#BTEditorial – How much worse must it become?

How many more of our loved ones must die? How many more citizens on this island must be sickened? How many more workers must agonise over the stability of their employment and the impact on their wages and salaries?

How much longer must we be burdened mentally and economically by restrictions caused by the curfews? And how much longer must we burden our healthcare workers who must now be operating on faith and prayer.

These questions and more must be asked of each person who calls this island home. For the situation with the COVID-19 pandemic has become so untenable that it is difficult to understand how we could have lost such confidence in our scientific community and our history highly successful vaccine treatments.

It is certainly not unexpected that people would be apprehensive about a disease that seemingly emerged from nowhere killing millions around the world, and causing a global economic, social and health catastrophe.

But what began as a natural curiosity and even suspicion about the origin of the disease, the efficacy of the treatments, and stress associated with the measures imposed to prevent spread of the viral illness, has evolved into a well-organised and deliberate campaign aimed at undermining national responses to quelling the pandemic.

There is resistance to mask-wearing. Some people are outright ignoring measures aimed at restricting movement of people and containing disease spread. They have no interest in taking the vaccines and worse yet, they are determined to discourage as many people as they can from being inoculated.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) which has been in the business of preventing diseases from spreading around the globe, offered its assessment of the situation.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated how the spread of misinformation, amplified on social media and other digital platforms, is proving to be as much a threat to global public health as the virus itself.

“Technology advancements and social media create opportunities to keep people safe, informed and connected. However, the same tools also enable and amplify the current ‘infodemic’ that continues to undermine the global response and jeopardizes measures to control the pandemic.”

There is now such deep suspicion in our communities that the legitimacy of medical treatments which were commonly accepted, are now questioned by people who have gained their medical knowledge from YouTube, Facebook or TikTok.

What many people fail to understand is the invasive nature of these social media sites. The more you view a particular subject such as conspiracy theories the more conspiracy theories are pushed to the viewer’s page. What many of us are discovering is the hundreds of conspiracy posts get suggested to you by social media sites such as Facebook, and Instagram once you start viewing a few of them.

The National Public Radio (NPR) in the United States reported earlier this year that researchers found the bulk of misleading claims and outright lies about COVID-19 vaccines that proliferate on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter came from just 12 people.

Dubbed the ‘\Disinformation Dozen these figures behind the disinformation produce 65 per cent of the shares of anti-vaccine misinformation on social media platforms.

NPR reported: “They include anti-vaccine activists, alternative health entrepreneurs and physicians. Some of them run multiple accounts across the different platforms and they often promote “natural health.” Some even sell supplements and books.”

What we in Barbados must appreciate is that while some of our citizens are taken in by the Internet and social media snake oil, we face an even greater calamity than currently exists.

Our medical fraternity is a conservative group and loathes the idea of shock and awe to get their message across. But we are seeing examples of growing fear of what could await us. That we have yet to experience the worst-case scenario.

Earlier this week, this newspaper reported the chilling development of people needlessly dying at home, not being vaccinated, and not seeking medical treatment.

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital’s (QEH) Dr Clyde Cave told of the abhorrent situation where people are being dropped off at the QEH, literally at death’s door. In one chilling example, an elderly woman was brought to the Accident and Emergency Department, long dead and decomposing.

Added to the disturbing situation was the discovery that at least 10 per cent of pregnant women receiving antenatal care at the QEH have been found to be COVID-19 positive.

There are real and reasonable concerns too about adjustments to the country’s travel protocols. This has raised the national anxiety about the pandemic to a new high.

What we are experiencing in Barbados is nothing short of a crisis and the biggest fear is that all these circumstances may converge during the Christmas holiday season, resulting in another case of déjà vu 2020.