Clarke details personal pain brought on by COVID-19
Published:Sunday | April 26, 2020 | 12:32 AM
Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke last week told The Sunday Gleaner that he was not immune to the effects of the coronavirus outbreak, which has left his mother in isolation, changed the rules on entering his house, and has caused him worry about his sister, a doctor fighting the deadly pandemic on the front lines in the United States.
He also has strict instructions from home.
“On the instructions of my family, once I exit my car, I am required to remove my shoes before entering the house, wash my hands on entering, change my clothes after entering, doing all that before greeting my wife or our children,” he revealed.
“My sister is a medical doctor at a university hospital in the United States. I am deeply concerned by reports that up to 20 per cent of coronavirus cases in the US are from hospital-based medical professions,” Clarke added.
With social-distancing guidelines and a restricting order implemented for public gatherings – at first limiting them to 20 persons before being revised to a maximum of 10 – Clarke said the measures have had implications for his family, but he knows they are necessary to contain the deadly virus.
“My mother is isolated at home, unable to attend and participate in church, which is a major deprivation brought on by COVID. My mother’s sister – a former resident magistrate, who, in her prime, was the matriarch of my mother’s side of the family – died, and we could only have 20 people at the funeral, including those officiating. For a woman who contributed so much to so many, she had a totally empty church for a funeral.
“Her sisters in the United States and Canada and many nieces and nephews overseas could not attend, neither could many well-wishers and associates here. Social distancing even in death. That was a sad moment,” he bemoaned.
Gratitude
He expressed gratitude to his security detail, who make it their duty not only to protect his life but also try to shield him from the virus.
“I carry hand sanitiser in my car. The security assigned to me have sanitisers as well, and in addition, they have been wearing face masks. I have been wearing a mask, too. They ensure that I sanitise my hands after each engagement – after Cabinet, after Parliament, after meetings, in general,” he said.
Clarke said he has also had to improvise with the unavailability of the gym, which is a counterbalance for the workload and commitments he has, and one day hopes to tell his grandchildren the story of 2020.
Confident that there will be life after COVID-19, he once again paid homage to the Jamaican people’s inner strength.
“Our densely populated communities have, over time, evolved a calculus of survival, and the sharing and caring which are embraced as a necessary part of life will serve us well during these times. The social bonds that form, when one tin of condensed milk regularly serves four households, are the bonds that will keep us safe and strong,” Clarke told The Sunday Gleaner.
The minister called on his countrymen to observe the guidelines of social and physical distancing to protect themselves and their loved ones.
“The virus needs humans as carriers. If we adjust our behaviour, the virus can’t get transportation,” he stated.