We are still not taking COVID-19 seriously. Case numbers are again falling, and we continue to pretend not to know why. Something that continues to bother me is that half of the available hospital beds remain unoccupied, and the average time between testing positive and death for the relatively low number of patients is so short.
I don’t understand how people go from presenting with symptoms to death in days. Ok, it’s been more than a year since I was actively engaged, but this pattern is not what I remember. Maybe this has something to do with our general lack of confidence in our healthcare system. Or our culture of thinking time will heal all wounds. So we are not presenting ourselves for care at early signs of ailment.
I will not repeat the same tired arguments for why we should all get vaccinated. I will leave that to my creative and learned friends in leadership positions, especially in the government. We have all heard them. And if you have not yet taken the jab, you will not until you need something that demands (that) you trade for a jab.
Now, allow me a moment to pay tribute to another of my childhood friends and neighbors who died some weeks ago after succumbing to “the virus.” Rest In Peace, Pollyanna (Primus) Taylor.
At my age, I am beginning to accept that I am entering a stage in life when I will now be attending as many funerals of people I grew up with, as I do those I respected as elders. So in that context, it’s not a big deal. But this one was different. Another sister and friend gone too soon. I will cherish the memories we shared as the younger sister of my friends Anthony and Susan.
She was the fourth member of her family to succumb to the coronavirus. As another close friend said to me, “This shit is real,” and for those, who say “it’s not that dangerous,” I have a friend you can talk to about that.
So, in the context of friends dying and announcing that we are ready for Carnival 2022, I am again breaking my silence on this Covid-19 thing. Not wanting to be outdone by our island neighbours, we plan a carnival this summer. Of course, it is much too early for the Ministry of Culture to stake out a clear position. So today, it’s conditioned on reaching an impossible goal. With less than thirty percent of our population fully vaccinated, somebody, please tell me what’s the pathway to a seventy percent vaccination in the next two months. That ain’t happening! So, tell us now exactly what we can expect for the Carnival. It might be helpful for the PM and the Minister of Culture to get on the same page. The Minister wants to have a virtual festival, oops, a carnival in the metaverse, while the PM wants to get back to the traditional.
I would like to see a bit of both. I hope the CEO of the CDC is working on ways to help the mas-makers and the pannists market their craft. For too long, those who participate in these aspects of the Carnival are reduced to “doing it for the love of the craft.” We need time; we need to know now, so pick a more reasonable expectation for vaccination level and let us go. Speaking with my friends in the computer development world, I can only hope we have been working on the metaverse thing for a while, if we wish to pull it off this year.
So as I reflect on my friend’s life, I cannot help but feel like learning to live with Covid is like travelling through a tunnel. Every now and then, you see some daylight then back underground again. So what the heck? Let’s have Carnival, but be prepared for a spike. Expect a few more friends, neighbours, and family to die an untimely death later this summer. Enjoy.
Horatio
