Garth Rattray | Chicken merry, hawk deh near

‘Chicken merry, hawk deh near’ is a Jamaican proverb on caution. It is a warning that, when celebrating and experiencing happy times, always exercise caution because disaster could strike at any time.

Due to measures taken by the Government, combined with the natural ebb and flow of pandemics, our hospitalisation rates fell to within manageable parameters. This allowed for an easing up of the measures designed to keep citizens apart and reduce the spread of the plague. Large public gatherings, parties and entertainment events are still banned; but, with much shorter curfew hours and the limited reopening of public places for recreation and gatherings, the season promises to bring a long-awaited break from our stressful lockdowns and curfews.

Lockdowns and curfews would not be necessary if most people simply wore a mask properly when out and about, or among people who are not members of their immediate household. If people also distanced themselves and sanitised, we would see significantly less infection rates, and there would be no need for the Government to intervene to reduce runaway infections, hospitalisations and deaths. But people either do not understand, don’t believe, are horribly undisciplined, don’t care about the health of others, or are simply being rebellious/recalcitrant.

BALANCING ACT

Many people seem to think that relaxing the COVID-19 measures means that the plague is waning or almost over. But relaxing the measures is a balancing act. The need to keep the country economically viable and its citizens mentally stable, is balanced against the severity of COVID-19 as it impacts our health/healthcare system. If COVID-19 were spreading like wildfire, but people were not getting sick enough to need hospitalisation, or getting sick enough to die, there would be no need for any restrictions whatsoever. It is hoped that one day, in the not-too-distant future, the SARS-CoV-2 virus will mutate in such a way that it will result in far less morbidity and mortality. Until that day, we must remain vigilant and follow the rules.

The thing about SARS-CoV-2 is this; its predecessors, SARS-1 and MERS, were deadlier. SARS-1 had about a 12 per cent mortality and MERS, nearly 40 per cent. In fact, MERS is still around today in selected pockets in the Middle East. But those viruses made people noticeably sick when infected. Consequently, they would be isolated, and the virus did not get the opportunity to spread very far. Although SARS-CoV-2 ‘only’ has a mortality of between two to four per cent, it is spreading like crazy and making up for being less deadly by being sneaky and therefore infecting far more people. Instead of going for a high percentage of fatalities, it has gone for a high percentage of infections and, in so doing, the numbers have made it much deadlier than all the rest combined.

Stealth is its modus operandi; COVID-19 is sneaky and very unpredictable. Since we know this, we must realise that the vast majority of infected people will have absolutely no symptoms, or symptoms that are so mild that they might attribute them to fatigue or a minor and brief allergic problem. In other words, you cannot look at someone and know if that person has the virus and is spreading it to others nearby. Since the morbidity and fatality rates are fairly low, the callous among us argue that we are making most people suffer inconveniences and hurting the economy over a few lives. But every life is important, and when many people become sick enough to need hospitalisation, healthcare facilities buckle under the pressure. The other medical problems that people continue to suffer must take a back seat. Consequently, serious problems, including cancers, don’t receive the attention that they deserve, and those lives are being lost.

INDESCRIBABLE HELL

Further, the people who are dying from the plague do not just drop dead or die peacefully in bed or in their sleep. They go through indescribable hell for days or weeks. Imagine not being able to (simply) breathe while sitting or lying quietly in bed. The second-by-second fight to breathe, even with augmented oxygen, is nightmarish. And several people end up with permanent or long-term systemic problems. Some get heart problems, strokes, kidney problems, clots, chronic lung problems, central nervous system issues, circulation problems and/or psychological problems.

Large public gatherings and events are prohibited; however, several families have already begun congregating, or are planning to congregate around the holiday season. Naturally, there will be close contact, probably indoors, with eating, drinking, chatting, and laughing. These conditions favour the spreading of COVID-19; and since many families also have elderly and very elderly members who will certainly be in attendance, they will be in jeopardy. Additionally, as usual, some people have been going to illegal parties throughout this entire pandemic, and they are planning to live it up even more. These are the people who are quietly spreading the virus and making susceptible others sick, very sick or deathly ill.

Try to get tested if you plan to visit relatives for holiday activities, keep family gatherings outdoors, small or in well-ventilated rooms. Rooms with air conditioning should have air purifiers. Keep on your mask if people nearby are not from your household, sanitise, and keep a safe distance. Do not forget that the ‘hawk’ (COVID-19) is always hovering nearby.

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