The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune

A germ carrier has been defined as a person or thing that carries and transmits harmful microorganisms. According to the Bahamas COVID-19 Dashboard, as of August 24, 1,798 persons have been infected with the novel coronavirus, with 46 casualties. The Family Islands of Acklins and Crooked Island have four and two confirmed cases, respectively. I mentioned both islands because Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis alleged, at his recent COVID-19 press conference, that 157 persons from New Providence travelled to Acklins before inter-island travel was banned in July 28. These people, according to Minnis, had contaminated Acklins with the COVID-19 virus – an island that was previously COVID-19 free. In all things considered, it looks like Minnis’ lockdown announcements are routinely being preempted by someone within the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM). Hours before his abrupt announcement of a seven-day lockdown for New Providence, people in Freeport were already aware of it.

One Grand Bahamian was heard telling another Grand Bahamian that based on reliable sources within the OPM, Minnis was going to impose a severe one-week lockdown on the country. The abrupt seven-day lockdown was Minnis’ way of circumventing this, it would appear. New Providence, with its 1,029 confirmed COVID-19 infections, as of August 24, is a quintessential hotspot that Family Islanders must avoid like the plague, no pun intended. But at least New Providence residents have the Princess Margaret Hospital and Doctor’s Hospital to go to when they get sick. Acklins and Crooked Island have no hospital. Even by Bahamian third world standards, both islands are still stuck in the dark ages, lacking the means to handle a potential outbreak. None of this was obviously taken into consideration by the alleged 157 Nassauvian COVID-19 carriers.

In an April 27 opinion piece written by one Dan Kaszeta for The Washington Post, former head of the U.S. Army Chemical Corps, General William Creasy is quoted as saying that “biological weapons are public health in reverse.” The gist of Kaszeta’s piece is that despite there being an advanced virology lab in Wuhan, China, there is no ironclad evidence that the current COVID-19 pandemic is a deliberate attack China had unleashed on the world. One can make the same argument for the 157 Bahamians who infected Acklins. The few who were infected, if Minnis’ allegations have any merit, were in all probability asymptomatic. There are those who believe Minnis is scapegoating these Bahamians. But I don’t see it that way.

The 157 Bahamians are no different than the over 4,000 Bahamians who fled to Florida once the borders were opened on July 1. It was after this watershed date that the COVID-19 numbers started going through the roof. Attending a homecoming took precedence over the health of the people of Acklins and Crooked Island. In this regard, the 157 were acting irresponsibly. If there is, God forbid, any casualty on the islands due to COVID-19, it should be laid at the doorstep of the 157 Bahamians who decided to outsmart the Competent Authority.

KEVIN EVANS

Freeport, GB

August 25, 2020.