The late night breaking news yesterday of a possible Ebola infected nurse on a cruise ship anchored off Belize's coast has sent the Belize government into damage control. The airwaves in Belize are saturated with talk of Ebola, and whether or not any of the estimated 2,000 passengers that disembarked in Belize City before the alarm was raised, may have had contact with the Dallas nurse that handled specimens of Thomas Eric Duncan, the first Ebola patient to have died of the disease in the U.S.
Prime Minister Dean Barrow has arranged a hastily convened press conference this morning to update Belizeans on the Ebola scare, and hopefully explain what his government is doing to prepare for Ebola. Neighboring Guatemala announced last week that it has invested Q$.5 million to purchase hazmat suits, train health works, acquire containment ambulances, and prepare additional ICUs at its hospital.
The Belize Government has today issued an immediate travel ban on all visitors from West Africa.