You are on your own

THE STATE of emergency comes to an end this month, but the timing is far from ideal.

While restrictions will be lifted just in time for the Christmas season, indicators suggest no reason for good cheer. In fact, it’s precisely the confluence of the jolliest time of the year and the end of the emergency that now engenders a worrying public-health threat. Christmas last year triggered a spike.

Not only is the SoE going to lapse at the busiest time of the year, it also comes ahead of the Tobago House of Assembly election on December 6.

Fewer than half of Tobagonians are fully vaccinated. Given the track record of political parties, police have warned they intend to enforce health regulations to the max. But it is possible not even those regulations will be in force during the whole season.

On Monday, National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds said the Government is of the view that further restrictions might be relaxed.

“We can remove those or we can live without those restrictions,” Mr Hinds said.

But that very day, the Health Ministry reported more than a dozen new deaths. Health officials suggested November is already witnessing a surge in deaths and cases, with more of the delta variant detected.

For a long time, before the current uptick, many have questioned the usefulness of the emergency. If the measures served no useful purpose, that might be tested in coming weeks once they are removed.

Symbolically at least, the ending of the SoE sends an important message. It marks the moment we move from trying (and failing) to control the epidemic to managing something that is endemic.

The Government, having done everything short of mandating vaccination (and running an effective communications campaign to persuade the sceptics) is now putting the future of the country in the hands of citizens.

As the Opposition has observed, the ending of the emergency does not mean the Cabinet would not be able to impose a new one down the road.

But the Government has in the past ruled out such a possibility, citing the economic costs. The once-terrifying “nuclear option” is therefore unlikely to be invoked twice, absent a good cause – an even more terrifying unchecked spread of the pandemic.

As it is, those who fall ill with covid19 and need critical care must already contend with the fact that they are not guaranteed a hospital bed. Those with other illnesses may find themselves deprived of the resources they need – such as ambulances – despite the setting-up of a parallel system for covid19.

If further relaxations occur, those who find themselves amid people behaving badly will not be able to call the police to ensure steps are taken to mitigate against the spread of the virus.

Come month-end, the message is loud and clear: you are on your own and it is all up to you.