A ‘normal’ Old Year’s night would feature scores of persons gathering to usher in the New Year with a spectacular fireworks display put on by the Guyana Defence Force. There would also be church services — with avid devotees and the once-a-year specialists who know it’s best to go into the New Year with blessings. 2020 proved to be a year that heralded in a ‘new normal’.

Instead of waiting until after midnight, when the New Year would begin, the pressmen at the Guyana Chronicle were able to start printing the newspaper before 2020 ended. That’s right; this paper was printed since last year! That’s because the 22:30 hrs curfew stymied many of the usual late night gatherings that reporters and photographers at the Chronicle would cover.

In light of the curfew and the other gazetted COVID-19 measures, church services were either virtual or they finished by 21:00 hrs. And, well, curfew meant that persons were supposed to be home by a certain time and not ‘on the road’ or ‘out and about’ at midnight (key phrase: “supposed to”). This curfew, along with the suite of other restrictions were instituted as part of the COVID-19 emergency measures to help curb the spread of the novel coronavirus and mitigate the effects of the pandemic.

This Chronicle wouldn’t lie to the nation; there were some aspects of the ‘GT’ nightlife scene that made it seem as though COVID-19 was simply a bad dream we would wake up from at the stroke of midnight. And boy, don’t we wish that was true!

By and large, however, the absence of crowds at the Stabroek market area and the early end to the socially distanced church services and outings at the seawalls made it seem as though Guyanese did believe that they should adhere to COVID-19 precautionary measures. The virus has an incubation period of up to 14 days, so, by January 14, if we see a spike in the number of cases, we’ll know those covert parties were a major contributor.

Aside from the ‘switch-up’ of the Old Year’s festivities, the last day of 2020 presented some good news. Without any prior indication, President Irfaan Ali gave members of the public sector something to celebrate: a one-off $25,000 grant. This means that those in Central Government, Statutory Bodies, Subvention Agencies, Public Corporations, Government Pensioners and staff of the University of Guyana would all receive the sum, geared at assisting workers to cope with the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The total cost of this assistance is in excess of two billion dollars and will directly benefit over sixty thousand workers and their families,” a statement from the Office of the President stated. Importantly, this initiative will also extend to current workers of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo). The statement indicated that those sugar workers were unconscionably deprived of their livelihood but, in keeping with the Government’s promise to aid them, further transitional support will be provided in the restructuring of the industry.

So even though COVID-19 placed a strain on the economy, President Ali and his Government said ‘year-end bonus is a must!’ (that’s what Koffee said in her song, right?).  All-in-all, the year 2020 will be remembered as a tumultuous 366 days, plagued by a global pandemic that, literally, disrupted life as we were accustomed to. Here in Guyana, we had our own reasons to remember this year. There was a five-month ‘epidemic’ we called our Regional and General Elections. And of course, the enduring COVID-19 pandemic which wasn’t something we seemed to care too much for, until, well, we had no choice but to care. Even so, if you’re reading this, you’ve made it into a new year, which is filled with endless possibilities (and maybe more bonuses from ‘oil money’?). Happy 2021!