| A group of nurses at the Northern Regional Hospital in Orange Walk has complained to their colleagues in the Nurses Association of Belize. These professionals feel they are being forced to take unnecessary risks as frontline medical workers.
In a memo, dated Friday, August 7th, 2020, Felix Rhaburn, the President of the Nurses Association Orange Walk District, wrote to the executive members of the Nurse's Association of Belize.
Rhaburn says, quote, "Several nursing staff and support staff have voiced their concerns regarding the current administration response, with respect to; exposure to COVID 19 infected individuals; staff displaying flu-like symptoms who are required to report to work and inadequate staffing and poor facility for triage and housing of COVID 19 clients." End quote.
Rhaburn then goes on to explain that there was an in patient, who was diagnosed with COVID-19. This patient spent over 48 hours at the general ward, and several of the hospital staff members had primary contact with this civilian, who "reportedly had poor mask usage etiquette". According to Rhaburn, the staff in the general ward were only provided with a surgical mask, even though they were performing aerosol-generating procedures. It is implied that the masks were inadequate protection for the healthcare workers and that their hospital bosses then required them to report to work, as though they were never engaging in high-risk behavior.
The internal memo then turned to a nurse from the surgical ward who reportedly began displaying flu-like symptoms. She informed her supervisor, who allegedly told her that she still had to report to work, despite her symptoms.
Rhaburn then discussed the frustrations of the nurses who are working at the flu clinic and the COVID-19 isolation ward. The nurses are asserting that "poor staffing" puts them and the patients they treat in the flu clinic at risk of contracting the coronavirus. They also say that the detained persons are house in a position that also puts both the staff and the visitors to the flu clinic at risk of catching the disease.
The memo also adds, quote, "It is important to also note that no nurse is in quarantine who had primary contact with infected COVID 19 patient or infected staff; nor have any nurse received the agreed-upon allowance that was promised by the Government of Belize." End quote.
It's a laundry list of complaints in the three page letter and on Saturday night, during a COVID-19 update, the Director of Health Services, addressed a few of the issues brought up in this memo - basically saying that none of the 3 medical staff in public facilities who have contracted COVID got it at work :
Dr. Marvin Manzanero - Director of Health Services
"I am aware of the nursing note that's circulating from the Northern Health Region. And that was, as I understand it, intended to have been an internal memo from the nursing group in Orange Walk to the Northern Regional Hospital, to the management team. When I got it by social media or by WhatsApp, it didn't seem like the management team had actually received that. So, I spoke with the manager and some other members of her management team earlier today, and they are seeking to address that. I note that there's a note in there that suggests that the nurse may have been placed to do certain duties, and I am assuming that is the nurse who turned out positive. I have not been able to confirm that. That is the case with any member of her team."
"What is a little bit interesting to digest is that we now have 6 medical staff that are ill. We have 3 doctors, 1 pharmacist, and 2 nurses. And out of these 6 health staff that are reactive for COVID-19, 1 doctor, 1 nurse, and 1 pharmacist are from the public sector. 2 doctors and 1 nurse are from the private sector. And it's important - that's one of the reasons I wanted to come forward and clarify this. In terms of what we have done with our contact tracing, the 1 doctor, the 1 pharmacist, and the nurse from the public sector didn't seem to have become infected in the line of duty. We have not been able to identify that they were in contact with any patient that is positive. So, we are assuming that the persons may have gotten infected outside of the health setting."
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