On Monday, Guyana joined the list of countries that have lifted COVID-19 restrictions. The new guidelines, which were approved by President Irfaan Ali have effectively ended social distancing. Further, the wearing of face masks is no longer mandatory, but it is encouraged as are handwashing and sanitation. Meanwhile, Director of the National COVID-19 Task Force Colonel Nazrul Hussain had said on Sunday that vaccination and testing requirements would remain in place. But do not pull out the bells and whistles just yet. Guyana should expect to see a significant rise in COVID cases before too long.
In many of the countries where restrictions have been and are being lifted, politicians have been quoting lower numbers of infections and deaths as the rationale behind their decisions. They seem to have decided to remain unfazed by the spikes in infections that follow shortly thereafter, or they are purposely ignoring them for the sake of expediency.
One such example is the UK where Prime Minister Boris Johnson boldly announced his “living with COVID” plan last month. As of Tuesday, two weeks after he abruptly curtailed the conditions imposed over the last two years to help curb COVID-19, there have been rising infections, an increase in hospitalisations and the spread of a new variant that was already running rampant all over Europe – the BA.2. Mr Johnson’s actions were at odds with public health advice. He did not appear to care. Unfortunately, this is a scenario being played out in many countries. It appears that the focus is on moving forward, whatever that means, regardless. It should be noted here that China, COVID-19’s ground zero, has locked down cities and provinces in the face of an upsurge in infections.
It is a fact that powerful business lobbying is behind the decisions to remove COVID restrictions the world over and that governments, including ours, have succumbed to the pressure by ripping the bandage off before the wound has healed completely. The recommendations made in some places, for gradual changes over a period of time, during which the effects of those changes could have been monitored and evaluated, were ignored. Simply put, as Bill Clinton’s strategist James Carville stated in 1992, “it’s the economy, stupid”.
Of course, it cannot be ignored that the regulations put in place to fight the novel coronavirus have had debilitating effects on the global economy. Thousands of businesses collapsed, millions of people lost their jobs and the trickle-down effect has been devastating everywhere one turns. That said, nothing transcends the ravage and trauma wreaked on people who lost loved ones, were or still are afflicted with the coronavirus and are suffering long-term health impacts or have now become caregivers to those continuing to be plagued. In most cases, as has always been the norm, women are the ones who shoulder the burden and absorb the impacts of COVID-19 on their families.
Admittedly, the past two years have been difficult, and that is putting it mildly. It would be undeniably much more brutal to have to do it all over again because decisions were taken that were too precipitous. Yet, governments, Guyana’s included, have taken that step forward that will push us all two steps backward, because despite all that has happened, the world remains woefully unprepared.
At the 74th World Health Assembly in May last year, the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, set up by the World Health Organisation (WHO), presented its report, “COVID-19: Make it the Last Pandemic”, which examined lessons learnt and made recommendations on the way forward. It noted, unsurprisingly, that the response to COVID-19 floundered in many countries owing to poor coordination, and disastrous decision-making, along with a host of other actions or lack thereof. Sadly, today, it appears that not much has changed. Among the recommendations the panel made are for countries to bolster their risk responses and invest in high-quality healthcare, particularly inclusive of personnel. It must be said here that health workers bore the brunt of this pandemic. They worked above and beyond the call of duty in most cases with uncertainty and a dearth of proper protective gear. So much so, the WHO has estimated that 180,000 health personnel worldwide have died from COVID-19 to date.
What is known for sure is that this pandemic is far from over, even though many refer to it in the past tense. According to global statistics gathered by the WHO a day apart, around 4 pm on Monday this week there were 456,797,217 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 6,043,094 deaths; by Tuesday around 5 pm, this had risen to 458,479,635 confirmed cases and 6,047,653 deaths. Though lower than they were a year ago, these numbers are on an upward trajectory. It is mind boggling that having survived the horror of the pandemic before the vaccines made a difference, governments are ready to risk it all again. It is disappointing that citizens are willing to let them do it in the name of that elusive goal, normalcy.
