In 1992, after a tumultuous and scandalous year for the Royal family, Queen Elizabeth described that year as her “annus horribilis” — a Latin phrase that quite literally means horrible year.
In many ways, that same Latin phrase can be used to describe 2020 — a year of unimaginable pain and suffering for many. A year of unprecedented disruptions and upheaval. A year of economic and financial turmoil. A year that destroyed many lives.
In the opening weeks of the year, life was normal.
We went to work. We dropped off our children to school. We walked in crowded shopping centers, went to church when we pleased and met friends for lunch at our leisure.
No one told us when we could and could not move. No one ordered us to stay home or told us when we could go grocery shopping or when we could exercise in our own neighborhoods or when we could go to the beach.
We could stay out all night if we wished. We could host and attend big parties and other large gatherings.
Those of us with jobs drove into work every day or took public transportation.
We visited our families and friends freely and traveled around The Bahamas and to other countries.
We visited loved ones in hospital, held their hands as they died, attended funeral services for our dead in packed churches, took our kids on playdates and planned our weddings and family summer vacations with great anticipation.
Our civil liberties were intact.
The term “competent authority” was nowhere on our lips or in our thoughts.
“Essential workers” was not in everyday language; neither were “virtual learning”, “lockdown”, “curfew”, “social distancing”, “masks”, “quarantine”, “vaccine”, “stay-at-home orders”, “hand sanitizer”, “temperature check” and “Zoom”.
While the lingering challenges of Hurricane Dorian still impacted thousands, particularly those on Abaco and New Providence, many other Bahamians, though some were sympathetic, could not relate to the level of economic and emotional hardships brought by the storm.
And so, when the new year dawned 12 months ago, we expected 2020 to be an ordinary year, or if it proved to be different from previous years in recent memory, many of us hoped it would be “our year”, the year when our financial and personal circumstances improved.
COVID arrives
In the opening weeks of the year, as CNN, BBC and other news outlets reported on a total lockdown of Wuhan, China, where the new coronavirus was first identified, many of us watched curiously, some with concern, but completely disconnected from the bizarre events unfolding a world away.
We watched images of mask-wearing Chinese citizens scurrying about and eventually saw empty streets, buildings and trains that had ground to a halt.
Never in our wildest dreams could we have imagined that we were on the doorstep of this surreal existence.
There was just no other experience in our own lifetime that had prepared us for 2020; no other year so challenging in our national experience.
But as the first quarter of the year neared its end and the virus started popping up in country after country, we became increasingly worried.
On February 27, Dr. Duane Sands, at the time minister of health, told us, it’s not a question of “if” but “when” the new coronavirus will reach The Bahamas.
He said he was confident the country was “absolutely” capable of handling the situation.
“The probability is there will be a case,” Sands said.
Just over two weeks later, on March 15, The Bahamas confirmed its first case of COVID-19 — a 61-year-old New Providence woman.
That same day, Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis gave a pandemic national address, the first of many that would follow. He instructed every government ministry and agency to be in full preparedness mode.
“This is our greatest national priority,” Minnis declared.
Schools were ordered closed to in-person learning.
On March 18, Governor General C.A. Smith declared The Bahamas was in a state of emergency. The prime minister was designated the competent authority with unlimited powers that remain in place to this day, after two more emergency proclamations — one in June and another in November.
The impact on the economy was already being felt when the first proclamation was issued more than nine months ago.
Major cruise lines that called on The Bahamas had already voluntarily suspended sailing operations to and from US ports for what was supposed to be 30 days.
Bay Street, where thousands of residents and visitors had congregated on a daily basis, became a ghost town overnight. Large and small retailers shuttered. The famous Nassau Straw Market was closed.
As vendors packed up their wares on March 17, their concern was evident, and understandable.
One vendor told us she had 50 pounds of yellow grits. “If you have yellow grits,” she said, “that’s a good start and you won’t go hungry.”
The next day, Peter Turnquest, then-minister of finance, addressed Parliament, encouraging optimism, urging Bahamians not to panic or despair.
“Many people are understandably afraid, but I want to reassure Bahamian families that we will get through this challenge together, healthy, stable and strong,” he said.
The government allocated $4 million for food assistance and social support for displaced workers. It set aside $10 million to provide for a temporary unemployment benefit, administered through the National Insurance Board (NIB), for self-employed and displaced workers in the tourism industry.
The finance minister said while the total economic impact could be as low as $258 million over the next four months to June 2020, the government was inclined to focus on the high-impact scenario, which assumed 100 percent loss of cruise visitors and 80 percent of stopover visitors.
On March 18, Minister of Tourism Dionisio D’Aguilar made a chilling declaration in the House of Assembly: “The simple, yet inconceivable reality we all need to grasp is that there will be no tourists.”
On March 19, the prime minister ordered that as of March 20, a curfew will be imposed across the country and all businesses, with limited exceptions, were ordered to suspend operations for an initial period of 11 days in an effort to fight COVID-19.
“These very strong measures are intended to save lives, to protect health and to aggressively attack the spread of COVID-19,” Minnis said.
Major resorts like Atlantis and Baha Mar shut down.
Thousands of workers were furloughed. Many other people lost their jobs as various businesses could not survive COVID’s assault.
The competent authority ordered the immediate closure of the borders. Many Bahamians were stranded abroad; something that became incredibly controversial.
We were in new territory, on shaky ground, with questionable decisions being made by the competent authority, and an uneven application of restrictions, as those restrictions favored certain groups over others and omitted certain groups over others.
During the first wave, the health minister resigned over a decision to allow a group of permanent residents into the country against established protocol.
Meanwhile, the health infrastructure became increasingly stressed, healthcare workers increasingly burdened by the challenges presented by the pandemic.
At the end of the first wave of the virus in The Bahamas (the period prior to the full reopening of the borders on July 1), the country had recorded 104 cases of COVID-19 and 11 deaths.
The only islands that had cases recorded at that point were New Providence, Grand Bahama, Bimini and Cat Cay.
Impact
The government’s decision to reopen the borders without an effective testing regime in place, plunged the nation into a brutal second wave.
Bahamians and residents who left the country were permitted to return within 72 hours without testing. Government and health officials blamed this for the stunning rise in cases that ensued.
The virus spread rapidly across the islands.
In September alone, there were 2,745 new cases and 49 deaths — the month when the highest number of COVID-19 cases was confirmed.
At the peak of hospitalizations on October 22, there were 122 hospitalized cases.
Desperate families could not visit their loved ones. Many died alone.
The death count grew as the case count reached chilling levels. Healthcare workers, law enforcement officers, politicians and Bahamians from all spheres were touched by COVID-19.
Some Bahamians who went in hospital to be treated for other ailments ended up contracting the virus and dying.
Others too fearful to go to hospital died due to lack of care, Dr. Marcus Bethel, head of the Medical Association of The Bahamas, told us in October.
Dr. Merceline Dahl-Regis, the prime minister’s special health advisor, reported that between January and September, The Bahamas recorded 161 more deaths than in the same period in 2019, noting, “There are excessive deaths occurring in this environment of COVID.”
As the crisis wore on, the economic pain and suffering worsened for many families.
Many people resorted to food giveaways by various organizations to help feed themselves and their children. Prior to the pandemic, many had already been finding it difficult to make ends meet.
A Central Bank survey in 2018 indicated nearly 50 percent of Bahamians surveyed stated that their earnings were usually insufficient to cover their monthly living expenses.
In the COVID climate, when so many people lost their jobs or had their incomes reduced, that percentage would undoubtedly be higher.
Enough
Many people continue to have difficulties paying their rent and mortgage. The Central Bank reported that in November, mortgage delinquencies expanded by $37.4 million to $476 million.
The prime minister said on August 9 the government was spending $1 million a week feeding those in need.
He established the National Food Distribution Task Force. As of August 10, 27,705 households had registered for assistance, representing 110,000 people across the country. Phase two of the program was supported by a budget of $10 million.
That phase ends today and a new phase starts on January 4. More than 18,000 households are still being fed.
In October, Brensil Rolle, the minister of public service and national insurance, reported that NIB had paid out $175.8 million in unemployment benefits and assistance in the wake of Dorian and COVID-19.
The government-funded program designated for individuals impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, paid $56.1 million to 30,788 individuals as of October 11.
With mounting demands for health care, unemployment estimated at around 40 percent, growing needs for social assistance and large portions of the economy shut down, the government piled on the debt.
In the first quarter of 2020/2021, the Minnis administration borrowed nearly $1 billion. At the end of September, government debt was nearing $9 billion.
Whereas the International Monetary Fund initially projected The Bahamas’ economy to grow by 1.7 percent in 2020, it now projects it to contract by 14.8 percent this year.
While The Bahamas is now recording just a few new cases a day, the economic and psychological toll created by COVID-19 appears far from over.
The major resorts have reopened partially and most businesses are now free to operate, but many still face restrictions. Some have closed for good.
Other challenges remain. In January, many schools will still open to virtual learning only.
No one we can think of looks forward to seeing another year like the one we have had.
While we are anxious to say good riddance to 2020, and while some of us look to the new year with a degree of hope, we know that January 1, 2021 is just another date on the calendar.
Many will start the new year as they ended the old — in dire economic situations.
There is no magic wand, as one financial analyst recently observed. We remain in the COVID woods, though thankfully the worse — for now — appears to be behind us.
As of December 29, The Bahamas had confirmed 7,857 cases of COVID-19 and 170 deaths.
We are likely months off from a vaccine being widely available. Even then, many may not take it.
The prime minister has accepted a report from his Economic Recovery Committee and has appointed a team of economic and financial advisors, but as the curtains fall on this horrible year, the outlook for our national economy, and for the personal economic and financial circumstances of our people, has never been more uncertain.
Still, it is with some relief that we anticipate the dawning of a new year.
When it comes to 2020, we have had enough.
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