Garth Rattray | Reopening Jamaica – too much, too soon

On Tuesday, June 22, Prime Minister Andrew Holness announced changes to the Government’s measures, to control the spread of COVID-19. It’s a relaxing of restrictions and a partial reopening of the country with special focus on the entertainment/recreation sector.

About 1,050 Jamaicans have died from COVID-19, with an average of 2.5 deaths per day. Only 4.2 per cent of the target population is fully vaccinated; it will take years to immunise those that want vaccination. Herd immunity remains an elusive dream. Vaccine supply is tenuous, more waves are expected and the dangerous Delta and Delta Plus variants will eventually arrive here.

To avert or ameliorate disaster, the Government should have instituted and strengthened systems and protocols aimed at monitoring and enforcing anti-COVID-19 measures. It should have lowered our positivity rate to less than five per cent BEFORE deciding to relax restrictions. Obviously, the thinking is that livelihood supersedes lives, wealth comes before health and politics trumps policies that save lives. The easing of restrictions should have been properly timed. Instead, we have put the cart before the horse and are hoping for the best.

Although we are extremely vulnerable, this nation is denied unfettered access to try Ivermectin, a drug which may save lives. There is a plethora of positive results with Ivermectin. However, WHO currently believes that the drug requires more testing regarding its efficacy. WHO did not deem the drug worthless, dangerous or risky. Shockingly, instead of acting independently, in an effort to safeguard its citizens, the Government doggedly adhered to WHO guidelines and is obstructing Ivermectin – (a very cheap and safe drug with decades and billions of prescriptions).

GOV’T ACTING INDEPENDENTLY

Inexplicably, on the other hand, the Government is acting independently, and is administering Remdesivir (a recent drug that WHO labelled “ineffective” and recommended against using it). It is very expensive and has far more possible side effects than Ivermectin.

The Government deviated even farther from WHO guidelines by easing restrictions at this time. It is depending on ‘personal responsibility’ to avert disaster! This from Johns Hopkins: “A high per cent positive means that more testing should probably be done - and it suggests that it is not a good time to relax restrictions aimed at reducing coronavirus transmission. Because a high percentage of positive tests suggests high coronavirus infection rates (due to high transmission in the community), a high per cent positive can indicate it may be a good time to add restrictions to slow the spread of disease. The higher the per cent positive is, the more concerning it is. As a rule of thumb, however, one threshold for the per cent positive being “too high” is five per cent. For example, the World Health Organization recommended in May that the per cent positive remain below five per cent for at least two weeks before governments consider reopening. If we are successful in bringing coronavirus transmission under control, this threshold might be lowered over time. To further relax social restrictions and allow very large gatherings or meetings of people traveling from many different areas, for example, we would want a lower threshold”.

MANY EXTREMELY UNDISCIPLINED

Jamaicans are incredibly gifted, but many are extremely undisciplined. The SARS-CoV-2 virus has found fertile ground in our recalcitrant refusal to comply and cooperate with the measures needed to suppress viral propagation. Despite the raging pandemic, people disobey quarantine and curfew directives; they congregate to sell, buy, and party. People hardly sanitise their hands and surroundings. Most of all, although proper mask wearing is prime in controlling the spread of this respiratory virus, people continue to rebel against them or wear them incorrectly.

It is better to institute carefully targeted COVID-19 countermeasures now, than to continue putting health and lives at risk by waiting to see how this dangerous and unwise experiment turns out. The threat to withdraw the easing of restrictions, should a spike occur, is insufficient a deterrent and will be too little, too late when positivity rates climb and more Jamaicans die.

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