COVID-19 Plan – Control Spread by Trace and Isolate

Sep 02, 2020 Letters

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DEAR EDITOR,

We receive statistics everyday about how many new positive cases we have of the COVID-19 virus. As a nation, we are all alarmed and terrified of what will happen next. We are waiting for the hammer to fall on our collective heads. From all the comments by officials in various public interviews and comments, it appears that is exactly what will happen. Instead of implementing systems to take control of the spreaders or potential spreaders, by contact tracing and isolation, the powers that be wants to implement coercive and punitive measures against the people. In other words, their intention is to victimize the victims.
Recently I took a drive to Bushy Park Beach at Parika. My family wanted to go for a drive to take a break from being home all week. When I arrived there, I was greeted by two police who advised me that the beach was closed as a result of COVID-19 regulations. My family was disappointed. However, there is no choice here; I promptly turned around and returned home.
The beach is an open and windy space where people do gather in family groups usually masked and social distancing. However, I am not going to argue the merits of closing the beach except to say that choice is being removed. This assumes that the people are not responsible. Now they will dictate how you must behave. This is not healthy for a democracy.
The next thing I hear is that they will have the police monitor public access places such as small businesses and charge patrons for not wearing a mask and also owners/operators. Now the operator of a business has complied with all the protocols. He provides facilities for hand-washing or sanitizing and also checks your temperature before allowing entry. He makes sure you enter with a mask or he makes one available to you.
Now, why would you charge the business owner? This is not right.
You have no reason to charge him because there is nothing to indicate that he is capable of spreading the virus or being infected by the virus. You should also not be charging the citizen because he has rights and choice is one of those rights.
Now let us take the case of a person who was in contact with a positive case. He can either be infected which you can determine by symptoms or has the potential of becoming infected because he was in contact with a COVID-19 positive case. It is these people who will be new spreaders or potential spreaders. And these people can be identified through contact tracing.
Now these are the people government and police should be focusing on. Not the innocent.
We have no evidence that the government with all its power and resources is focusing on this. It would be helpful if on a daily basis the government issues statistics for the following:
Number of COVID-19 positive cases.
Number of person contact traced.
Number with no symptoms who are being isolated
Number with symptoms who are quarantined and under treatment
Number of persons released from isolation after having developed no symptoms after seven to 10 days.
Number of persons who recovered after treatment and number of persons transferred to ICU in hospital.
Setting up opportunities for the police to charge the people and bring them before the courts will not stop the spread of the virus.
Sometimes I wonder what happens when politicians get power. It’s as if they suddenly left the real world and now live in an alternate universe. They immediately forget what happens when police have any reason to interact with the people and can exercise the discretion to charge or not charge. How many outcomes can you have?
The COVID-19 virus is bringing out some serious defects in our thinking. All medical personal who are required to treat patients with the virus should be properly attired with PPE (Personal Protective Equipment). So if a person comes in with a heart attack and could also be COVID-19 positive, they should be provided with seamless service. Why would the possibility of being COVID-19 positive prevent a heart attack patient from receiving timely treatment?
I am very concerned that the government has not recognized that it would be more efficient and effective to control the spread of the virus by taking control of all persons who have come into contact with COVID-19 positive cases. If you control the spreaders or the potential spreaders, you will get it under control.
Until such time as the government take to get the spreaders under control, masks and social distancing will be helpful since no one will know who could be a spreader. But once you know who are the spreaders and you have them under control, the need for masks and social distancing becomes redundant.
It will be interesting to see how the PSC, GMSA and the Chambers will respond after police start to charge innocent business owners.

Respectfully,
Sase Shewnarain

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