Garth Rattray | History will reproach Jamaica for pandemic missteps

The term ‘20-20 vision’ has become a double entendre. It speaks to witnessing this nightmarish plague at first-hand. It also means that future generations will look back at the year 2020 with the clarity of hindsight. We will be harshly criticised for our response to this pandemic.

Our reaction to the pandemic exposes profound weaknesses in our ability to handle crises. This is the greatest threat that Jamaica has ever faced. Although we started out well, we not only fumbled the ball, we tripped over it, kin puppa lick and rolled off the field dishevelled, disgraced and defeated, leaving our opponent, the COVID-19 virus, to do what it will to our citizenry.

Our Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW) personnel have been pushed way beyond their physical and psychological limits. They need new recruits. This fight requires all hands on deck; a coalition of all branches of government and civil organisations to fight this enemy with everything that we’ve got. We are in the fight of our lives, up against the ropes and taking a battering without throwing so much as one effective punch. We let down our guard with the Emancipendence period, the nomination activities and the general election; they exacerbated our situation and sent the wrong message – we are paying dearly for our lapses.

Our efforts at economic survival and repatriating our citizens were seriously flawed. I know of returning citizens who submitted one phone for downloading the tracking app and left it at their stated address while they disobeyed the self-quarantine order. In some instances, the app would not install but they were allowed in anyway. I have also heard three separate anecdotes of workers accepting bribes not to activate the app.

SPREAD LIKE WILDFIRE

People were being let into the island even though their visiting schedules did not allow for two weeks in self-quarantine, with time left over to do anything. Many stayed put, but received visitors and did not practise social distancing, sanitising or wearing masks. There simply weren’t enough personnel to adequately monitor our returning residents and visitors, so the virus gained access to our citizens and spread out of control like wildfire.

We were informed about the so-called ‘safety corridor’, but I go to the north coast often and I have never seen anything special being done to make the corridor safe. In fact, for a country in extreme crisis, we are not taking this virus serious enough. Several people that I encounter are flatly refusing to wear masks or to distance themselves from others.

Appealing to the ‘personal responsibility’ of our citizens is largely a waste of time and effort. The Government must treat this aggressive invader with extreme malice. This is an all-out war against Jamaica. The same grass-roots system used to mobilise constituents at election time needs to be activated to fight the ignorance, inertia, indiscipline and indifference that are literally killing us.

Stop expecting people to do the right thing – they will not. Recruit volunteer COVID-19 marshals, implement zero tolerance for breaches, temporarily close down offenders, temporarily impound non-compliant transport operators, seek funding from big business for public education drives, use billboards, posters, social media, celebrities, politicians and the churches to get the message out. Increase public and private testing facilities. Prioritise testing for all front-line personnel. Shorten turnaround times for results.

History will judge the leader of this country and his administration harshly for our weak, defensive posture with COVID-19. The projected 1.5 million infected citizens was only an estimate to plan for supplies in a worst-case scenario. If we fight back by vigorously enforcing quarantines, social distancing, sanitisation and masks, the virus will have no room to manoeuvre and we will beat this monster.

Garth A. Rattray is a medical doctor with a family practice. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and garthrattray@gmail.com.