My lifelong linguistic passion was certainly birthed from those delightful foundational years spent reciting nursery rhymes. For admit I must, a struggle it will be to identify a Parnassian phenotype or linguistic enthusiast for that matter, who wasn’t seduced by the alliterative wordplay of poetry. Admittedly, still captivated am I by this favoured rhyme of mine, “thirty days hath September, April, June and November…For this unpretentious aide-memoire once served as our toddler-age reminder of April’s calendared thirty days.
But admit I must that these childhood fascinations were a rivetingly varied multitude, for which this eccentric passion for pre-interview preparations was certainly sine qua non to learning. For assuredly, these pre-interviews experiences weren’t just visually captivating but were certainly dual-sense stimulating, evident in the delusional experience of coordinated levitating eyes and ears, producing unexcelled heights of audiovisual excitement. Unquestionably, this thrilling gradation is unchanged, starting with the universal mic-check leading to lighting assessment that crescendos to the interviewer throat clearance, announcing her readiness. Unsurprisingly, these sequential pre-interview practices are warily exploited universally, except in cases of PPP interviewees who mandate a further check.
Ruinous Ramsammy
April has turned out to be yet another PPP Covid catastrophe with a record 65 deaths, surpassing the prior record by 29, the antedating month. But a catastrophe of such deadly magnitude requisites a world-class spin doctor in Dr. Ramsammy, to gaslight the masses. For renown is his persuasive aptitude, which when twinned with an irresistible cocksure demeanour, blindly illuminates his suited, booted and clueless persona.
So with pre-interview checks completed, Village Voice News was at ready to be edified by the PPP vaccination tsar. But evident from the outset was Dr. Ramsammy’s incontrovertible eagerness to confess all good things about PPP vaccination programme, so much so that many wondered if he mistook the interviewer for his catholic confession priest.
By the second interview question, his every articulated word seems to be conspicuously elevating his excitement exponentially, which comparatively, surely eclipsed that of an explorative toddler enslaved at Sigmund Freud’s phallic psychosocial developmental milestone. Then unexpectedly, halfway through the third question, a toilet-tissue was whipped out, thankfully of only biro ink stains, to aid his manipulation of numbers with greater dexterity than that of Pythagorus. And on concluding his mysterious tabulations, with ear to ear circus clown smile, he exuberantly blurted out that PPP vaccination programme outperforms the world’s average.
But as premonished, disappointments were a few for which struggle he still does to rationalise Dr. Frank Anthony politicisation of Covid. Certainly, that action has induced a mortal fear in the populace of that nasopharyngeal swab, worried sick that their results will be part of Dr. Anthony’s parliamentary announcements. Certainly, Dr. Anthony unparliamentary conduct has also negatively impacted the vaccination programme. For the masses so concerned that their medical records, needed for vaccination, will be included in Dr. Anthony’s Parliamentary Q&A.
Clueless
Certainly, most commonsensical it is that an anticipated Covid vaccination interview, the first working day after a month of record deaths, mandates proceeding with caution. For the sagacious among us know, the primary end-point of vaccination, is to reduce cases and deaths. And with our Covid cases and deaths increasing exponentially, it was abundantly vacuous of Dr. Ramsammy to describe the vaccination excercise a success, the day after the month of record deaths. But even more absurd was internationally comparing PPP vaccination programme, failing to recognise other parameters, vis-a-vis death rates.
So after much contemplation, these possible explanations for Dr. Ramsammy fatuous statements were arrived at.
Unlike most toddlers, Dr. Ramsammy was not enlightened by the months of the year rhyme, hence was taken aback to discover we are in May.
The pre-interview checks hadn’t taken into account Dr. Ramsammy PPP lineage, which international practice mandates, a comprehensive cerebral cortex functionality assessment.
The numbers game
Certainly, many are nonplussed about PPP inability to grasp the most basic of Covid concepts. For collectively they struggled to understand the inter-relationship between Covid testing, infectivity and deaths. Further, they floundered at appreciating that Covid management encompasses much more than testing. Furthermore, they remain blindly clueless of international standards underpinning vaccine approval. Unsurprisingly, elementary lockdown principles discombobulate them. Now embarrassingly, they failed to recognise that vaccination programmes are much more than vaccination.
But these numbers, extracted from the Village Voice, will further illuminate why PPP is out of their depth. Indeed, the month of January had 19 Covid deaths, February-20, March-36, April-66 , and first week of May-24.Coupled with the PPP vaccination programme, launched with great fanfare in February, any barometer whether Chinese, Japanese or Arabic, would conclude that death numbers are increasing despite vaccination. Why is Dr.Ramsammy happy?
Further, for the last nine months of 2020, there were 164 Covid deaths compared to 159 in the first four vaccinated months of 2021. This represents exponentially increasing deaths, not consistent with international vaccination patterns, indicative of a failed vaccination programme. Why is PPP happy?
The analysis of Covid deaths age spectrum, paints a most distressing picture. With 159 deaths in 2021, the 20-60yrs age range represented 36% of those deaths. But Covid is generally a disease of the over 65 and younger persons with comorbidities. Therefore, unless those under 65 deaths were driven by underlying comorbidities, such high death rates aren’t consistent with international patterns. But many may argue that seniors have had preferential early vaccinations, leaving the younger groups vulnerable. Unfortunately, this argumentation isn’t consistent with the data, for the elderly are also dying, evident in 64% of the deaths. Why is PPP happy?
Recommendations
Undoubtedly, PPP lack the know how to address this Covid crisis of their making. For rather than urgently addressing it, their politically motivated focus is the sugar industry and business community.
Notwithstanding this, recommendations I will proffer.
Selective lockdowns: This was articulated by APNU+AFC but isn’t without potential obstacles. For data have identified Regions 3 & 4 as the hotspots for which with selective lockdowns, policing maybe difficult. Further, what will be the duration of such a lockdown? How will that period be determined? What parameters will be used to measure success or failure? How would inter-regional movements from hotspots, be monitored?
Total lockdown: As above but also financial incentives for workers and businesses must be considered to improve compliance.
Vaccination: This has been an abysmal failure. As a result, I would suggest vaccines that underwent the rigours of clinical trials with proven efficacy against the variants.
Public Health Practices must to be enforced with strict penalties.
Quarantine and isolations need to be aggressively enforced. All airports should be closed, barring essential flights. Universal PCR testing before flights should be discontinued albeit applicable for low risk persons coming from low risk countries. All others should be quarantine on arrival.
Revamp the NCTF. Employ an epidemiologist and a Public Health consultant.
Conclusion
A full apolitical lockdown should be instituted, guided by competent and knowledgeable professionals, underpinned by science. Arbitrary lockdown periods must be forcefully rejected.
