Be thankful for those flouting covid19 rules

THE EDITOR: First let me give credit to the Government for its handling of the covid19 "pandemic." I put pandemic in quotes because TT had/has no pandemic. That is hardly the word which applies to a country with just over 130 cases and eight people dying “with covid19" as opposed to "from covid19.” (If I have the cold and I am killed in an accident, I died "with the cold" rather than "from the cold.")

I subscribe to the notion of wetting your house when the neighbour's house is on fire, hence my support for the measures taken by the Government in light of relatively high covid19 numbers in other countries. But murders (over 200 for the year) and road deaths (over 50 for the year) better qualify for pandemic status than covid19.

As an aside to the Police Commissioner: your time would be better spent trying to solve at least one murder where the killer is not obvious (like a man killing his wife and giving himself up) than castigating those you think are standing too close to each other in a bar or on the beach, or threatening bar owners for not controlling what happens outside their premises.

If we needed any evidence that covid19 was not a problem here, it came from the over 40,000 people who entered the country in early February, when the virus was rampant in many countries. Carnival went on as usual with thousands mingling and rubbing against each other. This resulted in how many cases? Zero.

Closing the borders and quarantining those entering the country were necessary and effective measures to curb imported cases. But, except initially, locking down the country, forcing people to stay at home, and crippling economic activity were counter-productive.

If it appears that local measures (like wearing masks, physically distancing and shutting down the economy) were successful in curbing the spread of covid19, they were "successful" only because there was/is nothing to spread.

In fact, I've seen research where wearing a mask weakens your immune system and makes you more vulnerable to covid19. Which is kinda obvious if you think about it. Breathing in your own foul air (which is full of toxins that the body is trying to eliminate) cannot be healthy.

Which brings me to Health Minister Deyalsingh's continued scolding of those flouting distancing rules and threatening to reclose bars that don't comply with his Government's policy. As someone who likes to talk about "evidence-based," he should view this as evidence that mask-wearing and physical distancing are not necessary.

For me, I'm grateful to those defying policy. When people congregate in bars and other places with no one catching covid19, that should be a signal that it's time to let go rather than doubling down to exert more control. Is it that the high from being in control is too much for some to give up?

A CHARLES

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