Later on in the news we'll tell you about two more traumatic deaths - one life lost to a self defense killing and another in an accident.
For sure, the first long weekend of the year, and the first weekend without mask or social distancing protocols in two years was a "bruk out" special. There were parties and mass gatherings all over - as well as drunk and disorderly behavior in abundance.
One man watching in consternation was Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams. Apart from public security, he has emerged as a leading public health watchdog. And this weekend he saw enough - making two exasperate posts on Facebook, urging caution.
We spoke to him about it by phone today:
Chester Williams - Commissioner of Police
"Some people are operating seemingly with no regards to the fact that we are still in a pandemic. While yes, it is clearly the intention of government to relax the measures, at the same time we still need to act responsibly, either individually or collectively. We see for example that these so-called restaurants where they seem to be operating like nightclubs or bars and it is clear in the regulations that if it is that you are in a building and the it lists the different types of buildings, there are crowd that you must wear a masks and we are seeing that these restaurants have crowd and nobody within are wearing any face masks."
"I have given instructions to the police officers that when they see these things occur that we must take actions against the proprietors either under the covid19 regulations or under the intoxicated liquor licensing act or both and so that is one thing we begin to monitor now. If we see a large crowd gathering like what we saw over the weekend in Boom and even in Belize City with the La Ruta Maya race. We saw so much people in one setting practically on top of each other and no one wearing masks. Can you imagine one person within that gathering being infected, what the result is going to be?"
Jules Vasquez
"Sir, could you speak also of the number of fights and drunken brawls that the police had to part?"
Chester Williams - Commissioner of Police
"Certainly, a number of fights and brawls in Belize City and even in Boom with the La Ruta Maya race and again when these things occur it builds a situation where the police have to engage these people and in all instances these persons are not wearing any masks and police have to confront them. Again, it puts our officers at risk of contracting the virus, so I want to appeal to people, celebrate, enjoy yourselves, but for Christ sake, let us act like civilize people. We cannot be enjoying ourselves and be fighting with each other, because it's no longer enjoyment."
