Dear Editor,
The PPP Government when it was in Opposition had much to say about the APNU+AFC’s management of COVID-19. They even boasted their own COVID-19 task force.
Thrust to the helm of governance and it is clear there were no policies developed by the PPP shadow task force. Its current Task Force members are a secret. And even with two former Ministers of Health, Leslie Ramsammy and Bheri Ramsaran as Advisors, within the Ministry of Health, the government is no closer to having a handle on COVID-19.
The continuing outbreaks, in places like Siparuta, Region 6 and Bartica, Region 7, are a constant reminder that the Government does not have the pandemic under control. Far from it. Bartica has been re-designated a COVID hotspot.
Worse, we commiserate in grief with friends and family mourning the loss of Anna Regina, Region 2, Deputy Mayor Rudolph Williams who died recently after reportedly being hospitalised with COVID-19.
It is clear as day it was a colossal miscalculation and very bad judgement on the part of the Irfaan Ali administration initiating the rapid reopening of the country and economy. They must not, however, allow shame to prevent a reversal of policy.
Arrivals at the airports have registered as COVID positive, prisoners have tested positive, far- flung communities have not been spared the ravages of COVID-19; students who have returned to classrooms are testing positive, as well. COVID-19 infections and deaths in Guyana over three months have proliferated, and the spread, pervasive.
It is perhaps understandable why recently, “In its latest travel health notice, the United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has listed Guyana as a country where there is a very high risk of contracting COVID-19 and has warned against travelling here,” according to Stabroek News.
All of this while the administration’s status quo on COVID management remains. The Titanic that is Guyana is sinking and the PPP’s band plays on.
Yours faithfully,
Sherod Avery Duncan, MP
