Home alone Christmas

Sep 08, 2021 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

Kaieteur News – There was a chilling image which was published last year when the local COVID-19 outbreak was still in its infancy. A photograph appeared in one of the daily newspapers showing the floor of the National Sports Hall being lined with cots, in preparation for a possible situation in which hospitals would be overwhelmed and patients would have to be housed at the National Sports Hall.
Neither APNU+AFC government nor the PPP/C administration has so far had to resort to the use of such a mass facility to treat the infected. But they do have a massive medical tent donated to the country to be used in the eventuality of the country’s health system being overwhelmed.
Guyana is fast approaching that stage. The month of September is only one week old and so far, 29 persons have succumbed. If this trend persists – and the rise in new infections indicates that it will persist – this month is going to be the deadliest in Guyana’s history. And still those brain-boxes in the government do not see the necessity of shutting down the two regions which are accounting for more than 70 percent of new infections.
Yesterday, seven more persons died, all of whom were unvaccinated. And of the 161 new cases, 29 were severe enough to require hospitalisation. This is three times what one expects.
There are 37 persons in the COVID ICU Unit. Does the country have enough ventilators for these persons? It is doubtful it does.
Guyana is facing a coronavirus storm, similar to what India faced earlier this year and which forced a lockdown on the sub-continent. But do not dare mention lockdown to our pro-bourgeoisie government. It is not contemplating any lockdown, regardless of whether this forces the cancellation of Christmas.
It appears that Guyanese are destined for another home-alone Christmas. The rapid rise in confirmed coronavirus cases now almost certainly will mean that the pandemic will still be raging in the country during the Christmas holidays.
This will mean yet another restricted Christmas. Those who are longing for a return to the staff parties, office socials and visiting friends and relatives as in the past, will be sorely disappointed, unless they plan to breach the regulations as some did in 2020.
We all know how that ended. There was a spike in coronavirus cases in January with an almost 50 percent increase in cases even though the deaths remained constant.
That spike in January – no doubt caused by last year’s Christmas revelries – has continued right through to today, eight months after. Instead of exiting the pandemic and preparing for a normal Christmas, Guyanese are once again looking at having to be battened down in their homes for Christmas 2021.
All indications are that this year’s Christmas will be dismal. Coronavirus waves are usually represented on a bell-shaped curve. It takes a long time to plateau, meaning when cases and deaths spike, they do not decline rapidly; usually taking months to taper off.
It is not likely that, given what is taking place in the country at present, that the present controversial measures can be relaxed anytime soon, if at all, and definitely not in time to save Christmas.
Cases are not only rising in Guyana. They are rising in other countries around the world. But Guyana’s deaths are worrying when compared to other places which are slowly returning to normalcy.
Earlier this year, Wembley Stadium had a large capacity crowd to witness the finals of Euro 2020. This week’s final day of the 4th Test Match between England and India was held to an almost full Oval house. And at present, the US Open is being hosted with a live audience in attendance.
This is happening because despite the recent rise in cases. The number of deaths in the US does not correspond to the increase in new infections and is way below what existed in the winter.
While the US, India, the UK, Indonesia and even Brazil are witnessing improvements, Guyana is in poor shape with the highest number ever of active cases, highest weekly death rate and rising infections.
What is worrying is the high percentage of elderly who are dying despite Guyana’s Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo, indicating that he was told that 82 percent of persons over the age of 62 years had been vaccinated. Jagdeo should undertake an independent verification of these numbers because if what he was told is correct, the death rate of the elderly should not have been as high as it is at present.
The government needs to do more not less. Regions Three and Four need to be shut down and not only to save Christmas but also to stem the tsunami of deaths which appears to lie ahead.
If, as the government suspects, the Delta variant is in Guyana and Mu may be on its way, the elderly are going to die in droves, and the Sports Hall scenario will become a reality with hundreds lying prostrate gasping for air.