DURING the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, this column has sought to speak truth to power and to establish a clear line of conversation within the public space, when we have been fed a steady diet of public relations pieces.
It has been a steady diet of patting themselves on the back, mixed with lectures and the stern threatening tones which have been primarily geared towards the Barbadian public.
I am the first to admit that a small minority have become too relaxed and seem to believe that the virus continuing to ravage the global community has somehow bypassed this island.
I have seen people act as though they are so starved from their normal actions of meeting people, inviting them into their homes, hugging acquaintances, shaking hands or speaking ‘up in de person’s face’.
A time will come when this will be allowed again, but as the pandemic rages on and with a new more transmissible variant of the virus, we have to be on our guard even more.
My concern is that a balance has to be struck within the context of implementation of new enhanced regulations or protocols. Without revealing critical protected information, officials should level with the public on the need for more intensive measures which are designed to achieve an objective. Officials, if they operated as though this is a partnership to achieve a desired outcome – remembering that this remains a country with almost 98 percent literacy, and that while there are some who will flout regulations, if we are in a partnership, those people either through legal actions or moral suasion, will be dealt with.
The public must understand and be allowed to see that justice is without prejudice and that all who breach must be dealt with. Only with a public outcry have the authorities been seen to be enforcing protocols even to visitors.
The authorities must remember that the disease has been allowed into the island. Being an island means that things arrive here my two means – by air or sea. If that is the case, then we must get more serious at our ports of entry. Food items and retail products must be scanned effectively and that includes those tourists or returning nationals who enter these official ports of entry.
Those who enter must adhere to our protocols. Barbadians are being harassed, yet those who contract the disease as evidenced by positive results have reportedly disregarded our protocol rules related to quarantine while awaiting test results. This should require zero tolerance, but as usual, this has taken so long to do. We have heard about one hotel being sanctioned, but what about the West Coast property where another breach took place? Has government taken action? Until this playing field is levelled along with the lectures from officials to the public and visitors to adhere to protocols, then I will state that Barbadians will feel better about a tough situation.
The impact of the pandemic has been severe. The national psyche has been undermined and the way of life on the island has not returned. Thermometers have become a way of life, first at the forehead, now at the necks of patrons at places of business. Hand sanitisation and face masks are a way of life and to be fair the majority of the public has adhered to our protocols, so the authorities need to make sure that visitors must do the same – without exception.
However now that we are in 2021, it is necessary to look at the mistakes of 2020. We went into a rapid lockdown, in the attempt to control the spread of the virus. As the first cases emerged, the country had shutdowns of non-essential businesses and schools followed. This was over the Easter period, but continued as night-time curfews followed.
Government declared a health emergency and implemented an Emergency Powers Act and conferred on itself the right to restrict movements of its citizens. This while stating that they would not prevent Barbadians from returning home, even from high risk areas… interesting juxtaposition.
When you abruptly remove rights from the public, has anyone considered the impact? Mental health is a challenge. People who usually have freedom of movement were forced home, during the day and night. Homes which were empty during normal days were filled, as expenses rose, with more food being consumed and utility bills rising.
These things were seemingly overlooked, but Barbadians must be praised for the maturity which they showed as a result, but the end of 2020, raised these issues again as Government waited until mere hours before the end of the year to effectively close down New Year’s celebrations.
Officials did not address the new more transmissible variant of the COVID-19 disease and that with increased flights from the UK and US, with breaches in protocols from visitors and returning nationals that perhaps breaches might have occurred. That is why you do not start a press conference referring primarily to videos and photos of Boxing Day celebrations. Again, the disease was transported here. The harm has already been done.
A final word on the issue of quarantine. A lot of talk has been raised in the past few weeks, related to some West Indies cricketers opting out of the Bangladesh tour.
Those who pass judgement on key players exercising their rights under COVID-19 rules to opt out, should ask themselves if they enjoyed being in a series of player bubbles. Players like West Indies captain, Jason Holder have been in successive bubbles – England, CPL, IPL, New Zealand and Big bash – so that is six months effectively away from friends and loved ones. It takes a toll.
Players are human beings and they should not be penalised by the public for protecting themselves from exposure to the virus – Bangladesh is high risk.
We await vaccines and a 2021 which offers hope. As vaccines are approved for population-wide use and make it to this island, it offers hope to the return of the tourism sector in time for especially Winter season 2021/2022, so we wait, but while we wait – we have work to do to repair the harm which the top down approach to tackling the virus alone has caused.
