PRAISE is in order for frontline workers, Ministry of Health staff and Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony, other stakeholders and the population in general, for keeping the COVID-19 pandemic to a relatively controlled level across this country, preventing any major outbreak in the society. A couple of remote villages had to be placed on lockdown, but the overall situation in the country is encouraging and positive. President Ali made a significant statement when he refused to participate in a public event that seemed to be slack with precautionary health measures, signalling the state’s seriousness in tackling the pandemic and implementing preventative measures to keep the virus at bay as much as possible. Government took office late last year, and immediately made sure that the pandemic became the number one priority for Guyanese, and the fruit so far is this show of success. With just around 200 fatalities, and a strong public education and vaccination programme underway, Guyana may very well escape the brunt of the global crisis that the virus has wreaked on the world over the past year, even with the continuing threat of new variants emerging. Keeping the country in this careful state of a guarded stance must be of continuing paramount importance.

Brazil, which is neighbouring Lethem and the hinterland, is suffering an incredible fallout from the devastation that the pandemic is inflicting on that country, with fatalities approaching 300,000 Brazilians, today numbering 287,000. Brazil’s experience with the virus is second only to the United States as experiencing the world’s most devastating impact. The U.S. faces a situation of nearly 30 million Americans infected, with 539,000 fatalities. Brazil, with just 2.7 per cent of the world’s population, accounts for 20 per cent of global fatalities. Right on the border of this country, it is a miracle that the Brazilian crisis is not spilling over into Guyana, because of the porous border along the Lethem corridor. Clearly, the Guyana Government is doing an amazing job to keep the Brazil situation from afflicting Guyana.
Right on this country’s doorstep, Brazil is facing an affliction rate of 12 million infected persons. Globally, more than 120 million people got infected, with close to three million fatalities. The COVID pandemic is a deadly advent globally, with many countries suffering enormous loss, both in economic growth and in the social upheaval of society. Guyana has been spared the brunt of this impact.

This country was able to battle through the global crisis to keep the national economy rising with record and exponential growth last year and projected for 2021. The global health crisis has not afflicted Guyana as much as it has other nations around the world. India, Brazil, the U.S., Russia and so many countries, face trying times, with challenging years ahead to right their economic stability, and to ensure long-term effects on infected people do not place a strain on their health care system.
For a relatively poor country going into the pandemic, especially facing the democratic challenges that the Coalition threw up for two years, Guyana is doing an amazing, laudable job to beat the pandemic, and to keep socioeconomic growth on an even acceleration.

Much work lies ahead, as the global village reforms the international systems that underlie how humanity goes about the business of building the 21st century world, including how to put in place systems and structures to avoid future crises such as this pandemic caused. With the World Economic Forum, the United Nations, the Climate Summit, and other leadership organisations and thought-leadership forums rolling out new goals for societies around the world to secure mankind against unforeseen devastation, there is much legislative and cultural and economic reforms to implement in the near future. In fact, much of it has already started to show up, with, for example, the net-clean climate mandate now an urgent necessity in planning how this country manages and sustains its development.
Mankind may see this COVID pandemic become a demarcation of history, with Before COVID and After COVID a line that tells the story of how the world was transformed post-pandemic. Such is the devastating crisis that the virus has wrought across the world. And, thankfully, so far, Guyana has been riding the stormy waves with admirable success and low impact.

Guyanese must continue to be encouraged and educated and empowered to play their individual roles to keep their communities safe, both with a strong adherence to preventative measures such as wearing masks and sticking to the six-foot rule in public, and to make sure that people who may violate recommended measures are called out and made to take the health of their communities seriously.
Government has moved with speed and good sense to secure necessary vaccines, and to roll out Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits across the land. The results are encouraging and give the nation much relief, that Guyanese could breathe a deep sigh of relief. However, there is still much more to be done, especially with new, unknown variants of the virus showing up with dogged determination. New variants in Brazil are particularly concerning to world health administrators, and so Guyana must continue to be on guard, and to keep on top of research, medical information, and the science around new variants. Guyanese owe a depth of gratitude to the health care workers and frontline hospital staff and public health officials who dedicate their days with tremendous self-sacrifice to make sure this country does not suffer irreparable damage from this global pandemic.