— a release valve but caution still necessary         

By Vanessa Cort
JUST as at Christmas, Guyanese were able to once more enjoy a traditional celebration after being robbed of the event last year. In fact, the coronavirus which prevented it ‘hit’ the world in March 2020, just after the Mashramani (Mash) festivities of that year.

So the population was ready for a renewed post-lockdown celebration after two years of mask-wearing, social-distancing and curfews.

Indeed, when the government announced the end of controlled business hours and the re-opening of the country, many breathed a collective sigh of relief.

And so they turned out in their numbers to support the Soca Monarch Competition held at the National Stadium and were not disappointed. Jumo ‘Rubber Waist’ Primo reportedly captured the crowd and the crown with his song, ‘Living my life’, while ‘Granny Ivy’ amused and entertained, copping second place and Best Newcomer Award, with ‘Bumpa Tricks’.

J’ouvert festivities were held at various locations and by all reports were well-attended and of course, there was the Beenie Man concert held last Saturday.

Touted as the first live concert in two years, this event gave Guyanese an opportunity to ‘let off steam’ and release so much of the anxiety and stress which had built up since the start of this pandemic.

And though it rained from early Mash Day and continued into the afternoon, music resounded around the City showing that the spirit of the people was not dampened.

However, the Omicron variant of the virus is still with us and so organisers of all events were urging revelers to continue to observe COVID protocol and requested vaccination and identification cards for admittance.

This variant, in particular, has caused greater anxiety and stress as the number of infected surged, surpassing those affected at the start of the pandemic.

Samples were sent overseas for testing when this country recorded over 1,000 new cases of the virus in one day, prior to which cases had been increasing rapidly.

While this variant is milder and cases of hospitalisation fewer than with the Delta variant, it is highly transmissible. So, while the number of infected seems to be levelling off, vigilance is still required.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has sought to dispel the myth that Omicron’s high transmissibility and lower severity mean “preventing transmission is no longer possible and no longer necessary.”

He pointed out that more transmissions mean more deaths, adding: “We are not calling for any country to return to so-called lockdown. But we are calling on all countries to protect their people using every tool in the toolkit, not vaccines alone.”

The WHO’s Emergencies Chief, Mike Ryan, also urged countries not to blindly follow others in relaxing measures but to chart their own course, and further stated: “Those countries which are making decisions to open up more broadly also need to be sure of capacity to re-introduce measures, with community acceptance, if needed.”

Denmark and Austria recently joined Britain, Ireland and the Netherlands in relaxing COVID restrictions and the United States is poised to relax mask-wearing mandates in several states.

But the WHO message is clear to all governments and populations, that caution is still necessary because of the dynamic nature of this virus. And not only this, but as the Emergencies Chief put it, “so as if we open the doors quickly, you better be very well able to close them very quickly as well”.