In the war against COVID-19, information is an important tool in our collective efforts to fight this menace, but our health officials have been far from forthcoming when it comes to providing information on a timely and sustained basis.
When Ministry of Health officials held a press conference on July 23, it was the first press conference they had held in more than two months.
When the pandemic reached our shores in March 2020, officials were holding regular press conferences to alert the public on the latest developments with COVID-19, including travel history of those testing positive, contact tracing information and where clusters were developing.
With the departure of Dr. Duane Sands as minister of health in May 2020, the culture of openness that had characterized the ministry’s response to the pandemic also faded.
It appears they became overwhelmed by the pandemic and their sense of urgency in fighting it slowed.
Health officials are largely unreachable, with the exception of Dr. Nikkiah Forbes, an infectious disease specialist who has always been accessible for questioning on developments related to COVID-19.
While some other health officials seem to frame their responses to reporters’ questions to align with the narrative of Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis and Minister of Health Renward Wells, Forbes always seems to be giving it to us straight.
Forbes, in fact, was the first official to identify clearly that we were in a third wave. The prime minister and the minister of health – anxious to declare victory against COVID-19 – had repeatedly shied away from acknowledging the third wave until they could no longer avoid that reality.
Minnis, obviously focused on his re-election bid, seemed more concerned with his repeated declarations that due to his strong and focused leadership the economy was “roaring” back to life.
As cases steadily increased in recent weeks, the prime minister did not seem to be alarmed, but instead declared that the pandemic was over for the vaccinated, a reckless strategy that likely did nothing to promote responsible behavior among vaccinated individuals, who are estimated to be around 10 percent of the population.
At the last Ministry of Health press conference on July 23, Wells, while acknowledging that vaccinated individuals could still catch and spread the coronavirus, said it was not necessary to change the travel protocol that allowed vaccinated individuals to enter The Bahamas untested because they were at low risk for spreading the virus.
This, notwithstanding the fact that the United States has long been requiring vaccinated people to get tested for COVID-19 before traveling to the US.
Last week, a leaked internal document of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention concluded that the Delta variant spreads as easily as chicken pox and new research suggests that vaccinated individuals can spread the virus as easily as unvaccinated individuals.
As of Friday, The Bahamas government will require all travelers to test for COVID before entering The Bahamas, a protocol that should always have been in place given the widespread scientifically proven fact that vaccinated people could catch and spread COVID-19.
UNREACHABLE
Since that Ministry of Health press conference, we have received increased reports that there have been numerous cases of COVID-19 linked to a Church of God youth convention, which took place on New Providence early last month.
Some of the church members have died.
We waited several days before reporting this story because we wanted to ensure that our information was factual and that we first spoke with health authorities and officials of the church before putting the story out.
But Chief Medical Officer Dr. Pearl McMillan has been unreachable over the course of days, as have church officials.
When we finally reached Minister Wells, he told us only that he had no comment, signaling to us that there really was something to this story.
We later learned that health officials had been aware of this cluster at the time of their press conference on July 23, but did not report it to the media and thus to the public.
This is stunning. We do not understand this level of secrecy.
We published our story yesterday after one man, Ricardo Nairn, a taxi driver, told us the harrowing tale of losing his mother, Agnes Nairn, and his uncle, Leonard Nairn Jr., who attended the church convention. They died 45 minutes apart on Thursday, he told us.
Nairn said he was told by a Ministry of Health official that his mother caught COVID during the convention.
He also said his aunt, Vernamae Solomon, caught COVID from her daughter who attended the convention. She died on July 22, he said.
We have no doubt that had Nairn not shared his story, we might never have learned key details of this cluster from the church convention.
Both Wells and McMillan – who were approached by a Nassau Guardian reporter at Jet Aviation during an event to mark the arrival of badly needed doses of COVID vaccine – claimed yesterday that the ministry will release a statement on the church matter.
Up to last night, no such statement had come.
After being unreachable for days, Bishop Moses Johnson, administrative bishop and national overseer of Church of God, finally released a statement on the matter, saying the Church of God family was mourning “the death of persons who have contributed significantly to the sharing of the gospel throughout our denomination”.
He acknowledged the passing of Mother Agnes Nairn, saying it has caused him and his wife “immense and immeasurable pain”.
He also acknowledged the passing of Leonard Nairn Jr., Vernamae Solomon and Lincoln Newbold.
Johnson also assured all members, followers and the general public that the church is adhering to all guidelines recommended by the Bahamas Christian Council and approved by the Ministry of Health.
These unfortunate cases of church members again serve as a reminder to us all that this vicious and deadly virus can spread anywhere – bar rooms, homes, schools and yes, even churches.
The government kept quiet on the Church of God cluster even though it might have supported the recently announced decision to limit religious worship on New Providence and Grand Bahama to 33 percent of the occupancy capacity of a religious facility and to one hour only.
Funerals are permitted at gravesides only and weddings may only take place with no more than 30 people present, excluding the officiant.
Last week, the competent authority faced strong pushback from the church over the new restrictions with some pastors openly stating that they would not be limited to one hour if they are moved by the spirit to worship longer.
Additionally, Christian Council President Bishop Delton Fernander said the religious grouping intended to have negotiations with the government with a view of convincing the competent authority to change this new protocol.
We do not know if Minnis will change his position on the matter.
We assume the church convention was held legally, with permission of the competent authority.
SAVING LIVES
There is an important public health benefit in disclosing these kinds of matters. Disclosure saves lives.
Had health officials informed the public about cases connected to the
recent convention, individuals who attended or who were in contact with people who attended would have known that perhaps they ought to get tested and isolate.
Keeping these kinds of matters quiet does nothing for the public authorities’ stated efforts to stamp out COVID-19 through cooperation of the community.
Failing to disclose erodes already shaky confidence that many in the public have in government and health officials.
We do not mean to suggest that the blame for any cluster of this nature rests solely at the feet of these officials, including those in the church, but they certainly appeared to have abandoned their duty to the public and to their flock.
Responsibility also rests with us as individuals who make decisions on where we go, how we worship, who we associate with and how we behave.
Notwithstanding the fact that the Delta variant, which officials say is more easily transmissible than other variants, is rampant in Florida, it seems many Bahamians are still comfortable traveling to the state right now, even some who are not vaccinated.
While it is the role of the government to put measures in place as a means of controlling the spread of the virus, it is the responsibility of everyone to make smart decisions and to follow protocols recommended by health authorities.
More than 2,000 cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in The Bahamas in July, the largest number of cases in any month so far this year, and second only to what was reported in October 2020.
It reminds us that we are far from seeing the end of COVID-19, which has upended our very existence, and resulted in nearly 300 confirmed deaths in The Bahamas.
Without a stronger collective effort, we could be in this pandemic for many more months to come.
The post End the secrecy appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/end-the-secrecy/
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