The following was gotten from a Belizean who arrived this week via one of the repatriation flights from the US and chose to share his experience on how the Government of Belize is handling things.
We have fixed the grammar but the entire story is exactly as it was shared to us.
I arrived in Belize between 11:40 and 11:50 AM.
We came out of the plane and were placed in 2 lines outside under the hot sun which we thought were the lines to be tested for the coronavirus.
They then gave us a form to fill out which required our name, address and quarantine details.
After being in the line for approximately somewhere between 45 minutes to an hour, I got to the front of the line where a woman with a temperature gun was testing temperatures.
The girl took my temperature and said “wow”, it got me a bit frightened but then I realized that the reading would be wrong since they had us out under the hot sun for almost an entire hour.
Apparently, everyone’s readings were wrong! I can’t tell you what they were thinking, or maybe they weren’t but we were never tested!
We then left that line to go in another line which took about the same time to get to the front.
This line was to get your passport checked.
They collected your passport and let you go sit in a waiting area.
Through all these processes, social distancing was enforced.
We were all still okay.
Tired, thirsty, hungry, needed a shower but we were still doing okay.
We understood that this process is necessary.
After sitting there for about an hour, I was called to retrieve my passport and about a half-hour later I was told to go collect my luggage outside and take them to customs.
Now customs want to search through my luggage, which I have no problem with but they are using the same gloves while searching through everyone’s luggage as well, meaning that If anybody’s luggage were contaminated they would be spreading it around and contaminating all other suitcases that they checked after that one, including mine.
Remember, we can’t go home to wash our clothes, we are being taken directly to a quarantine facility where we will be staying for the next 14-days.
I explained to the customs officer and he seemed to understand and said he was just doing his job which I can appreciate, I just think they need a better process of checking everyone’s suitcase.
Now after I get through customs it’s now time to go to get on the bus that will take us to our quarantine facilities.
There were 3 buses in total, 1 going to Radisson Fort George, and 2 going to the Ramada Princess Hotel, 1 for the passengers and 1 for the luggage.
I was one of the first to get on the bus which was a regular old school bus.
I got a seat and immediately sat as I believed that with the social distance practices they would have only 1 person per seat.
Boy was i wrong.
Our bus was so full that some people even had to stand.
After all these not so clearly thought out COVID-19 Safety measures in place, I may actually end up being infected.
The worst part of it all after dealing with an overcrowded bus, before we left the airport the bus driver got onto the bus and announced that everyone must pay a $25 passage fee to be taken from the Phillip Goldson International Airport to the Quarantine Center (hotel) in Belize City.
