#BTEditorial – Christmas with coronavirus

The Government has sent a clear signal that we should celebrate the Christmas season with caution and sobriety in the face of the fast-spreading Omicron coronavirus variant which has put countries around the globe on edge at what ought to be the most wonderful time of the year.

Issuing the Emergency Management Curfew Directive 23 that is now in effect, the authorities resisted the tug from the business community and other interest groups to lift all restrictions, opting instead to make only minor changes.

We particularly welcome the lifting of the curfew from midnight on Christmas Eve to 5 a.m. on Christmas Day. We are also mindful that the viruses neither take holidays nor sleep.

Albeit one day only, there appears to be an inherent message – it is better to be safe than sorry.

After constrained Christmas celebrations last year with New Year lockdowns and curfews, COVID-weary citizens were no doubt hoping for some respite and a chance to mingle with family and friends even if in a limited way.

But this hope has quickly given way to uncertainty as the latest variant which emerged in November quickly took hold. Although first noted in South Africa, it did not develop there but spread to scores of countries in less than a month. It is already just across the waters in Port of Spain which confirmed its first case on Monday. It is not a tremendous leap to imagine it has already arrived here.

Need we any stronger reminder that the coronavirus pandemic is going nowhere fast?

While experts have cautioned against panic, the World Health Organisation on Tuesday warned governments to sit up and pay attention to the variant that is spreading faster than no other.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told journalists: “Omicron is spreading at a rate we have not seen with any previous variant. We’re concerned that people are dismissing Omicron as mild. Surely, we have learned by now that we underestimate this virus at our peril.

“Seventy-seven countries have now reported cases of Omicron, and the reality is that Omicron is probably in most countries, even if it hasn’t been detected yet.”

Tedros added that while the variant might cause less severe disease, its high transmissibility might mean that “the sheer number of cases could once again overwhelm unprepared health systems”.

And even if the proportion of people hospitalized with severe disease is smaller than with previous strains, the expected larger number of infections means that more deaths and more hospitalizations can be expected.

One look at our main tourism source market, Britain, shows a concerning scenario unfolding.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced a slew of new COVID-19 measures in the face of an incoming “tidal wave” of infections from the Omicron variant which has already claimed the life of one person. Johnson has told Britons to “set aside” the idea that the variant is mild.

On the home front, Minister of Health and Wellness Lt. Col. Jeffrey Bostic has made clear that enhanced surveillance is on cards and some adjustments to the travel protocols will soon be announced although no travel bans will be imposed.

Already there have been calls for Government to close its doors to countries where infections are rising but certainly, we have enough evidence from more than 18 months of watching this pandemic to know that travel bans are ineffective.

Barbados would be better off focusing on stepping up surveillance to monitor the new variant with special emphasis on testing, genome sequencing, and contact tracing.

Lt Col Bostic said: “We continue to send samples to CARPHA [Caribbean Public Health Agency] for them to be able to co-ordinate on our behalf…We have reached out to PAHO we continue to do our screening and we are trying to make some direct contacts to get greater assistance in this regard in relation to being able to identify this particular variant…. If we find anything we will certainly declare.

“One thing I can declare and this is just for people to understand, the mere fact that this thing is within our source markets, it has started to enter into the region. Barbados is not immune and like all the other variants and at some point, it will end up here. The fact is there ain’t a single country that can keep these new variants out.”

He added that Government will roll out a new public education effort aimed at ensuring citizens better protect themselves.

There lies our main defence against the coronavirus, be it Delta, Alpha, Gamma or Omicron.

Increasing screening and surveillance, putting out more public service announcements and even imposing a travel ban won’t stop any variant of the coronavirus from wreaking havoc among us if we willfully flout the proven protocols or make wild, unfounded accusations against testing, vaccination, hospitalisation, medication or the people who are on the frontline of the attack against coronavirus.

Too many people continue to question the wisdom of medical experts and have allowed all sorts of conspiracy theories, even in the face of contrary evidence, to dissuade them from becoming vaccinated. We urge them to consult their general practitioner and take the vaccine.

Too many refuse to wear masks correctly, fail to sanitise or keep safe physical distances, opting instead to indulge in risky behaviour at their own peril and that of others. No protocol is foolproof, but not using our commonsense when armed with sound health information is a fool’s errand.

By all means, let’s have a happy Christmas. But our actions now will determine exactly how happy, prosperous and healthy the New Year will be.