Gordon Robinson | The COVID folly

After Jamaica’s mask, gathering and physical-distance restrictions were lifted on Good Friday, weekend celebrations resembled in-flight antics by flight attendants and passengers on American Airlines when a Florida judge quashed USA Federal mask mandates.

Seemingly gleeful at banking future votes and anxious to satisfy tourism interests forced into pretend compliance for two years, Jamaica followed up with an open invitation to the BA.2 variant to enter and kill as many of our irresponsible population as it can.

No need to RSVP. Whoop. Di. Doo! Covid Dunn!!

Now what would Reggae Superstar Glendon (Admiral ) Bailey say to that?

Oonu t’ink sey mi done?

Hehehehehe HEY.

Mi jus’ a com man.

Mi jus’ a come.

As always, Government’s penchant for deflecting responsibility became national priority as it announced that since there’s no more regulation, we must protect ourselves. Yeah, right.

Government pretends it’s trying to curb murder by gun by maintaining gun restrictions despite being unable to protect even three-year-olds from that national predilection. Yet about murder by virus, Government hasn’t even bothered to pretend. Why? Surely it has nothing to do with political patronage origins? Nah. THAT would mean Government isn’t only as irresponsible as the rest of us but also uncaring.

Let’s take a closer look (apologies to Seth Myers) at Jamaica’s likely consequence of kowtowing to Big Business by inviting misery and death upon an unvaccinated population. You might think Government would take responsibility for its abject failure to vaccinate more than 25 per cent in over a year. Nope. As usual, it’s our fault. Why we bother electing Government defeats me.

Seventy-five per cent of USA population has at least one shot; 66 per cent fully vaccinated; 30 per cent boosted. Individual states started lifting restrictions in late 2021. Hospitalisations spiked to an all-time high in January 2022 and have been steadily coming down since (still, too high) probably due to a combo of “herd immunity” from vaccination and natural immunity from the last wave.

In the UK (79 per cent one shot; 74 per cent “fully vaccinated”; 58 per cent boosted), restrictions were lifted on March 18. On that day, seven-day hospitalisations average was 14,039. On April 19, it was 17,775.

In Canada (88 per cent one shot; 82 per cent “fully vaccinated”; 49 per cent boosted), restrictions were lifted on March 21 when seven-day hospitalisations average was 3,814. One month later it was 6,156.

A majority of Jamaica’s tourists will arrive from those countries without having to provide even a negative Antigen test.

Jamaica’s vaccination profile? 27 per cent one shot; 23 per cent “fully vaccinated”; 1.2 per cent boosted.

Need I say anything more?

At me come at dem ’ard.

At me come at dem ’ard.

At me come at dem

At me come fi rule up di spot!

It goes without saying (although sometimes it’s not so easy to see) that nobody in Government is stupid, so these statistics and likely outcomes can’t have escaped any Cabinet member.

WHY IS THIS BEING DONE?

It DEFINITELY hasn’t escaped our excellent Chief Medical Officer who returned to media after a hiatus to plead for citizens to behave as if restrictions, lifted by politicians NOT by medical technocrats, were still in place. Good on her. She’s indeed a national treasure.

So WHY is this being done? Is it the pee-pee-cluck-cluck syndrome where our “developed” overtly racist and jingoistic bosses are doing it so we must follow meekly? Or is it more local as Fenkeh Fenkeh Ferguson might postulate? Almost immediately after the announced withdrawal of restrictions, an “official” launch of Independence 60th Anniversary celebrations was held without a mask in sight in any published photo (I wasn’t invited, so I depend on media photographers).

So is this freeing up to pave the way for more vote-catching political distractions as we “celebrate” 60 years of economic regress and parliamentary misrepresentation? Will that three-ring circus feature symbolic nonsense like new National “Heroes” when what Jamaica has needed for 60 years is new national governance?

Things that make you go “Hmmmmmmmmmmm”.

Peace and Love!

Gordon Robinson is an attorney-at-law. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.