Director-General of the World Health Organisation, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, announced on Monday that the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is accelerating at a rapid pace, therefore, aggressive and targeted tactics are needed to defeat the virus. Guyana recorded its first case on March 10, but it seems like more aggression, and strategic effort are being invested locally within the realm of politics than in effectively combating this deadly virus
Subsequent to March 2, Guyanese have been inundated with a multitude of narratives pertaining to Bharrat, rigging, democracy, Granger, GECOM, observers and ballot box among others. Despite the social distancing policy guideline in place by the Public Health Ministry, recently a crowd assembled at the Guyana Elections Commission’s headquarters to guard ballot boxes on behalf of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic. This action was commended by Dr. Irfaan Ali, PPP/C’s Presidential Candidate on his facebook page. He stated, “This is the type of commitment that ensures democracy stays alive. Thank you Guyana.” A statement by the PPP/C was later published asking supporters to go out to guard ballot boxes in numbers “no more than 25” in order to protect themselves against the coronavirus.
On a normal day, when COVID-19 is not raging across the globe, this situation may have been deemed acceptable. The question that begs to be answered is whether politicians are truly concerned about the wellbeing of Guyanese. When politicians publicly put persons at risk of contracting the deadly COVID-19, under the guise of “fighting for democracy,” are they earnestly concerned about the people of that democratic state? Country Representative of the Pan-American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation Dr. William Adu-Krow noted in a recent report that Guyana does not have the capacity to deal with a serious outbreak of the disease an if the country does not prepare for a complete lockdown, we can be in deep trouble. Guyanese need to begin to take social distancing seriously.
To add insult to injury, COVID-19 updates are not provided on a regular basis by The Ministry of Public Health. It is known that Guyana has recorded five cases with one death. There are no situational updates as to how the current patients are recovering.
Today, after a long wait a brief update was provided while another update is scheduled for tomorrow. The fact remains, Guyanese are more up-to-date of what is occurring in Italy, China and the United States of America as it relates to COVID-19. The possibility exists that more cases are in Guyana since one person can infect multiple others but are there rigorous efforts being made to track those cases? It is a shame that only after the death of the index case, the test was conducted that confirmed her as being positive for the virus. That certainly brings into question the effectiveness of the monitoring mechanisms in place at the ports of entry.
Finally, it is admirable that the opposition leader of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad Bissesssar, in a recent statement, declared her commitment to work along with the Government to ensure that the people of T&T are protected at all costs.
Here is an excerpt of her statement:
“I wish to state that despite any negative comments in the public domain regarding this matter, my position remains the same—and that is that I, and the UNC party the I lead, remain committed to any and every measure of collaboration and support necessary and possible with the Government and any other State entity to ensure that our nation and people are quickly and effectively protected during this economic and social crisis, and that the virus’s potential spread, and the resulting health crisis and possible loss of lives are prevented at all costs.”
On the contrary, Guyana’s Opposition leader, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, declared that if President David Granger is sworn in, he will not acknowledge him as President.
“Wherever he goes he will be met with protest, he will not be speaking on our behalf, we will urge people to stop paying taxes, we will not be part of any parliament. We will take this resistance to a different level,” Dr. Jagdeo said.
Dr. Jagdeo also mentioned that if President Granger is to be sworn in, the party will treat Dr. Irfaan Ali as president.
At a time when the nation needs more than ever to be resolutely united in order to effectively battle this unprecedented global health threat, it is sad that the lust for political power is paramount and continues to divide our people .
How Guyana’s leaders respond to help its people in the face of one of the worse global pandemics will forever be recorded in the annals of time.
