The Tribune

THE worlds of politics and the pandemic are coming crashing together this week.

It is expected that Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis will imminently announce the date for the next election. His chief opponent in that race, PLP Leader Philip “Brave” Davis, expects that announcement could come as soon as tomorrow.

At the same time, the numbers of new cases of COVID-19 are soaring. The latest dashboard for new cases issued by the Ministry of Health for Saturday showed 100 new cases in a single day. Worse, on Friday, 17 new deaths were reported. For those undergoing treatment, a staggering 75 are in hospital and 13 of those in intensive care. They have our prayers for their recovery.

We have reopened tourism, and with it we have now seen a surge in new cases. Our chief market is the US, where the Delta variant of COVID has been spreading forcefully, and as Dr Duane Sands has noted, it is probable that the Delta variant is also now here. It is more transmissible, and other countries have reported younger people being hospitalised more frequently. In the latest deaths announced, it is noticeable that three of those recorded were people in their thirties.

Despite this, it appears the next big announcement from Dr Minnis will not be to step up measures to curtail the virus, but rather to ring the starter bell for the next election. The Tribune understands a series of rally dates have been identified through to mid-August, and the FNM’s election paraphernalia is inside the country.

Dr Minnis doesn’t have to call the election now. It is a choice. The FNM could continue in office until May of next year before a vote was required. Indeed, as Mr Davis points out, one of Dr Minnis’ election pledges was to have a fixed election date – and this situation is anything but that.

Clearly, Dr Minnis has made a political calculation with regard to the timing of the election – but we hope that a pandemic calculation has also been made of the effects of rallies and door-to-door campaigning on the spread of the virus, and that he will not shy away from the need to implement tighter measures to curtail this spread of the virus as necessary.

All indications are at present that the emergency measures we have lived under for so long will lapse next month. Will the current surge in cases and deaths lead to a rethink on that? Or are we committed to this path come what may?

As we look around the world, we should consider who is handling the pandemic best and what have they done that has worked so well. Over in England, today is supposed to be “Freedom Day” with an end to restrictions after more than 45 million people have received at least one dose of vaccine. The day arrives with the Health Minister infected with COVID and the Prime Minister in isolation as a result. Over in the US, the vaccination programme is stalling. The supply is there – but between misinformation, politics and mistrust, a significant portion of the population simply doesn’t want to get the jab. Former President Trump weighed in with a statement yesterday saying “people are refusing to take the Vaccine because they don’t trust his (President Biden’s) Administration, they don’t trust the Election results, and they certainly don’t trust the Fake News, which is refusing to tell the Truth”. It should be noted President Trump took the vaccine in January.

Right now, we are in the middle of a surge of cases – and fatalities. Dr Sands has described the country’s situation as “not good” and fears for the strain that health workers are under, saying “they are exhausted”.

Is this really the time to put the focus on politics? Isn’t now the time to have all hands on deck to fight this wave? Indeed, in a cold political calculation, how likely is it that these workers under strain would cast a vote for the governing party in this situation, or those who are losing family members likewise?

Instead, why would the government not hold the course, see us through this wave and then look to the political battle. If it does well in facing this wave, it might even earn the gratitude of voters at the ballot box.

The choice is yours, Dr Minnis.