Thoughts on a wide range of subjects relevant to my work as a Caribbean journalist.
Thursday, 5 March 2020
Privacy, surveillance and free speech in T&T
An antidote for fear and ignorance
There is absolutely no denying that the
COVID-19 outbreak is among the more serious global challenges of its kind we
have experienced in recent memory. Its spread has been rapid. It has already
reached close to 60 countries and there is a 2% - 3% fatality rate, though more
than 80% of its patients have suffered only “mild” effects.
It is only a matter of time before we
begin confirming cases right here in T&T, maybe even before this column
goes to press.
The virus is already nearby and because
closing our borders and shutting down the country are not options, we need to
focus on controlling its spread and impact when it arrives.
There is no medication to “heal” it and,
so far, no vaccine to guard against it. What’s required are proper diagnoses,
together with adequate isolation and treatment regimes, and acute public
awareness of all facets of the disease.
The experts have suggested that
controlling its spread also requires a very high level of personal
responsibility.
Unfortunately, this does mesh neatly
with our collective predisposition on such matters. We have proven, sadly, not
to be readily inclined to favour personal and communal obligation over
mandatory official intervention.
For example, the minister of health was
once ridiculed for suggesting that people’s health are their individual
responsibility - the routine obligations of public institutions
notwithstanding.
There are, certainly, legitimate
concerns regarding vulnerable groups such as dialysis and cancer patients at
public institutions who have raised questions about what happens should they
contract the virus. The ministry needs to have clear protocols available to
these people in plain language. Healthcare professionals should also be
adequately equipped.
It is also not one of those issues for
which a reward of cheap political points should be contemplated. I have been
watching the various puerile stirrings. This is a matter for medical science,
not politics, my friends. This is not going to earn anybody any new votes.
There is also no government ministry
walking beside you 24/7. There’s just you and the people in your environment –
at home, school, in the workplace and public spaces.
So, wash your hands properly. Do not
touch your face. Cover your coughs and sneezes with tissue you dispose of
properly. Avoid close contact with people who are ill. Stay at home if you are
unwell. Regularly clean doorknobs and other frequently touched areas. The drill
is pretty straightforward.
When it comes to overall management of
the current challenge, the main enemies remain ignorance, superstition,
conspiracy theories, xenophobia and racism, and general panic – treatments for
which are always difficult to administer.
I am thus committed to ignoring
politicians, religious folks, witch doctors and anonymous WhatsApp dispatches
on this subject. Within this “infodemic” lie serious perils to be avoided.
National, regional and international institutions are all releasing very useful
advice and information. Stop saying there is no information. It’s there. Get it
and share it.
Though social media reach in T&T is
in the order of 62%, onward transmission of official data and information via
the much more widely used WhatsApp has been conspicuously accelerated on this
question – though some (not all) of it is rumour, misinformation and, in some
cases, sheer mischief.
It is best to rely mainly on information
disseminated by the Ministry of Health, CARPHA, PAHO and WHO – all of whom have
released guidelines on the spread of the disease and measures for
self-protection. Caricom has also activated a regional protocol establishing
minimum standards for dealing with the virus.
Outside of the key official
institutions, be sceptical about other sources of information that reach your
phone, tablet or laptop.
Even so, official information now
frequently contends with numerous conspiracy theories and other nonsenses that
have not helped ease our tendency to panic and in the process ignore sensible,
authoritative advice.
We also live in an environment in which
rumour finds pervasively fertile terrain. Conducting a test for the virus does
not constitute a confirmation.
The point of all of this today is that
while the state has its undoubted share of obligations, stemming the spread of
pandemic in the end falls to personal responsibility as a fairly effective
safeguard, together with finding antidotes for prevailing ignorance and
accompanying fear.
(First published in the T&T Guardian
on March 4, 2020)
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