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The funny thing about social media is that anyone can make a statement or a claim without actually presenting any evidence and facts.
I listened to a recent interview on Facebook. It was said that the Covid mitigation measures Bermuda had implemented were more stringent than those of other islands.
Quarantine guidelines
In fact, it takes a few minutes to check guidelines in other countries, so here it is:
Jamaica: Incoming people must take a Covid test and then be quarantined for 14 days.
Barbados: Incoming people must take a Covid test and then be quarantined for 8 days.
Cayman Islands: Incoming people must take a Covid test and then be quarantined for 14 days.
Saint Kitts and Nevis: Incoming people must take a Covid test and then be quarantined at a government facility for 14 days.
Trinidad and Tobago: Incoming people must take a Covid test and then be quarantined for 14 days.
So in comparison, it seems almost all of the islands have the same or similar conditions for people entering.
In our brother overseas territory [OT] Anguilla, this happened on April 22:
“Anguilla is on a 14-day government-mandated lockdown, starting April 22 at midnight, due to an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases on the island, according to Shellya Rogers-Webster, deputy director of the tourism.
In another Cayman Islands TO, they didn’t allow anyone to enter the island for over a year unless they were Caymanians or residents.
Global conspiracies
During the same Facebook interview, another claim was that the world was grappling with Covid due to a ‘global conspiracy’.
The question then becomes “to what end?”
Which government will voluntarily choose to do the following:
- Close their borders,
- Have a large percentage of their population get sick
- Unnecessary deaths
- Massive increase in unemployment benefits
- Increase in national deficit and debt
The simple answer is that no country in the world is going to make these choices if it doesn’t have to.
Moreover, which political entities will kill their own elected officials?
Reality check
Here is the reality check.
Each island is too dependent on tourism to keep thousands of people employed, such as taxi drivers, hotel workers, restaurant staff, tour operators, or AirBnB owners.
Therefore, governments cannot ignore the science and simply pretend that Covid will suddenly disappear and then open its borders. This irresponsibility would result in endless amounts of spikes, as seen in Brazil and India.
Having massive Covid outbreaks and ending up on the CDC’s Level 4 high risk list just means fewer tourists will choose to visit these places. In turn, this means that more locals will remain underemployed, unemployed and challenged to meet financial obligations such as utilities, rent or mortgage.
In conclusion, conspiracy theories don’t feed people, save people from disease, or pay the bills.
Authentic leadership cannot afford to sit on social media and create alternative facts; they have to make real decisions.
– famous Chris
20 most recent opinion columns
Opinion columns reflect the views of the author, not those of Bernews Ltd. To submit a column / opinion letter to the editor, please email [email protected]. Bernews accepts submissions, and although there are no length restrictions, all columns must be signed with the writer’s real name.
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You can find more information at the links below and also on our dedicated website BermudaCovid.com, which is the most comprehensive resource and history available on Bermuda’s handling of the pandemic.
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