Despite the rapid rise of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the Moruca sub-district, many persons living in the area still believe that the disease is fictitious especially since public awareness about the disease has been limited.
The Barima-Waini district in Region One has recorded more than 70 cases of COVID-19, inclusive of one death and a recovery. Fifty-nine-year-old Vincent Torres was the region’s first and only fatality attributed to the coronavirus disease.
Two of the coronavirus cases are from Mabaruma while the others originate from Santa Rosa, Waramuri and Kamwatta, according to health officials.
Santa Rosa remains the epicentre of the pandemic in the region.
The Amerindian Peoples Association (APA) Project Coordinator Graham Atkinson, who is currently on location, said that the outbreak and continuous rise of coronavirus cases can be credited to the lack of public awareness about the disease in and around the Moruca sub-district.
He said that while there have been some public-awareness campaigns led by Regional authorities and health departments, those haven’t been enough to convince persons that the COVID-19 threat is real. He added that other persons do not know which information on the disease is fact or fiction.
“There are cases in Waramuri village. There is also a couple of cases in Kamwatta, which is located on the outer part of the village [Santa Rosa] so there is some skeptics in the community and there are people who have been driving a narrative that COVID is not real even when the numbers speak for itself,” he said.
To ensure that this issue is addressed, the APA has dispatched a team to raise public awareness about the disease in the Moruca sub-region. Atkinson is one of the persons who is assisting with the initiative within the region.
Loudhailers
“APA has made available three loudhailers. We have recorded messages on flash drives and we are playing it as we are driving around the communities. We are interacting with residents from far via the loudhailer and if they have any questions we try to dispel some of the myths that are there about the disease,” he disclosed.
“The response to the public awareness is very accepting. The authorities had done something but it was not really widespread like what we are doing. We have two teams at the moment in different parts of the community spending the whole day out in the fields looking to get [the message out] so the response have been overwhelming. We were able to have engaged in talks with people who said that the virus doesn’t exist and [tell them] they need to be protecting themselves and we have been able to make them understand and change their minds.”
Since the coronavirus outbreak began in Santa Rosa, there have been numerous attempts by the village council to impose a lockdown on the community. However, in a previous report, Toshao Whanita Phillips stated that many persons have refused to adhere to those restrictions and therefore those previous lockdowns were not successful.
However, the village council has decided to impose another lockdown beginning July 5th and it will last for two weeks. Phillips told Stabroek News that shops will only be allowed to operate for three hours a day and only cargo boats will be allowed in and out of the community.
Atkinson suggested that the reason why the previous lockdowns have not been successful is due to little or no communication between residents and regional authorities.
“In terms of the lockdown, people do not understand what it means. The village council’s initial attempts at a lockdown were not successful and because the number [of coronavirus cases] had jumped the other day, the RHO [Regional Health Officer] and team, [along with] the local doctor, have agreed that they will make another attempt to go to lockdown for two week starting from Sunday, July 5th, but now it is a bit clearer, there are the hours of operation for traps and so on. No passenger boats in and out of the village, only humanitarian cargo boats or flights coming into deliver supplies to the hospitals will be allowed. Unless it’s an essential worker or you have to go to the shop quickly you have the stipulated time that the shops will be open and then only one person from the house will be allowed to go to the shop for the family. They gave people a few days’ notice,” he stated.
He added that the village council had asked him to inform residents of the looming lockdown and coupled with the APA’s public awareness campaign, he believes that people are beginning to understand what a lockdown means along with its purpose.
Atkinson added that while the village councils have local authority, they are desperately in need of assistance from the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH). He noted that MoPH had announced that special restrictions would be gazetted for Aranka in Region Seven as well as Moruca, however to date, those new measures were never announced.
“The village council have local authority yes, but I think that the Ministry [MoPH] had announced a while ago when we were spiking that they would be putting Aranka and Moruca in a special situation and provide us with an order which would have the legal backing and the police would have to enforce [it]. As it is we are depending on people cooperation some of which is nonexistent. Some businesses just don’t seem to care but if it was that we were provided for under the gazette lockdown order then I believe the police would be in a far better position to enforce the law. As it is we are just asking for cooperation from the community,” he said.
Further, Atkinson stated that the RHO recently disclosed that the disease was found within a one-mile radius of the Kumaka market in Santa Rosa. He stated that he advised the RHO to start communicating with the residents and has encouraged him to put all the necessary information on the Barima-Waini Facebook page. “If it’s something official, we can get it out to people as quickly as we can over the network and people will know where the hotspot is,” he said.
Another issue that persons are complaining about, Atkinson added, is the lack of information on testing protocols. He said many persons do not understand the way the system in place works so they are very confused when confronted by certain things. The fact that many persons have not seen physical evidence of their test results has caused a stir in the community causing some to believe that the disease is just part of a plot by the health officials.
Additionally, he stated that persons are waiting a very long time for their results and this is making many of them anxious.
Atkinson revealed that the issue concerning the lack of isolation facilities has been solved provided that the number of cases do not continue increasing. He disclosed that pre-fab units that are currently being set up for temporary use as isolation and quarantine facilities can accommodate fifty persons. He noted that he spoke with the RHO, who assured him that if those isolation tents are filled, there are many options in Santa Rosa and nearby villages, which can be used for isolation facilities.
Since arriving at Santa Rosa, he added, many persons have been concerned about their livelihoods being affected especially those families that are vulnerable at this time. “I told them that the humanitarian supplies are coming in and they will be going to those people first along with the families that are directly affected by the pandemic. They are being given preference over the others in the first instance,” he assured. Those packages will be distributed by the village council.
In a post on Facebook, the APA stated that they had delivered food supplies to households in the following villages: Assakata – 70 households; Warapoka – 84 households; Kanuballi (Santa Cruz) – 90 households; and Waramuri – 100 households.
