By Mark Devonish
The Covid-19 mismanagement by President Donald Trump may very well be the double-edged sword that cuts short his Presidency. Despite the fact he was warned by his advisers that Covid will be the greatest threat to his presidency and the people he took an oath to protect, his scant regards for such critical advise made this all the more unbelievable. But his appreciation of the magnitude of the potential problem is beyond doubt, evident in his articulation in a interview with Bob Woodward, who damagingly outlined every detail in his book “Rage.”
Deadly enemy
Covid is that invisible and deadly enemy we are valiantly fighting against. The scientific evidence supports the argumentation that the leaders who underestimate the virus do so at the expense of the populace. Extraordinarily there are many of those. President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, unwisely disregarded the dangers of the virus and paid the price with Covid ravishing his body and his streets as it killed nearly 160,000 Brazilians with the nearly one million survivors now living in fear of the later complications it leaves in its wake. Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain was also a Covid doubter until the virus breached his respiratory system landing him flat on his back in intensive care. And by the time he showed deference to the angry virus, it was too late. To date 45,365 Britons have died while nearly one million having been precariously intimate with the virus. President Trump who is probably the most infamous Covid doubter, had his call but failed to wake up. The angry virus did not take this lightly as she angrily and aggressively invaded his lungs, landing him in Walter Reed Hospital. The army doctors were clearly concerned as they fed him oxygen, strong antiviral, strong monoclonal antibodies and strong steroids. But unsurprisingly, contrary to his foolish talks he did not demand his self promoting magical cure, hydroxychloroquine. To date nearly 230,000 Americans have been sent to an early grave with over 9M once counted Covid as a unwelcome bodily friend.
Fortuitously there are those world leaders who count more than two brain cells in their heads. Thankfully it is them who set the standards as it relates to the sensible management of Covid. As a result it is them we shall look to for guidance. And it is true to say that the world leader who top this list and receiving my excellence in Covid management award is unsurprisingly a woman. Her name, Ms. Jacinda Ardern the Prime Minister of New Zealand. This is a Prime Minister who clearly has empathetic leadership running through her vein. From the get go, the Prime Minister made it pellucidly clear to Covid that she is not
welcomed in New Zealand with any illegal entry being punishable by death. But avaricious Covid ignored the malevolent threats of the New Zealand PM as she breached the borders via the stratosphere. Menacingly, the New Zealanders were ready for her as they sensibly locked themselves away in their living rooms, greeting Covid with empty streets. And the silent battle became more unsophisticatedly sophisticated as those classed as essential workers hid their identity with face mask from the deadly virus as they minded the 6ft gap recommended. Further, the New Zealanders recognised that crowds were for another day as they respected the restrictions on the numbers that can congregate. Furthermore, hands washing became a competitive sport as New Zealanders washed more frequently than that of an OCD. Remarkably they were as serious as the virus as they placed locks on all their ports, concerned that visitors may unwittingly permit an unwanted guest in Covid. Test, hospitalisation and daily updates provided a warning to Covid that the New Zealanders were unto her. For this aggressive approach by Prime Minister Ardern, New Zealand only has 25 deaths and 1,941 cases. This remarkable fete did not go unnotice as other nations namely Italy and Germany developed a persona non grata approach to Covid with similar success.
Running amok
Sadly, Covid is running amok in Guyana.Those who were empowered to protect the masses are not only inept at their job but are also completely clueless.The record shows that when the PPP Government took power from APNU+AFC, they inherited manageable Covid numbers which was evident by a flattened curve. And like if they were given magical powers by the virus, the moment they sat on those government seats the Covid numbers and deaths started to increase exponentially. One would have thought that this would have triggered a national emergency. That was not to be as they carried on oblivious to the fact that Covid is having regular scuffles with vulnerable Guyanese who couldn’t resist the urge to breathe. So driven by patriotism I do feel compelled to bring to the fore the horrific and deadly howlers by this collection of clueless personalities.
First calamity was not taking Covid seriously for which they were immediately punished with an exponential increase in case numbers and deaths. By the time they removed their calamitous suits, Covid had already taken up residence in thousands of homes.
Second calamity was beyond shocking since enforcing social distancing and face mask wearing is not a skill restricted to rocket scientist. The evidence is beyond doubt that the inexpensive face mask and social distancing save lives.
Third calamity was the clueless and calamitous disastrous decision to pay their debt to their oligarch apologist. With Covid numbers at an all time high, they staggeringly placed the economy above lives. Dollars over death. Guyana is now on record as the only country in the world that reopened it’s ports when Covid numbers are increasing exponentially. The foolery of travellers testing for Covid before they gain entry to Covid land is beyond stupid. The fact is that someone could be infected with the deadly virus yet having a negative test, for a variety of reasons. False negatives, as they are known, could be as as high as 20% depending on the test being used. In this context and with the exponentially high numbers of Covid nationally, I am befuddle to comprehend why this Government would want to import more.
Fourth calamity is to reduce the curfew hours even as Covid is running amok on the streets. It is as if they are on a mission to maximise Covid deaths. Firstly, not contented with the local Covid numbers in the streets they made the disastrous decision of import millions more by reopening the airports. Now with Covid flooding the streets, they have decreased the curfew time, providing the multitude more exposure to the deadly streets to meet their new fiend.
And as they undertake their profit maximisation, our children are celebrating seven months without formal schooling.The statistics would show that over 50% of Guyana’s population is without internet access. Sadly this would preclude online teaching. Televised teaching may be an option but by their nature they are labour intensive(recording). As a result they are of limited value. It is in this context, not difficult to imagine, that a significant percentage of our children was without formal teaching for over seven months. With this in mind, I would have thought that the number one priority of this Government would have been to get our children back to school. To facilitate this,it would have been imperative that Covid transmission, reflected by reduced cases and deaths, be under control. Those simple measures alluded to earlier would have gone a far way in achieving this. Sadly, the government placed their billionaire friends’ love of money above our children’s education. Airports and
economy were reopened while curfew times decreased even as the Covid numbers and deaths are skyrocketing. The result is that it will take much longer to get the virus under control, if ever at all. The unfortunate consequence is that our children are unlikely to have any formal teaching before mid next year. At least 15 months without any formal schooling for our children. Let that sink in.
