Belize records first death from virus

BELMOPAN (CMC):

A 54-year-old man who tested positive for COVID-19 last Friday in Belize has died.

Prime Minister Dean Barrow, in a message late Monday, in extending sympathies to the family of Hubert Pipersburgh, said that he died on Sunday in an isolation unit at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital.

Following his isolation, Pipersburgh’s health began to deteriorate quickly as he suffered from respiratory distress and pneumonia.

Meanwhile, more than 400 persons have been charged since April 2, when a nationwide state of emergency was declared in the country.

A curfew between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. was instituted, giving the police the power to charge persons caught on the streets between those hours without a pass signed by the minister of national security.

The draconian measure was put in place to help with preventing the spread of COVID-19