TWO national leaders spoke yesterday about the omicron variant of COVID-19. One, a current Prime Minister, the other a former one.
In the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave a national address in which he warned of the dangers of the new variant, saying: “No one should be in doubt – there is a tidal wave of omicron coming.”
A tidal wave. And we should know from experience by now that those waves will wash around the world, and reach our shores too. It happened with the original virus, it happened with the delta variant, there’s no reason to think it won’t happen with the omicron variant.
The former leader to speak yesterday was former Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis – to warn that we had made a “grave mistake” by removing the travel health visa requirement for Bahamians and residents returning to the country.
The reason, he warns, is that the data from the visa was an important tool in contact tracing.
More than that, the system used with the visa helped to spot fraudulent tests.
In other words, it helped to screen to keep the virus out – and if the virus came in, it helped to track it.
As it stands, we have removed that, we have lifted lockdowns and curfews – and we have yet to put in place the promised free testing the PLP pledged on the campaign trail. We don’t have the limitations in place to stop the spread, we don’t have the visa to help tracking, and we don’t have the tests.
And, as Prime Minister Johnson says, there’s a tidal wave out there.
There is good news, for us at least, in that the tidal wave is not yet here. There is also good news, in that it seems that so far the indications are that omicron is less deadly than its delta predecessor, although it seems to spread more easily.
This is not comforting to the extent that we can ignore it – but it does mean we have the time to prepare for when it does arrive here.
So the question now becomes what are we doing to prepare for it?
It seems the time has come for another national leader to explain what the plan for dealing with omicron is, a national leader who has been fairly quiet on the issue of the pandemic so far – Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis.
What’s the plan, Mr Davis?
DNA change
The DNA is without a leader again. After leading the party to the same number of seats won by her predecessors – none – Arinthia Komolafe is stepping down.
She describes third party politics as “brutal” and “extremely difficult” and says she put her own money into funding the DNA campaign.
That campaign saw the DNA fail to win a seat, and finish far behind the FNM and the PLP, while fielding some candidates who raised eyebrows on social media for questionable policy suggestions.
Mrs Komolafe has been an intelligent voice in the political world, however – but the curious thing is not just that she’s quitting as DNA leader but that she’s considering a political future having previously had offers to join the FNM and the PLP.
When asked if she would consider an offer from other parties, she said she would pray and meditate on it but wouldn’t rule it out.
She said: “For me, politics has always been a vehicle. It is a vehicle to bring forth a vision that I’ve been carrying for years – for where I feel this country should go and needs to be.”
The difficulty the DNA has faced since its inception is that it may have created a brand but it really failed to show policies that marked it out as different from the other parties.
If our political world is such that people can just move between parties and the choice of one is the same as the other, where are the real policies people are fighting for? Where are the beliefs that take a party in one direction over the other?
Mrs Komolafe’s future decisions might not just show us where her politics lie, but also the state of our political landscape.
Comments
immigrant 2 years, 5 months ago
Maybe we should just shut down and cower in fear, hoping that our more developed saviors to the north will rescue us in the event of an inevitable variant. Shoot, we should just all quit trying and take our place in the soup line.
birdiestrachan 2 years, 5 months ago
The Former Most Honorable Competent Authority did all he could to make the lives of Bahamians most difficult.. A travel Visa to move from Island to Island,
It is my hope he was using a travel Visa because he was all over the place As for Johnson, he himself is in trouble. funny you should mention him.
Shall we say to the former Pm good riddance a man who signs 150 years contracts? No one who is alive today will be alive in 150 years.
It all speaks to who he is and how his brain works.
ThisIsOurs 2 years, 5 months ago
"reason, he warns, is that the data from the visa was an important tool in contact tracing"
Really? These justifications for this system keep jumping around. Everyone who boards a plane buys a ticket. Everyone with a ticket must present their COVID test to a ticket agent. Every plane must have a manifest that lists every person boarded with confirmed negative test and that manifest is handed to Bahamian authorities no? Is there nobody who can think systematically? How did Think Simple get this contract? Its extremely baffling. Didn't someone at DIT say "we have that data"?
No doubt someone will read the comment and announce a great idea to streamline
This system was solely in place to get marketing data for Tourism and to collect fees for the two companies involved.
ThisIsOurs 2 years, 5 months ago
" than that, the system used with the visa helped to spot fraudulent tests."
Really? don't believe everything the people selling you a fancy gadget say. It seems like the last administration was just mesmerized by bells and whistles, never examining if what was being sold was the best way, an efficient way or a scalable way. Remember hubbcat?
Ask them to detail how they verified 5000 requests per day? The "how" is important, it has to answer tge question did this person receive a negative test result from an authorized centre. The only entity who can give that answer is the centre. Ask them "if" they vet all requests. Im thinking its literally impossible to do "today".
Proguing 2 years, 5 months ago
The UK government has refused to divulge any details about the first ever death of someone infected with the Omicron variant, leading one professor to assert that the person likely died with Omicron and not from it....
carltonr61 2 years, 5 months ago
Is the total wave political fear or real health risk. WHO/PAHO are at odds with politititions using science for draconian purposes in its name with out verifying objective evidence. 4C science dictatorship is 100% anti science.
JokeyJack 2 years, 5 months ago
Whoever wrote this article, along with BJ himself, please just shut up.
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