Dear Editor,
It has been noted that the curfew time has been relaxed further to 10:30 pm to 4 am. It has also been observed that the COVID-19 deaths for the month of October were 124 with 4, 162 confirmed cases and to date as of November 8, 2020, the deaths are at 134 with 4516 confirmed cases. We have seen an uptick of COVID-19 deaths in Guyana. Region 4 being the epicentre with 2139 cases followed by Region 1 with 772, Regions 7, 9, and 3 with 382, 376, and 348 cases respectively. The Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony says, “We must balance the COVID-19 pandemic with economic recovery.” I wish to say that this statement will not be realized unless the common sense measures are enforced: strategic lockdown, wearing of masks, physical distancing, and the washing of hands for at least for 20 seconds. Those basic things must be drilled into the Guyanese psyche.
This government has shown that it is not serious and that it is incapable of bringing the COVID-19 pandemic under control. The relaxing of the curfew hours means that they are sending mixed messages to the populace. The young people will feel that they are invincible, and that they can go out as they will, with no dire consequences. In addition, the small gatherings seen in social clubs and bars which are indoors will become hot spots or clusters for the spread of COVID-19. Persons who engage in such delinquent behaviours and attend these super-spreading events will no doubt affect the vulnerable at home – the elderly, persons with co- morbidity or underlying health conditions who will certainly be at a high risk for the disease.
On Sunday November 7, 2020 two of my colleagues, MPs Coretta McDonald, Maureen Philadelphia, and I visited President’s College at Golden Grove Village on the East Coast Demerara, having gotten a wink that students from some COVID-19 at-risk communities of the hinterland and the outskirts of the village were in the dorms mixing and mingling with other students without their being first tested for COVID-19. Careful examination revealed that at least four students from Kato village, Region 8 displayed symptoms of COVID-19 and were referred to the Georgetown Hospital for management for COVID-19. It was subsequently found that the students were COVID-19 positive. As the incubation period, the time between exposure to the virus and onset of symptoms, for this dreaded pandemic is 4-14 days, it is hoped that many more students who are asymptomatic at present do not later test positive for COVID-19. It is the wish of the APNU+AFC Coalition that good sense will prevail and the present government will not be foolish by ignoring the science or the WHO guidelines that help to check the spread of this deadly disease. The public health mantra is to have healthy people in healthy communities, and to empower communities to have healthier schools. So Mr. Health Minister, it is not simply about balancing health with economics. Public health must take priority over profits. COVID-19 will impact economics. If stringent measures are not enforced, we will have a sick nation and there will be no trade or commerce to keep the economy afloat. Rather, there will be the converse effect leading to a total shutdown of the country.
I appeal to the Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, who should know better. Do the research, follow the science of COVID-19. Take a leaf from the pages of countries such as Vietnam, New Zealand, Australia, and Iceland, and other countries such as Norway, Uruguay, Switzerland, and Germany who successfully have this pandemic under control.
Minister of Health, the Coalition is asking that you be engaged with experts in the field of medicine who are unhappy with one death by COVID-19; have mandatory measures to contain the spread of COVID-19. One cannot sit idly by and be comfortable and expect that COVID-19 will be whisked away and disappear.
Article 148 (3) ( b) of the constitution provides that a person may be deprived of his or her freedom of movement through the imposition of restrictions by law on the person’s movement or residence within Guyana that are reasonably required in the interests of public health.
The APNU+AFC Coalition calls on the government to be strategic and have plans and policies to contain the spread of COVID-19 in Guyana. We ask that there be better coordination between the hinterland and the coastland in terms of the management of COVID-19 cases. We call on you to expand the capacity for diagnosis and treatment and pay attention to the borders and entry points. We call on this government to pay the frontline workers the overdue risk allowance which has been passed in the recent budget debate and remains outstanding. We call on this government to commence the cash transfers of $25,000 to each household
especially in Region 4, the epicentre of the COVID-19 Pandemic. We call on you to remove the burden of cost to the persons who home isolate saving the government approximately $25, 000. We also call on the Minister of Health to build public trust by educating the citizenry on the new COVID-19 vaccine which is expected to arrive in Guyana in the first semester of 2021. We ask that the Minister of Health take the necessary action now and save the people of our nation from dying prematurely form COVID-19.
Yours faithfully,
Dr Karen Cummings, MP
