And in other news, both of Belize's neighbors to the north and the west have now reported cases of Monkeypox. Guatemala confirmed its first case yesterday. While Belize has yet to identify a case, it's a major cause for concern, especially since the US has declared it a public health crisis.
But coming out of a worldwide pandemic has left Belizeans wary of restrictions and since all of them have been lifted, there have been no shortage of parties and events. And that's not including the September Celebrations.
Today we asked the Minister of Education, Culture, Science and Technology if he is concerned, considering how close the virus is to our borders.
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
"It's obviously a very important issue and we've gotten briefings from within cabinet from the Ministry of Health on this issue. So, we are confident that our health experts are watching and following it closely. They are on top of it and just as we did with COVID, at the Ministry of Education we have to be guided by our experts. So, we will listen to them, we will follow the expert advice and we certainly hope that it doesn't reach our shores. I think they are trying to do everything they can, but inevitably these things reach everywhere. So, as it is now, there are no cases in our country, and we are proceeding accordingly. If that changes, then we will have to sit down with the Ministry of Health and get advice from them on how we proceed."
