COVID-19 – what do we actually do?
DEAR EDITOR,
I’m having growing doubts about how serious we are, as a society, in this tough fight of COVID-19. What can not be ignored is that the number reduces, if not neutralizes, the work of the few who risk it so much. I share some situations of Guyanese life and let others be the judge, about the huge gaps in individuals’ compliance, and the severity of the threats involved.
In the hours surrounding this year’s Mash celebrations (unprecedented and constrained by the pandemic), there were lengthy stretches of field that provided evidence of how we are going to adhere to COVID-19 regulations in operation, continuum and grades distant our events. , and our official responses to both. I’ll start on the Linden Highway. The car lines were endless, the concentrations huge, the parties in full swing around the vicinity of one destination after another. Needless to say, hiding, sanitizing, and social distance all collapsed on the side of the road, while the physical gyrations intensified, and the spirits swarmed in wavy ripples, then waves. There was little (no) comment to curb curfew hours. My understanding is that two places – just two – have been called to task, with what may have just been going through the motions; or, worse yet, target the unpleasant. It is timely to note and share that Guyana’s ethnic rainbow is well represented.
Also, and as a token of contempt for the protocols in place, there were huge holiday revelers (no exaggeration) at the Soesdyke-Linden entrance / exit junction. So much for robust enforcement. Moving north, to the area around Thomas Lands and Albert Street, the motor caravans were out in full force. The assembly was not for the National Park, nor an invading army village. Moving in a more westerly direction and this is before the Mash celebrations, the Main Street thoroughfare was a study in parked vehicles, and on the east and west sides of that well-known and patronizing street. Something tells me that those citizens were not there for the exotic Far East dining fare. To this eclectic mix, I add lower Middle Street and leave the rest to common sense: the vehicles were present; the swift crowd of people was all over the place. One should not slip either comment or understand that State House, the official residence of the First Citizen of Guyana, is diving in the middle of the celebrations, never thin, never quiet.
Editor, that’s not all. As we learn after Mash, a man died where a crowd of about 500 participants had gathered. Just before 06:00 hours on Mash Day itself, there was a life story in hip lane, COVID-19 or no COVID-19. In the midst of that long moment of his life, man involuntarily gave up his life. Where are our sentinels and how hobbled do they seem, in the way they have been? I put that on the board of consideration, regardless of the source of the hobble, whether self-created or of higher official circles. I make no judgments, I draw no conclusions. But the situations talk about damning and dangerous nonchalance. I appreciate the limitations of the official workforce, and the sparsely spreading nationwide responsibilities. Again, I think more could have been done; something at least, if only a show of encouraging presence.
Editor, he should not escape attention that the touched places are on the brighter, nearer and more traveled sides. One has to wonder about the situations in rural areas, which may not be as intense, but no less impractical. As I think about all this, I ask myself, how serious we are, where we are going, and where we will end up in this uphill battle with an unwanted enemy. People die every day, and a steady stream of new cases of infection have been confirmed. The citizens who congregate relentlessly have families to return to, friends and communities with whom they interact, and places of trade and work they attend. The glades are not some remote Amazonian tribe, but those at the center of a fragile society. Is anyone listening? Does anyone act beyond appeal and moral upheaval? When we behave in this way, the excellent efforts of our frontline workers are wasted; we add to their burdens, fears, and revelations. We put others in harm’s way. And yet, it is business as usual, with a life of recklessness and danger to others, which tops the line.
I think it would be comforting to observe a broad and truly meaningful restraint targeting those who break and hold us hostages.
Correctly,
Lall GHK