Dear editor,
IT would be remiss of me if I did not respond to an editorial in the Kaieteur News, one of Guyana’s tabloid newspapers. The editorial is titled, “Coronavirus — a greater sense of urgency needed.”
Reading the editorial, one would get the impression that it was either authored by the research-averse columnist Freddie Kissoon or one of their lowly paid clerical staff. For reasons beyond me, despite the very tabloid carrying the government’s extensive plans a few weeks ago, they would now give the impression that the Minister of Public Health, Mrs. Volda Lawrence and her hard-working team are sitting in their offices drinking champagne and playing tic tac toe.

Kaieteur News wicked intent is much more transparent than the miniskirt of one of the ladies of the night, who frequents the local gentlemen’s club, patronised by the pot-bellied rich and famous. If you need further clarity as to what I am alluding to, I will get very direct. This editorial was to serve as the prelude for a new line of attack by the PPP, after their Global Witness propaganda went spectacularly belly up. It was the cue for the worse ever Minister of Health Dr. Leslie Ramsammy to come out with guns blazing and writing one of his useless letters resulting in all-out cascade of attacks from all the PPP- aligned papers. Mind you, the once-bitten-twice-shy Dr. Leslie Ramsammy would have done so with much trepidation after the grey-haired pensioner was taken to night school on quite a few occasions by yours truly; this can be easily confirmed by a google search. A pity Roger Khan, the drug criminal, was not in a position to render assistance.

Now let’s examine this poorly toddler-level written editorial. The not-so-astute author wrote and I will quote verbatim, “The UK government has declared coronavirus a serious and imminent threat to public health, and announced new powers to fight its spread. This is only after a mere four reported cases of the sickness in the UK.” Clearly, this is yet another of Kaieteur News’ feeble research efforts. Had they done half a decent research and sought the medical opinion from a reputable doctor like myself, they would not have been placed in this perilous position of having a public school whipping. The fact is that this public pronouncement was not done after a mere four confirmed cases. It is much more complicated than that Glenn Lall. The UK has over 60 million known residents and it would have been irresponsible of the government to take such a costly and drastic step, after only four infections. Clearly, what would have triggered this response was the imminent risk and not only absolute numbers. So what would have informed this imminent risk? Firstly, quite a number of UK residents were flown in from China. The exact number I am not privy to since this changes every day as passengers arrive, but it is much more than four. Secondly, compared to Guyana, the UK has more of its residents travelling out of China. Thirdly, quite a number of UK residents are under quarantine. Fourthly, because the number of nationals and non-nationals who had travelled to China but on return were asymptomatic, there is a possibility that they could have been infected on arrival. The reason is that a patient could be infected despite not demonstrating symptoms. Fifthly, a doctors’ surgery in a city known as Brighton was closed down because two of their doctors became infected. The fact that these two doctors were infected would have placed many patients and staff at risk. The doctors’ surgery is presently undergoing specialist deep cleaning. Therefore, it is clear why the UK government took that position. I am no infectious disease specialist, but I’m sure that level of risk does not exist in Guyana.

Glenn Lall and his tabloid papers then suggested the following and again I will quote verbatim, “Among the steps that can be implemented are, people can now be forcibly quarantined or sent into isolation and will not be free to leave under the new measures.” Maybe Glenn is experiencing senile dementia, but I clearly recollect reading in his tabloid last week that about four Guyanese students returned to Guyana against government advice and were immediately quarantined. I am absolutely certain I read that. With regard to forcible quarantining, I am confident the Honourable Minister of Health Mrs Volda Lawrence does not need Glenn Lall to tell her that. The fact is that the number one responsibility of a government is to keep its citizens safe. If a government has established or suspected a contagious health condition in one or more of its citizens and those infected will place the entire population at risk, then by law the government can take whatever action it deems necessary to protect the population, even quarantining those infected patients against their wishes. So Glenn Lall, rather than giving the minister advice, you should focus on improving the quality of your tabloid editorials.

I will repeat that the APNU+AFC government has taken reasonable steps to address the Coronavirus concerns. It is dangerous to compare what one country has done to what we have done since their risk would have been different to ours. Hopefully, this letter brings this matter to a screeching halt and Kaieteur News sister tabloid, Stabroek News, does not pick up on this. Having said that, my greatest fear is Stabroek News coming up with a ridiculous and outrageous editorial if Coronavirus even enters Guyana. They may argue, in their Anand Persaud-penned editorial, that it entered Guyana because the government failed to confiscate its passport. You may find this funny, but I would not put it past these Punchinello.

Regards
Dr Mark Devonish