Matthew Hyatt | Election during COVID-19? A recipe for disaster

It is said that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Very few alive today are able to remember the Spanish flu pandemic which occurred between 1918 and 1920. It is reported that approximately 500 million people at the time were infected globally.

Fresh in our memories are the 2009 outbreak of the H1N1 influenza, otherwise known as the swine flu, and the Ebola epidemic in West Africa between 2014 and 2016.

We must not forget, however, that the Spanish flu pandemic was one of the greatest medical disasters of the 20th century that affected every continent. By the end of the pandemic, only one spot in the entire world had not reported an outbreak: an isolated island called Marajo, located in the Brazil’s Amazon River Delta.

As a result of the current COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses have been affected, and out of necessity, in order to facilitate social distancing, some companies have scaled down operations while others have been forced to close their doors.

Jamaica and the world at large would appear to be using a blueprint of the strategies and procedures adopted from the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic.

San Francisco, for example, acted quickly in combating the pandemic by implementing a shutdown and ordered a mask-wearing policy. Schools, churches, movie theatres and even public dancing were prohibited and the results were remarkable. San Francisco had effectively flattened the curve, but, perhaps too optimistic, the mask order was soon dropped. Soon after, San Francisco relaxed lockdown restrictions and another wave of the virus hit, even worse than the first, which resulted in over 45,000 cases and over 3,000 deaths.

ONE STEP FORWARD AND 10 STEPS BACK

Here in Jamaica, our prime minister has made a grave error in announcing a general election, given the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic. With election looming in the air and the excitement of campaigning, no doubt it will create the perfect breeding ground for the transmission of the virus.

Most persons seem to agree that the Jamaican Government started off on the proper footing, trying its very best to combat this untimely pandemic. The Government had taken a similar approach to San Francisco by closing schools, churches, places of amusements, and a mandatory order for masks to be worn in all public spaces.

While masks are still being worn and social distancing encouraged, Jamaica has relaxed curfew restrictions and has opened the borders to tourists, a decision which, in my view, may have been premature. The natural consequence inevitably is the increased COVID-19 cases we are now faced with. It needs little common sense then to conclude that a decision to hold an election at this point in time would be the equivalent of taking one step forward and 10 steps back.

It is difficult to balance between the safety of our citizens and ensuring that our economy does not come to a standstill, but the fact is, Jamaica cannot afford to lose control of this pandemic and the Government must make some tough decisions, even at the risk of losing an election.

The Government cannot place party first and the people of Jamaica second. We must be cognisant of how history has treated us, and with that knowledge, we must act wiser and play our part in advancing the welfare of the whole human race.

- Matthew Hyatt is an attorney-at-law. Email feedback to matthew.hyatt_1@hotmail.com and columns@gleanerjm.com