All hands on deck to fight COVID-19
IT IS essential that we get as many people to stay at home and away from as many people as possible during this time. We have to slow down the spread of COVID-19 and flatten the curve to mitigate against any kind of catastrophic impact on our people and health system.
To encourage more people to stay home and keep off the streets, we have to be creative and innovative. The solutions don’t all lie in fancy and expensive tech. Some of them are simple things which just require that we and, importantly, Government work together.
There are lots of things that we can do and have been doing as a country, but there are still many gaps which the lockdown (or “shelter at home”) in St Catherine has exposed – especially if this were to be implemented islandwide.
Here are some suggestions:
1. THE ELDERLY, SHUT-IN AND IMMUNOCOMPROMISED
I haven’t heard much about the elderly population and the significant number of them who are on their own. Government should utilise staff who work in communities to get a sense of who they are, their location, whether they have assistance and what support they need. We have to find better and more ways to assist them as best as possible (though this is an awfully difficult time for most of us). Given how vulnerable senior citizens and those who are immunocompromised are, we should do everything possible to 6x5 b&w MoreValuestrip.qxd help them stay home. The National Health Fund (NHF) should have a database of their beneficiaries and the last time they filled prescriptions. Do task shifting and have civil servants update info, fill orders and deliver to them.
2. THE POOR AND VULNERABLE
It is increasingly clear drastic actions will be necessary to flatten the curve, but the impact on the poor and vulnerable will be especially significant. We can’t gloss over this. Government has a responsibility to the poor. We have to figure out a way to know and reach those who are already dependent and will become dependent on the State and other actors for support. We have lots of churches and they can play a critical role in supporting those in need as distribution centres.
This pandemic is an opportunity to engender a greater sense of community, volunteerism and civic pride. To ensure no one is left behind, we need to utilise community actors more, especially outside of Kingston and St Andrew. It will be important that there is greater coordination led by Government or an NGO with the capacity to monitor donations, so it is equitably distributed to those in need. It seems disjointed now. Those in Kingston and St Andrew cannot get everything.
3. THE ‘GENERAL’ PUBLIC
Outside of work, shopping seems to be one of the primary reasons people are going out on the road and putting themselves at risk. If you can limit that need, you will have fewer people crowding the streets to get basic things done. We need people, with 7/20/06 10:00 AM Page 1 personal protective equipment, who are able to run errands for people. It’s possible for people to stay at home, but they’re going to need help to do so. This wouldn’t be much different from Bunting’s Good Neighbour Initiative.
Supermarkets that are able to could hire additional staff to take orders via phone and pack boxes for delivery. Taxis could be used to do deliveries. In St Catherine, supermarkets could take orders on the days for restocking, and pack and label them for pickup and delivery on shopping days.
Where markets are concerned, the State can hire young adults who are out of work as a result of COVID-19, under one of the programmes announced in the 2020/2021 budget, to take orders, purchase and deliver produce and other items to people in various communities. Now that wearing a mask in public is mandatory, we should get the folks in the HOPE programme to make more and distribute to the elderly, immunocompromised, the poor and other vulnerable persons. Utilise tailors and dressmakers in communities to make masks as well, so we can produce enough to have ample supply to fulfil the surging demand.
4. THE GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL SYSTEM
Now is when we truly need a ‘joined-up government’. It’s a time for central and local government to work more closely together, to prepare us for what is to come and support us during the inevitable.
The Municipal Councils are seemingly underused generally, and they could really help to get so much more done. Utilise them more and lessen the daunting responsibilities Central Government has at this time. Councillors know the communities. Get them working. Political workers have good information on almost everyone in every community in every parish. Use those who canvass to create a database of those who are vulnerable and require support from the Government at this time.
The political system at the constituency level can work well for us in identifying and tracking people in a time like this. Use the people who monitor every week those who are in an area and who are on a voters’ list. We would have less uncertainty about this.
5. STUDENTS
A lot of students are struggling because they do not have the technology or are in an environment that is not as conducive to learning, and it’s difficult for educators to cater to so many of them in different locations. Enlist people – tertiary students and others – who could work with teachers and support more students. Digicel and Flow can give them phones with credit and service to keep in touch with these students and their caregivers.
We also need a #CitizensResponseJa solution to address the woes of our students who do not have access. What that innovation would look like, I don’t know. What I do know is that investment is needed in this area so that those who were already behind aren’t left behind.
6. THE MEDIA
I think some of the journalists, like many of us, are genuinely scared and possibly experiencing the infodemic that the prime minister had warned about. You can hear it in the questions and reports sometimes. We have to help them to keep us alert but not cause too much panic, if at all.
I spoke to a friend earlier this week who told me how they were stressed out with the overconsumption of news about coronavirus all over the world. It might help if they have support, if they don’t already have, to deal with their own anxieties while covering a major health issue like this. The last thing we want is for them to be projecting their fears on the public. Anything to help maintain as much calm as possible. I am not entirely sure what that support might look like, though. Maybe editors can carefully schedule who covers stories, checking people’s anxiety levels to do coverage, having a therapist they can talk to for a couple of minutes, and other things.
Now is the time we must come together and take advantage of the benefits of collaborative efforts to flatten the curve.