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.
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Keith Duncan - Nationwide Radio photo
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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.”
