Letter of the Day | Mr McKenzie – Government is responsible for COVID-19 surge

THE EDITOR, Madam

This is an open letter to Mr Desmond McKenzie, minister of local government of Jamaica.

I’m sorry Mr McKenzie, with all due regards, there is no questioning that the Government is responsible for the recent COVID-19 surge, and that it needs to apologise to Jamaica for allowing it to happen and for drastically increasing the health hazard in the country. And an even greater apology is due to the front-line medical workers, the health institutions, and the medical fraternity in general, for imposing on them the gigantic task they now face of trying to bring the virus situation back under control.

This third wave, the throes of which Jamaica is now fully into, was completely predictable once the action was taken to open up, and its inevitable occurrence was as clear as two-plus-two.

In The Gleaner article of August 21, titled ‘No Apology’, the Government claims the decision to open was based on consultation, but clearly there was no consultation of the consequence, if any at all, with the medical fraternity, the agency that should have provided the direction for decisions in this situation, and it is clear that whatever advice they gave, was ignored.

And again, with all due regards, unlike what Minister Grange is saying, the spike did not start before the opening-up, but if it had, it would have made the decision to open that more ridiculous, if that was possible . In fact, the spike began at the end of the third week in July, a point in time completely compatible with the anticipated “grow-out” duration of the virus, starting with the mingling that began on July 1, and continued thereafter.

The number of new infections from July 21 to 25 inclusive were 122, 138, 144, 142, and 156, respectively and, as pointed out in the above-mentioned article, by July 29 the number was 180, and on August 19 it was 556. The 19 fatalities that were reported on August 18 were the largest for any single day in Jamaica’s COVID-19 encounter, and on August 24 there was another record for the greatest number of new infections (879) in one day.

Third wave was avoidable

Needless to say, this third wave poses a danger for the entire nation, and its occurrence is additionally distressing due to the fact that it was completely unnecessary and avoidable. But what is equally, if not more distressing, is the attempt at brushing aside the unambiguous responsibility that the Government has in the matter, with a host of rationalisations and invalid persuasions, adding insult to injury.

What picture does that paint of how the Government really views the general Jamaican public? Are we that stupid in their eyes?

Good governance leads to good decisions, which, in turn, leads to good results, and good results are what this country need right now.

Poor governance leads to poor decisions, which, in turn, leads to poor results. Some of Jamaica’s biggest challenges, of which the largest and most visible long-standing one is the saturated level of crime and violence, have come about due to poor, if not dismal governance.

It is as important as it ever was that the right decisions be made in governing the country, and certainly the decision to open up was not one of these. Can we learn from this? It would be good if fewer persons had serious doubts regarding that.

DAVID ABRIKIAN