On December 20, 2020, the nation of Belize was (once again) entered into another round of curfew. The imposition of this curfew was (once again) touted as a measure to control and mitigate the proliferation of the deadly COVID-19 virus, which was spreading in a seemingly unabated way in the country. It was a most dreadful thing to do at the height of the Christmas season, but with collective goodwill, we accepted it for our own good and our overall wellbeing.
We struggled through the Christmas season and waded through into the New Year, and, truth be told, it wasn’t the same. It was nothing that we were used to in the past; but again, with sheer goodwill, we understood the importance of the cause, and we went with the flow. We adjusted our mindset, we made the sacrifices, we made amends to our social lives, and we coped, fine fine!
But for crying out loud, we are now nearing the end of January, and the big question in the streets and on everybody’s minds is when this dratted curfew is going to end? I mean, come on, it feels as if it’s almost been a whole hundred years — an eternity, to say the least. It’s a constant battle to get in from work, grab supper and pick up a few provisions before everywhere is locked up and the country is ghosted into a metaphorical burial ground, where everywhere is “dead”.
Now, don’t get me wrong and think that I don’t appreciate the measures to mitigate the spread of the virus. But from an early age, momma taught me that “common sense teaches knowledge”! This ya virus nuh di spread onli da night between 8:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. Come on, mein! The truth is that the virus continues to spread during our daily activities and among people in crowded establishments and through the likes of social gatherings and lack of adherence to best practices.
We cannot continue to live like this, with a seemingly indefinite curfew! When will it end?? It has been said time and time again that we have to learn to live with this virus because it ain’t going away. We’ve been under curfew for almost a month, and the virus is still spreading. So what’s the point we are trying to prove? To keep the nation under wraps and subject everyone to rushing in their glass slipper to be in before the fairy godmother sounds the alarm at 8:00? We’ve got to reevaluate and reassess this curfew. It’s been a minute now, cha!!
The prolonged curfew is actually doing more harm than good and further hindering our economic recovery. Restaurants and business establishments are taking a whole new lick! As if the economic effects of COVID weren’t bad enough, the imposition of this curfew without a terminal date will further stunt businesses and send many more to the “valley of no return”. The businesses are suffering, and the people are in strife! We have got to come back to the drawing board and apply more practical and pragmatic measures to combat this virus.
The times are critical, and the situation is dire; the way to rebound is “balance”. We cannot continue on a path of not knowing and inching day by day, wondering and merely hoping. We need a plan. If we don’t straighten up really soon and get our act together, our sheer elusive measures will further stifle our businesses and our people and further plunge our economy into decline.
Whatever way you take it, however you want to put it, this is a democracy. The people need to know what is going on and how long this curfew will continue and when it will end. If (they) don’t want to plan and come up with practical solutions, then that’s on them. However, businesses, the wider populace and their livelihoods depend on it. We need to know how long the curfew will go on and when it will end. We are struggling, and our livelihoods are at stake here!
End the curfew and the sheer suppression of the people and businesses and seek out alternative and practical solutions to this problem. We can’t continue to run and hide forever. The virus is upon us. We have to find ways to deal with it and cope. If we fail to do this and do this quickly, we’ll find ourselves battling a deeper and more serious problem that we may not be able to rebound from. If the curfew continues to run until thy kingdom come, then the economy will continue to suffer for an eternity!
Unchained Reflections Of a Liberal Pragmatist.
God Bless Belize!