Overblown lockdown hurts more than COVID-19

Mongolians have a saying, “Don’t roll up your trousers before you see water”. It seems no one in the government had the sense to say this before they started a heavy-handed lockdown that callously trampling on civil liberties, shoving the entire nation’s livelihood into the gutters.

Unless we’re missing a couple of key facts – like the real extent of COVID-19 spread – the 14-day extension to the authoritarian lockdown is totally unwarranted and a completely hysterical reaction by an inept government unable to think of a response that doesn’t put the livelihoods of millions in jeopardy. The overblown reaction of the government is an indication that their actions are ruled by senseless fear -- fear of accountability more so than the disease.

After all, Mongolia has had over 400 cases of COVID-19 and no reported deaths to date. Mongolian doctors had plenty of time to learn about the disease and they have been lauded for their success in treating COVID-19 infected patients.

No other country that values human rights and liberties has responded to local COVID-19 infections in such an exaggerated manner than Mongolia. Most countries made recommendations to their citizens and businesses before a certain threshold was met to justify stayat-home orders. But Mongolia had more advantage than other countries. Without local transmission cases until November, it had nearly a year to prepare a response plan against local transmission and learn from the experiences of other countries since the disease was first detected in neighboring China in December last year, reaching critical mass around January.

WHO’s position on lockdowns as a way of fighting COVID-19 states, “Large scale physical distancing measures and movement restrictions, often referred to as ‘ lockdowns’, can slow COVID 19 transmission by limiting contact between people. However, these measures can have a profound negative impact on individuals, communities, and societies by bringing social and economic life to a near stop. Such measures disproportionately affect disadvantaged groups, including people in poverty, migrants, internally displaced people and refugees, who most often live in overcrowded and under resourced settings, and depend on daily labor for subsistence.”

WHO said it “recognizes that at certain points, some countries have had no choice but to issue stay-at-home orders and other measures, to buy time.” They advised governments to make the most of the extra time granted by lockdown measures by doing all they can to build their capacities to detect, isolate, test and care for all cases; trace and quarantine all contacts; engage, empower and enable populations to drive the societal response and more. This should have been done during the initial 5-day lockdown but the government failed to identify the epicenter and make an adequate reponse.

WHO expressed hope that countries will use targeted interventions where and when needed, based on the local situation.

We must consider whether the government had no choice but to issue state-at-home orders as opposed to targeted interventions. Most governments issued recommendations to its people to take preventive measures, such as wearing masks and washing hands regularly, and did not impose lockdowns before the spread reached a certain threshold, and it proved effective.

Hardly anyone followed COVID-19 guidelines or wore masks out in public before the local transmission cases were reported this month. It could be said that ever since the elections in June, where crowds gathered freely during campaigns, COVID-19 guidelines have been largely disregarded. Elected lawmakers, representatives and state heads who were supposed to set an example to the people were seen on TV unmasked, hugging and kissing each other in celebration of their election victory on the first day of the new Parliament’s session.

But the sore realization of our error came when we were told by the authorities that a truck driver who had completed his 21-day quarantine after passing through the border tested positive for COVID-19, along with several family members. To complicate matters, the truck driver had reportedly attended a concert and roamed around the capital freely, visiting a karaoke, hotel and other public areas. Then later, there were reports of cases in Selenge Province, which seemingly had no connections to the other local transmission cases.

So are we stuck at home because a couple of reckless folks decided to flout COVID-19 guidelines? Or is this the authorities’ attempt to establish control over the narrative before the people realize things had derailed a long time ago, when elections campaigns ignored COVID-19 guidelines?

The State Emergency Commission (SEC) has been quick to jump the gun, using all of its powers in the name of mitigating COVID-19 risks, thereby throwing all civil liberties out the window, such as freedom of movement, to assemble, to operate a business, to provide for oneself and family, and now even the freedom of expression is on the line.

SEC issued a stern warning that anyone who attempts to spread a narrative opposing theirs will be charged. Those spreading “false information” and “rumors” will be held accountable, they said.

This was in response to COVID-19 infected people in quarantine speaking out on social media. They questioned the authorities’ narrative, claiming that those who came from abroad on charter flights contracted COVID-19 during their 21-day compulsory quarantine, not from wherever they came from. They speculated the public bath house at Enkhsaran Sanatorium, which housed evacuees, is the most likely place the local transmissions occurred among those in quarantine long before the authorities started looking into the possibility of local transmissions. Later the authorities agreed and Enkhsaran was closed down, and now they say charges will be laid against the sanatorium.

D.Munkhbat, a man in quarantine with COVID-19, said people who were quarantined at Enkhsaran made complaints about lack of sanitary conditions, possibility of local transmission, and violation of COVID-19 regime at the sanitarium on numerous occasions but it fell on the death ears. He said he wasn’t sure their complaints made it to or whether the authorities cared enough to take appropriate action in time.

While regular folks expressing their concerns and legitimate doubts are silenced and charged, those in power hide behind their immunity. Particularly, several lawmakers, including the head of the dominant Mongolian People’s Party parliamentary caucus chair, made claims that rural folk stranded in Ulaanbaatar due to recent stringent lockdowns would be allowed to leave the capital and return home this week. SEC later denied the statement, saying no such decision have been made and officials of all levels were told to not to leak unverified information.

It seems that laws and regulations are applied against the spirit in which they were enacted in this country. Shouldn’t officials making false promises for political points be charged for spreading misinformation rather than those expressing their legitimate concerns and misgivings? Isn’t it the job of the government to erase such concerns by providing a complete explanation rather than threatening to charge them?

Most businesses will struggle to resume activity after the lockdown ends, in December or whenever the government sees it fit to. Jobs will be lost and many will fall into poverty, undoing years of progress and effort. Even those who were relatively well off will have to work for months to regain their stable standing, to pay off their debts and recover losses. Many feel that they would rather contend with COVID-19 than face the current lockdown. Even if this presents various health risks, the people should be allowed a degree of freedom to assess the risks on their own, take necessary measures, and make their own choices freely.

The lockdown was brought about so fast that it is having the opposite effect of its aim – to enforce social distancing. Panic-stricken people crowd food markets and reserve meat supply points, and the banning of vehicle travel resulted in massive cues at the capital city office, where people gathered to obtain vehicle permits. All this is an indication of lack of management and response plan against COVID-19 by the authorities. Some forethought was warranted before such severe restrictions were placed. Instead of telling people to stay calm while inducing panic with a nationwide lockdown, the authorities need to be more systematic, professional and apply common sense in their action.

While those at top relish the free time given to them by the lengthy lockdown, with one careless lawmaker tweeting about how he’s going into “Netflix regime”, everyone else will suffer and worry about how to put food on the table tomorrow.

Right now we are being forced to experience what it felt like to live under the old soviet regime, where the state told people what to do and what to think. The people of Mongolia made a revolution three decades ago so as not live under an authoritarian regime. The people must now demand accountability and restoration of civil liberties, and a proportional response to existing COVID-19 risks that doesn’t hurt the people more than the disease.