With 2,210 active cases as at Sept. 15, Grenada is facing a covid-19 surge which has prompted curfews, no-movement weekends, the implementation of phase two of its Covid-19 contingency plan, and the formation of an ethics committee responsible for deciding who will be allowed hospital treatment if the health care system becomes inundated.
The Keith Mitchel-led administration’s announcement of the committee, which essentially will decide “who lives and who dies,” has sparked reactions from various circles including the country’s opposition, who have staunchly opposed the move.
According to Grenada’s Health Minister Nickolas Steele, who made the announcement, the committee will comprise of people with a medical background. He noted, “It is time that we put this in place,” but said that he hopes it will never be used.
“It exists everywhere else, and we need to be honest with the public,” he said during a post-cabinet briefing last week Tuesday.
“We do have to have that setup, I do hope that it is never used,” he reiterated.
A Caribbean attorney who apparently opposed the new measure and whose name was not mentioned in a TheNewTodayGrenada.com article, questioned whether this was due to vaccine hesitancy on the island.
“Was the idea for this ethics committee provoked by the defiance of the hundreds of Jab Jabs? Or is it a panic response to a situation admittedly out of control? Either which way, it makes no sense,” the lawyer asked.
The legal official also referred to the committee as a “travesty” which he said “only indicates the insensitivity and incompetence of this government because ethics have nothing to do with who gets treatment and who does not.”
Leader of Grenada’s opposition National Democratic Congress, Adrian Thomas said it was very disturbed at the whole issue and urged the government to retract statements made about the committee regarding who will be provided treatment or not.
“We are calling on the administration to stand up, show their manhood, show their maturity, and say to the Grenadian people I think we made a fundamental mistake by making those announcements. We are sorry and we withdraw those statements,” Thomas said.
“We are prepared to do what is necessary to make sure that every single life is important and we will put all effort to ensure that we do what we have to do so that everybody can survive this pandemic,” he added.
“One death is too many. Crossing the 40 mark is cause for panic,” he said calling on the government to up its game in dealing with the virus.
Grenada has recorded 43 covid-19 deaths since its first case in March 2020. About a third of them were unvaccinated elderly people who died at three of the island’s nursing institutions/homes being managed by arms of the Catholic Church, according to NowGrenada.com. 160 police officers have been infected with the disease. Currently, just about 30,000 people have received the first dose of vaccines and 20,153 have both doses.
September 25-26 have been declared national days for spiritual reflection in Grenada in light of the covid-19 surge. The government said it believes that spirituality plays a critical role in dealing with the effects of the pandemic. Religious and community leaders have been urged to unite to organize special virtual activities on the mentioned days.
On Monday Sept. 13, the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) met virtually at its 16th Special Emergency Meeting to consider a regional response to the recent surge in infections, hospitalizations and deaths due to the COVID-19 virus across the community.
The heads of government expressed deep concern at the increase with more than 100,000 new cases and 1400 deaths between July 2021 and 12 September 2021
They expressed dismay at the rate of vaccinations and significant incidence of vaccine hesitancy. As of Sept. 3, according to the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), vaccine coverage in CARICOM ranged from 58.7 percent in Bermuda to 0.1 percent in Haiti. The heads of government noted that no country was close to herd immunity and that the increased incidence of mutations and variants made it imperative for there to be a greater improvement in the rates of vaccination.
please share clarity in the deaths… dont give bias statistics.. make everything transparent
“Grenada has recorded 43 covid-19 deaths since its first case in March 2020. About a third of them were unvaccinated elderly people who died at three of the island’s nursing institutions/homes being managed by arms of the Catholic Church, according to NowGrenada.com. ” So was this a typo error or is this reality.. there is a campaign for vaccination yet a greater number of persons have died even if vaccinated which accounts for 28(2/3)…
or was it just a 1/3 dying at a particular home?
It is so obvious why medical professionals are the ones leaders look to on medical matters. They are the subject matter experts.Would someone consult an accountant if they had car trouble or an engineer if they had legal concerns? I don’t think so.
This has nothing to do with intelligence or a lack thereof. It is silly to think that all world leaders are wrong with this approach.
Good leaders put teams together and govern accordingly.
Sometimes it takes a crisis to know what it means to be a leader, especially when elected, a crisis can be a test of our intelligence. Why is it, people with a medical background are the ones solely qualified to make such ethical decisions., It has been a worldwide pattern that Governments are giving up their elective power of accountability to Medical Professionals during this so-called pandemic, are we seeing a new breed of dictators, DOCTATORS. The Medical Professionals, it seems they are the new priesthood, are they infallible.
The entire Caribbean needs an ethics committee NOT to decide who lives and who dies, but to impact the decision-making of governments throughout the region. Our civic, religious and healthcare leaders should unite to discuss issues such as:
* Is it ethical to make the COVID vaccines mandatory (If so, how, where, who, how and even perhaps, which vaccines?)
*Is it ethical to consider ‘who lives and who dies’ when borders are still open to potentially variant-carrying visitors?
* Is it ethical to encourage tourism in a scenario where health systems are at risk of becoming overwhelmed? (Is that fair to citizens, healthcare workers or to the tourists themselves who may get sick?)
* What are the ethics of safeguarding livelihoods vs safeguarding lives and is that something only the governments in power should get to decide?
* What are the ethical responsibilities of governments for keeping up-to-date with the latest scientific information when making pandemic related decisions?
And…
Why would the Caribbean need an ethics committee, are we a flock of sheep. Why do we need a group of people to decide for us what is ethical, it is lunacy, is this how you want to live your life, by the dictates of people telling you or deciding what is ethical. The questions you have asked, do we really need someone to tell us if it is ethical or not and then dictate what they think is ethical for us. Why are you giving Governments such power. Doing such thing is heading down a slippery sloop. Then what next to be centralized morality.
It seems like those opposed to the committee want it both ways. Some people are adamantly opposed to the vaccine. With the Delta variant spreading like wild fire, with limited resources to treat the most severe cases, there could come a time when the health care system becomes overwhelmed. It happened in Italy and Spain last year.
Despite them wanting not to face reality, with or without a committee some people may die because they will not be able to get the care they need.
Having a committee that can plan ahead just makes good sense. But in typical Caribbean fashion, we will figure it out when the time comes.
We can bury our heads in the sand, but we cannot create our own reality.
What you are supporting is morally reprehensible. That idea should not even be given any serious thought. It should be returned to sender like a letter with the incorrect address.
In our society, the poor always suffers and the rich gets special favour as most people succumb to temptation once the price is right. The rich would be able to purchase ‘life’ while the poor meets his inevitable demise in this proposed system.
No matter how good a system may potentially be (this proposed system is not), never rule out the human factors (greed, bias, envy, favouritism, hatred, etc.).
Zandoli, come better. It’s time you stop with your surface thinking. Dig deep.
@Ibo France, you are the one who is thinking shallow, what Zandoli spoke about is logical.
You are speaking, as usual, your senseless political grumble. Corvid has come to destroy the World, this virus does not see the difference between “poor and rich”
Zandoli is right to say: With the Delta variant spreading like wildfire, with limited resources to treat the most severe cases, there could come a time when the health care system becomes overwhelmed”.
This is almost happening right here in Canada, where I now live, in the Western Provinces.
The hospital beds, their intensive care units are filled with corvid-19 patience to the point that some hospitals are canceling surgery appointments because Corvid-19 patients are occupying the beds.
People must wait for 5 to 6 hours to see someone about their other health issues, because of the large number of corvid 19 emergencies. Where does the power of the rich fall in those cases? Stuuuuupes!
When I look at the sorry economic and social state of the Caribbean, it’s very depressing. When I listen to some of the shockingly tone-deaf utterances of members of government throughout the Caribbean, it causes a deep sense of hopelessness.
Here is a misguided minister of government putting forth a most ridiculous suggestion. He wants a panel of mortal men to play God. They would decide who lives and who dies.
We are living in strange and perilous times where people who are entrusted in governing these Caribbean countries are an existential threat to our very surviva!.
@Ibo France – The utterances & methods of some of these Caribbean governments – which at times appear quite similar and seemingly coordinated – in dealing with the Covid situation raises the very important question as to whether these guys are being controlled and instructed by puppet masters somewhere.
Are Caribbean people being governed by a bunch of puppets?
Stay tuned…
Of course! The evidence is overwhelming. Caribbean leaders are being led and misled. Neo-colonialism still exists. There is no mutual relationship between a loin and a sheep. The lion would have its way every time.
The committee would be compromised of trained professionals who, in the event of a shortage of resources to care for all the gravely ill people would have to triage them on the basis of who is most likely to survive.
It might never come to that, but in the event it happens they are preparing themselves so that they don’t have to make it up on the fly.
What do you think would happen if there is a rush on the hospital that they cannot handle? People would die in the hallways of the hospitals.
They are not playing God. They are just preparing for the worst case scenario.
I see absolutely nothing wrong with that.
Hospital emergency departments triage patients as part of their regular protocol. The military does it on the battle field.
YOU, Ibo MALAPROP France, who thinks you know it ALL, stop looking at things at Face Value and make negative unreasonable/unnecessary comments. Stop attacking people. You got a serious problem. Things can not always go your way. Respect others. The way you see things that’s not the way another may see it. No man wants to play God but YOU. If not YOUR WAY then it’s NO WAY.
Study the statement very carefully again and get it’s true understanding and given the present Covid19 surge and active cases situation in Grenada, What is your recommendation since YOU SEEMTO KNOW IT ALL?
KID, you are trying your utmost best to define me as arrogant and narcissistic. That perception of yours is farfetched and nothing even remotely close to reality. Truth hurts especially for people like you who have a penchant for lies, truth is excruciatingly and devastatingly painful.
Here are some non-pharmaceutical things we can do to help with curtailing the rapid spread of the virus:
*vigorous enforcement of the established protocols
*a comprehensive education campaign
*recruit popular local figures to become Covid embassadors
*play jingles on popular radio stations about covid19
*stop the politicization of the vaccines. Allow the healthcare workers to mostly give public statements about new developments
*a reasonable stimulus package and some financial protection will help to assuage the fears and frustration of many citizens who are in dire straits brought on by the Covid pandemic
That’s just a few of many suggestions.
There is one thing that you forgot. The Science of the whole thing, are we being told the TRUTH, the truth has to be established.
@KID ON THE BLOCK, you said to Ibo France, “No man wants to play God but YOU”. Well let me tell you, there is no such thing as playing God in Ibo France, that individual is as carnal as carnal can be, this means he/she has absolutely, no knowledge of God.
That person’s thoughts are nothing but foolish pride, conceitedness, and arrogance. Those traits do not belong to God, who wants His people with a humble state of mind and a heart of Love.
Ibo France could never play God! That individual is simply making a fool of himself/herself, through his/her exaggerated political views.
You write nonsense on all topics, I didn’t read what you wrote but since you write the same monotone on every topic I just went ahead and gave you a thumbs down regardless. It’s like swatting at a fly on DNO’s wall. PS: I don’t like skeritt stuff either but you are like Aristotle the *** claiming to know every subject, very boring!
@Ralph Charles iii, you spoke the very thought of my mind about this Ibo France person. And with KID ON THE BLOCK, three of us cannot be wrong.