Tracking those in quarantine

Dear Editor,

Making rational, measured decisions has proven to be the prime minister’s Achilles heel. In yet another potentially disastrous decision, the government has decided to use a downloadable phone app to track persons who are COVID-19 positive. This would have been a great idea if the phone was the carrier of the virus, because the government would be able to know the exact location of the phone 24/7. Unfortunately, it still does not address the obvious and fundamental question of how the government tracks the person who is infected.

We already know some Bahamians can be undisciplined. Disregarding rules is a way of life for many. In addition, significant numbers of persons own more than one phone and it’s obvious that the phone with the app can be left at home while the owner moves around in the community, in their cloth masks, as a potential ‘super spreader’.

We can only hope and pray that the exponential rise in positive cases does not translate into a corresponding rise in deaths that were largely avoidable. The use of what is essentially an ‘honor system’ of self-quarantine is simply not enough.

We can also hope that the government finally makes a smart decision and finds a way to physically track the infected and consider fines for those who refuse to act responsibly in the public interest. It’s the least the government can do to help protect the vulnerable, after permitting the travel that caused the importation of the second wave of COVID-19 infections.

– JB

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source https://thenassauguardian.com/2020/07/24/tracking-those-in-quarantine/