And while some may protest - there's a welcome dose of public health wisdom in that decision. But, just three hours before it was announced - we met the Prime Minister at the BDF Price Barracks - where he was doubling down on the January first re-opening - in spite of the looming Omicron threat:
Hon. John Briceno, Prime Minister
"We have agreed that we'll have to open the borders, we cannot stay locked up forever. And I know some people says that it has helped business - yes it has helped business - it has helped government to collect more revenues because then we are buying more in Belize. But the truth of the matter is that we can't remain locked off from the rest of the world. We've opened our airports for quite some time so now it is time to do our land borders. We're working on the protocols. The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Tourism, in which border management is, they are working closely in having protocols that will keep us safe. One of the things that we've been saying though for Belizeans is that if you want to go across the border, you have to be vaccinated because we want to make sure that you are as protected as you possibly can. And that if you only go for a day, you will not necessarily have to take the rapid test, but you must be vaccinated to go across the border."
As we said art the top, in the few hours since that interview it has been announced that "the opening of the land borders and sea ports has been postponed to February 2022."
