials have reminded representatives of TIDE that Belize's maritime borders are closed and that any travel into the country must take place through the international airport.
Information to 7News is that a member of the FUNDAECO team arrived so sick that he was unable to conduct any actual research, and that he had to remain confined to bed. Reports say, he later tested positive for COVID. We are told that this potential exposure was a cause for concern because among the officials posted on Hunting Caye are representatives of the BDF, the Coast Guard, the Fisheries Department, and TIDE. Another member of the FUNDAECO team allegedly displayed warning signs of the contagious virus. They had submitted negative tests before the research mission began.
We are told that the TIDE team, which was supposed to conduct this research, was recalled 2 days later, and that they are currently quarantined at the organization's facility in Big Falls. Reports are that they have already been administered with rapid tests that have tested negative. They are currently waiting for their PCR results.
This evening, we contacted Celia Mahung, the Executive Director of TIDE, for comment. Via telephone, she told us that she was not willing to disclose details because these health matters are personal. She stressed, however, that her team is safe.
