Covid is no respecter of persons

 Observer column published 5th October 2020

by Jean Lowrie-Chin

Once more Covid-19 has reminded us that it is no respecter of persons. The most powerful man in the world, President Donald Trump has been hospitalized with the disease, and there are conflicting stories about his condition and the date on which he was tested. Let us keep in our prayers President Trump, Mrs Trump and indeed everyone who have been battling this terrible virus.

Unfortunately, citizens of the US received mixed messages regarding the wearing of masks and social distancing and the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) has noted that if this had been a nationwide mandate, the toll would have been about half of the over 200,000 persons who have succumbed to the disease. We expect that after this experience, President Trump will join the scientists in promoting the life-saving protocols to help flatten their dizzying curve.

We in Jamaica are certainly not out of the woods, and we must do better with following the orders of the Disaster and Risk Management Act. Even in the face of community spread, we are learning from a Jamaica Observer report that bribes were being collected at one of our airports in exchange for not installing the Covid tracker on the phones of persons being processed on arrival. Further, police officers have been attacked in Kingston and in St Ann when they tried to lock down parties being held after curfew. What a disgrace, in the face of our rising numbers of cases and deaths. I hope we can introduce an efficient ticketing system to penalize those careless people who are still refusing to wear masks.

 

Keith Duncan - Nationwide Radio photo

Our economic challenges

You know the saying, “If America sneezes, Jamaica gets pneumonia.” This is a hard truth for tourism,  as in last week’s press conference held by the Economic Programme Oversight Committee (EPOC) chaired by Keith Duncan, we learned that in the April-June 2020 quarter, there was an 87.5% downturn in earnings from hotels and restaurants. Duncan noted that the projections are assuming an upturn in tourism for the 20-21 winter season. Indeed, I heard from a friend recently, who is planning to spend almost the entire winter in Jamaica, perhaps trying to escape the double jeopardy of flu season in Covid times.

As we see the fallout being suffered by restaurants, including fast-food concerns which employ thousands of Jamaicans, we would like to endorse JMEA President Richard Pandohie’s call to extend our curfew hours to 10 pm. Those two hours could make a world of difference for restaurants, supermarkets and other places of business.

It is remarkable that the ‘safe corridor’ designated by the Tourism Ministry has no Covid hot-spots. Recently Professor Peter Figueroa remarked that our hotels had been doing extremely well in observing protocols and encouraged the re-opening of attractions which had done likewise.

The EPOC conference had some good news as well, as tax revenues and remittances have increased. Let us pause and say a prayer for those brave Jamaicans who are on the frontline in the US, battling the disease, and ensuring that they send support for their families back home.

Duncan noted, “… if all of us as citizens diligently practice the infection control protocols and the GOJ continues its proactive and prudent macro-fiscal management, along with its efforts in managing the spread and the impact of the COVID-19 virus, we will give ourselves the best chance to see a sustained recovery of our economy, jobs and businesses over time.”