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“Lockdown may not be the best way” – Presi Ali on COVID-19
– implores citizens to follow protocols, guidelines to curb spread
President Irfaan Ali
Kaieteur News – As COVID-19 numbers continue to rise daily, a total lockdown would seem like the most viable measure to curb the spread of the pandemic. But according to President Irfaan Ali, information from experts revealed that such a move “may not be the best way.”
In endorsing the reopening of the country’s two international airports – the Cheddi Jagan International Airport and the Eugene F. Correia International Airport – to commercial operations, President Ali said what is needed is “strict adherence” to the COVID-19 protocols.
“We have recently seen new studies showing that lockdown may not be the best way,” Ali said in a statement, adding “What we have to do as leaders is to find the right balance and ensure that coming out of the pandemic, we do not head into severe economic recession. We already have a situation where the economy has been affected tremendously.”
The Head of State expressed confidence in the advice provided by the relevant authorities that Guyana is “fully prepared and ready to operate in a manner which will ensure the safety of all who work there and pass through them.”
He emphasized too, that while everything is being done within means and with the assistance of the international community to bring the virus under control, it is as equally important to keep the economy functioning and growing. It was on this note Ali reiterated the importance of balancing both the medical and socio-economic aspects of reopening the economy.
“What we are doing is basically trying to find the balance while operating, managing and living in a COVID environment. We have to also ensure that we develop strong protocols and guidelines and to have persons follow, stringently, those guidelines, so that these can be the buffer that gives us an opportunity to rebalance the way we deal with this, from a medical as well as a socio-economic perspective,” the President explained.
The decision to reopen the country’s airports was made just as the World Health Organisation (WHO) called for world leaders to stop locking down their countries and economies as the primary means of control of this virus.
Dr. David Nabarro from the WHO had appealed to world leaders to stop “using lockdowns as your primary control method” of the coronavirus. Nabarro had claimed that lockdowns only achieved “poverty” and such restrictive measures should only be treated as a last resort.
“Lockdowns just have one consequence that you must never ever belittle, and that is making poor people an awful lot poorer,” he said.
President Ali too, over the last few months, has advocated for the need to strike a crucial balance in dealing with the pandemic.
“The balance requires very strong protocols, and I think, therein lies the trick to this pandemic; the protocols and enforcing the protocols. Now, we can move to reopening once we have strong protocols that can be enforced, and once we have the institutional mechanism to support those protocols,” he said.
During an emergency multi-stakeholder meeting in August, the President had assured that any decision taken to reopen the airports would only be made after careful consideration of all of the factors. This led to Guyana’s airports being reopened to commercial flights on October 12, 2020.
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