And moving into health news, the new COVID 19 variant was confirmed to be in Mexico, and now it has been detected in 15 US states.
And with the prospect of health regulations slowly relaxing and borders opening simultaneous with the tourism high season, Belizeans are growing concerned.
But the Minister of Health and Wellness today said that really it's only a matter of time before it crosses the border into Belize. He added that this in no way affects their plans for reopening the border, but mentioned that they are monitoring the variant closely.
Hon. Michel Chebat, Minister of Health and Wellness
"I don't know that we have any direct flights from Mexico coming into Belize currently, as you know several countries in the world have instituted bans against the South African countries but as you rightly said, it's next door, it's just a matter of time. We are stepping up our surveillance, we continue to ask all our citizens who are not yet vaccinated to come out and get vaccinated, we believe this is the best protection against this variant as well."
Courtney Menzies:
"And you're still working towards reopening the land borders next year?"
Hon. Michel Chebat, Minister of Health and Wellness
"That is still in the making but we're watching and we're waiting."
And while there is no sign of Omicron in the country - yet - AP News is reporting that a Norwegian Cruise Line Ship carrying ten COVID positive passengers made a stop in Belize last week. In a statement by the cruise line, they said they have been, quote, "adhering to appropriate quarantine and isolation protocols as new cases and exposures have been identified aboard this vessel." End quote. It is unclear if any of the passengers had disembarked.
