Dear Editor,
The Guyanese people suffered through anxious months in the aftermath of the March elections with the country facing a pandemic at the same time and I looked forward to a breath of fresh air with this new Government.
However, this new administration has shown utter and callous disregard for the lives of the Guyanese people in its failure to take measures to protect them at this time of 94 deaths due to COVID -19 and reported positive cases over 3000. This does not account for the several other unreported cases of the virus.
This Government seems content to wallow in a sea of avoidance of the issue of the virus. There is stark silence. There are no sensible measures being implemented to curtail this deadly virus sweeping our country. There are no social restrictions. Life continues as if there were no virus present.
I have written several letters outlining the shoddy and flawed gazetted measures which provide for beaches, creeks, rivers, salons, places of worship all to remain open. I have written about the fact that malls, restaurants and bars remain open allowing for the congregation of persons. Funeral services take place with packed pews at churches. Supposedly mandatory mask wearing is in effect yet each day throngs of persons walk the streets without masks. The enforcement of this mandatory requirement is severely lacking. In-person hearings continue at the High Court and now there is a proposed resumption of jury trials. The decision with regard to rotation of staff in the public service is being rescinded to allow for full staffing. Is it any wonder that the cases of this virus are escalating in our country?
A classic illustration of the lack of care of this Government is their latest decision to revert to the 9 pm curfew which they had initially imposed in place of the then existing 6 pm curfew. Even the PAHO representative had implored the Government to revert to the 6 pm curfew. As he said, at 6 pm, persons go straight home and remain at home.
This senseless and unthinking decision to take the retrograde step of a 9 pm curfew will lead to increased gatherings at all of the places that remain open again due to this Government’s failure to close them.
They have further made a decision to reopen the airports on October 12 to commercial flights thereby paving the way for more imported cases of the virus.
A responsible and competent Government would have already had a plan in place, imposed strict curfews at an early time, put in place rigid social restrictions, encouraged remote working from home, enforced mandatory mask wearing, kept borders closed, have regular programmes sensitizing members of the public as to precautions, made regular addresses to the public and done all within its power to ensure that the spread of this deadly virus is curtailed.
They do not care about the health and safety of the Guyanese people.
The previous Granger administration seems to have done a much better job at addressing the pandemic. In April, former President Granger in his third address to the nation on the pandemic, instituted stringent measures and closed all places of entertainment like restaurants, bars, clubs, swimming pools between the hours of 6 pm and 6 am. He imposed a strict curfew during this time and several other measures while advising the public as to safety measures. He closed all borders.
I note that the Opposition MPs are currently urging the Government to change its approach in dealing with COVID-19 and to actually do something. They opined that they remain fearful as to what can happen in the future. I share those fears. It is time for the Government to firmly address this pandemic and the measures to curtail it. We have had enough of the silence in this regard.
This Government seems intent on its sole objective of opening up business. However there has to be some recognition that the current death rate is an extremely high one having regard to our population and further, that our health care system and workers are overwhelmed and ill-equipped to deal with the current situation much less a deterioration of same.
The Government seems very proud of its $25,000 per household COVID assistance as they call it. That amount is paltry and insufficient for vulnerable households who are dealing with the harsh realities of COVID on a daily basis. In the face of limited resources, would it not be better to consider a more targeted approach to providing assistance for those in need?
Yours faithfully,
Stephanie Isaacs
