When the first COVID-19 case was confirmed here on March 11 last year, many Guyanese foresaw a change in lifestyle having witnessed the havoc that the virus was causing around the world and the steps that Governments took to contain its spread before it eventually made its way here.
The extent of that change, however, was not known but there is little doubt that life was “drastically” transformed.
One year later, the recently approved COVID-19 vaccines represent a glimmer of hope to those whose livelihoods were abruptly disrupted while some remain skeptical about the virus.
“I did not care about the new virus. It was all the way in China, like Ebola was in Africa, and never came. There were scares, yes, but Ebola never came and I foolishly believed that COVID would also, never come,” 30-year-old Ashley Singh said.
Weeks before Guyana recorded its first COVID-19 case, she recalled, she read stories about the ‘’flu-like virus” that was taking over Wuhan, the capital of the Chinese Hubei Province where COVID-19 was first detected. This was not concerning for Singh, however, as it was happening all the way in China. “Even as it began spreading throughout Europe, for me, it was still worlds away and with all the measures that the affected-countries were implementing, I knew for a fact, or what I thought was a fact, that it would be over soon,” she stated.
However, in late January, the virus made its way to the Americas with the United States and Canada being among the first countries to confirm COVID-19 cases. Almost instantly the virus started claiming lives in these countries but Guyana was still to record a single case. At that time, the then-Ministry of Public Health under the leadership of Volda Lawrence announced that it was preparing for the inevitable and assured that the country was “ready and equipped” in the event of an infection.
With such an assurance in mind, life went on as per normal for almost every Guyanese with Republic and Phagwah Day celebrations drawing crowds despite the accumulating numbers of COVID-19 cases around the world.
Downhill
“If I knew what was going to happen, I would’ve definitely celebrated more because everything went downhill after that,” Donovon Joseph said while recalling that he never took the virus seriously but hoped that it would “disappear” before it reached Guyana.
Recalling his prior-pandemic experience, Randy (only name given) said that he was anxious even before the disease came to Guyana. “I read the news! I knew that it was going to come here and so even before it came, I was anxious. I familiarized myself with the signs and crazily restocked with food supplies on a daily basis,” he said while laughing. Apart from that, life was normal for Randy even as he awaited the inevitable.
As the number of COVID-19 cases and its death toll around the world continued to increase, Guyana was in the midst of preparation for the 2020 General Elections. Not a single case of COVID-19 was confirmed in the country as yet but the elections drew away attention from COVID-19 as the five-month election fiasco began.
Singh disclosed that when the “elections madness” began, COVID-19 faded into the background. She said, she was firm in her belief that the virus would not make its way to Guyana and was even more certain of it because, “God would never give us a double dose of suffering.”
“Election season is always crazy but 2020 was extra because of the blatant rigging attempt. If I was thinking about COVID-19 before it came to Guyana, I have no recollection of it because I was so focused on what was going with the elections so when it was announced that we confirmed the first case, I was shocked,” David Persaud said.
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) labeled COVID-19 a global pandemic. Hours later, former President David Granger announced that Guyana had recorded its first case of COVID-19.
Patient zero was identified as Ratna Baboolall who was said to have travelled from New York a few days prior to her death on March 11.
According to the statement by Granger, 52-year-old Baboolall arrived in the country on March 5th. She admitted herself to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation a few days later and while she was there, she presented uncontrollable diabetic and hypertension conditions, which saw her having to be resuscitated.
Singh recalled that when Granger announced that the first COVID-19 case and the death was recorded, she was shocked and found it hard to believe at first. She said after the shock wore off, she panicked as what was happening in other countries ran through her mind.
She disclosed that the following morning, she joined dozens of persons lined up outside supermarkets and pharmacies to get food, medicine and cleaning supplies.
“I think that it was at that point I realized that everything was going to change but honestly, I thought it would last for a few weeks or months but not a year,” she recalled.
Mind-wrecking
Another, Fiona James, who is a resident of Region Three, said that when she heard that Guyana had confirmed its first case, based on what was happening in others countries, she knew things would change. “With everything we were seeing going on in other countries, we know there would be change but it never crossed our minds like what those changes would be,” she said.
The 26-year-old revealed that she lives alone but usually gets regular visits from her relatives. She said that with elderly persons being considered high-risk, she was forced to isolate herself from her parents. She recalled that this was very difficult because they share a very close relationship with them but falling into the essential worker category when the lockdown was imposed meant that staying away was necessary.
For James, the confirmation of the first case was the end of life as she knew it. She noted that before the pandemic, she had a very active social life and this was put on pause ever since because she did not want to be responsible for relatives and colleagues contracting the virus. “With the technology available, you would think this would be easier but it’s not. For me, I need to be close to the people I care about,” she said.
She stated that the added responsibility took a toll on her mental health because she knew that she had to be cautious with every decision she made. “Things you normally don’t have to think about before COVID, you have to think about those now, even if it’s small,” she said.
Nevertheless, she said she tried as best as she could to cope but when she was beginning to manage it, her mother was diagnosed with COVID-19. “It was mind-wrecking. I was so scared that she might not make it, because she has other health issues,” she recalled, adding that she had sleepless nights during the time her mother was in isolation. James said that there was limited communication and the thoughts of what could happen to her mother put her in a depressed state which in turn made her started drinking excessively.
“I started drinking every night to feel lil high because I couldn’t cope with all my thoughts,” she said. She noted that even after her mother recovered, she continued to drink and only recently stopped. James said that she believes it was the sudden change in lifestyle and her inability to adapt to the new change that caused her mental health to deteriorate. “It was vey difficult for me but now the vaccine promises a bit of hope and it is a relief because at least now we can get back a bit of our normal life,” she said.
Limited information
Meanwhile, in the Indigenous community of Batavia in Region Seven, there was limited information about the virus circulating in the community. As a result of the election crisis, villagers were politically divided and as the virus slowly began spreading throughout Guyana there was a belief that COVID-19 was a political concoction.
Unlike persons living on the coastal areas, residents of Batavia did not foresee the sudden change COVID-19 was bringing but life for them was no longer the same when restrictions were imposed.
According to Toshao Oren Williams, although the community is located fairly close to the town of Bartica, the community is isolated and residents have little communication with the outside world so pre-pandemic, everyone lived a simple life, with little worries.
“Life became more difficult for everyone. We are not used to living with so many rules,” he said. He noted that travel restrictions and the curfew were the most difficult to adapt to, adding that many residents are miners and travel on a daily basis to and from mining areas in Region Seven. Added to that, he said transportation fares increased because of the limited number of persons allowed in vehicles and boats.
The community, however, soon recorded its first COVID-19 case and became one of the first indigenous communities in the region to be considered a hotspot. After recording multiple cases and three deaths, the village council imposed a lockdown on the community to contain the virus. With travel restrictions in place it was difficult for the community to get food and other necessary supplies so the community was forced to exit the lockdown as they did not receive much assistance from governing bodies except from the National Toshaos Council.
Williams said that he believes, that the lockdown taught them to appreciate the simple life even more and that caused many persons to throw caution to the wind. He said that now, while there are people who are adhering to the measures, many are not. “I think everyone is fed-up. We are not accustomed to being confined by rules and this is very new for us as we are a free people. We depend on ourselves for a living but with COVID-19 we are forced to depend on others and this is something that many are not accustomed to,” he said.
After one year of living with COVID-19 and its restrictions, Williams said, the COVID-19 vaccine promises hope to the residents of Batavia, who are all anxious to return to their normal life. He revealed that the village council recently had a meeting with the residents and many have stated that they want to be vaccinated.
“It’s a chance for life to return to normal,” he said. The community recorded over 130 cases.
The new normal
Another indigenous community that felt the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic was Kwebanna in Region One. For the first half of 2020, the community managed to steer clear of the virus with travel restrictions imposed early on but a close-by community, Santa Rosa, was affected early on and surrounding communities were forced to impose restrictions on their respective communities early on.
Toshao Paul Pierre recalled that there was little change in the community as many did not believe that the virus was real. He said that this was largely due to limited information available on the virus in the area. However, the Village Council was firm in ensuring that the national measures were followed. He described the task of doing so as very difficult because many questioned the existence of the virus and wondered how they would be able to get food and other supplies for their families.
Since there are limited jobs available in the community, many persons depend on fishing, farming and mining to sustain themselves on a daily basis.
From the time COVID-19 entered Guyana, he said, life became instantly more difficult for people. Like Williams, Pierre said, they are accustomed to a certain way of life which was suddenly brought to an end by the pandemic and many found it very difficult to adapt to the new normal. He stated that having access to information about the virus and what it was doing to in other countries, everyone knew things would change but was not prepared for the extent of that change.
In October, the community recorded its first COVID-19 fatality and in the following days multiple cases were recorded. The Ministry of Health (MoH) subsequently imposed a month-long lockdown in the community.
According to Pierre, this was the most difficult period in 2020 as everyone was uncertain about what would follow and how devastating the impact would be on the community. Even now, he said, persons are worried about a possible second wave.
Despite this, he said, many persons are skeptical about the COVID-19 vaccines. For some, he said, the vaccines represent hope and a possible end to the pandemic. However, many do not believe that the vaccine will solve the issue. In fact, he says, misinformation about the vaccine has been circulating in the community so many persons have voiced concerns about getting vaccinated.
He disclosed that during a recent meeting with villagers, many elderly person said that they will not be getting vaccinated. He noted that there has hardly been a circulation of factual information about the vaccines in the community and this is why, he believes that they are unwilling to get vaccinated.
Mental effects
Pierre also recounted his own experience with COVID-19 last year. He was diagnosed with COVID-19 shortly after the Kwebanna was declared a COVID-19 hotspot in Region. The Toshao said it was hard being apart from his family when he was carried into isolation and to date he still feels the mental effects of what he went through.
For him, he said, life has changed drastically but he and his family have adapted to the ‘new normal.’ Although this is the case, Pierre said he does not want life to remain this way forever and hopes that the pandemic will end soon.
Meanwhile, a woman (who did not want to be named) said that when she first heard that the COVID-19 had made its way to Guyana, she did not know how devastating the pandemic was going to be but knew that life was going to change. She revealed that she is a single-parent and has two children.
Three months into the pandemic, she said, she lost her job and as a result of this was unable to provide for her children.
“I think that by two or three months this was gon be over it wasn’t really a big thing at the beginning because nothing that we see happening in them other countries happening in Guyana and everybody acting like everything was normal,” she said.
The 28-year-old revealed that she worked at a store in Georgetown and when stores were forced to close as part of the lockdown, she was still being paid half her salary but this changed after three months. “My boss call me and tell me that they can no longer afford to keep me on the job and so they would have to let me go,” she said before adding that she was instantly scared knowing that she had no savings to continue providing for her children.
After that, she said life became difficult. However, she could not let her children starve so she started making pastries to sell. She recalled that with limited finance, she only made about a dozen a day and there were times when she barely sold anything.
Very, very hard
“I din eat many times and my kids eat the leftover pastries sometimes. It was very, very hard but my children is what pushed me to continue,” she said. Although, she did not make much at the store she was working at, she said, the money was constant and life was stable but when the pandemic struck everything became so uncertain.
The woman stated that she was not concerned about COVID-19 and the thought of getting infected hardly crossed her mind because of her financial situation. “Everybody experience different but is the same thing [COVID-19] causing this. Since COVID come to Guyana me know things woulda be bad but I din know it would be so bad but we ok now,” she said.
She added that now that there is a vaccine for the virus, she hopes that life will return to normal.
Several persons who spoke to this newspaper about their experience in 2020 said that they were affected mentally as a result of the imposed restrictions. One said, “We never go through anything like this before and it was hard to adapt. Nuff thing change and I think it affected everyone because people scared, some don’t want to die. Others have to think about their children education because they don’t have money for internet and plenty other things. I just glad that they get a vaccine now so that those most affected will get their vaccine.”
Another said that nothing has changed as persons are still continuing with their lives as per normal. “Everybody going out. They ain’t wearing masks. Nobody social distancing. Nothing ain’t change and we got to learn to live with COVID.”
Since March 11, 2020, all ten regions in Guyana have recorded COVID-19 cases and Region Four accounts for the majority.
To date Guyana has recorded 207 known COVID-19 fatalities, with over 9,000 infections. Almost a year after the first COVID-19 cases were detected, Guyana managed to secure donations of over 100,000 vaccines and has started inoculating healthcare workers and elderly persons.
It is the hope of the Government to achieve herd immunity by the end of 2021 but in order to achieve this at least 80% of the Guyanese population needs to be vaccinated and supplies of COVID vaccines on the international market are limited.
