By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Tribune Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

A SENIOR doctor believes the country should be devoting all of its resources to fighting the COVID-19 pandemic as cases rise and hospital resources remain critical.

Dr John Dillett, consultant psychiatrist, told The Tribune yesterday that as the nation is gripped by COVID-19, focusing on anything else could prove to be a “mistake”.

He was asked his views on election campaigning amid a spike in COVID-19 cases.

Within the last several days more than 200 new cases of COVID-19 have been recorded, with 100 of those being recorded on Saturday.

Thirty-eight new cases were recorded on Sunday, pushing the confirmed case count to 13,604.

As of Sunday, there were 81 cases in hospital, 12 of which were in the intensive care unit.

“This is my personal opinion. I would love for us to focus all of our resources on winning this war against the virus,” Dr Dillett said.

“I think life will return to normal and all of the things that we get excited and passionate about are still going to be there provided that everyone is safe and sound after we have won this fight.

“I think anything other than devoting our full attention to the pandemic could be a mistake and so I would call upon all persons who feel that way to speak up and say that our number one focus right now should be to saving lives and keeping people safe and ensuring that the healthcare system has all of the resources that it requires.

“That doesn’t mean that we can’t do more than one thing at once, of course, but we need to make sure that our primary focus, in my opinion, is on the pandemic.”

Dr Dillett, vice president of the Consultant Physicians Staff Association, suggested people are reacting to COVID-19 in a way that reflects what they’ve seen leaders do.

“I think leadership is extremely important and that’s leadership in all realms from politics to religion to entertainment, sports and everything else,” he said.

“If we go about our business thinking that everything is back as usual, persons in the public who are looking for us for guidance and advice and a strategy moving forward are going to think that things are okay and so it’s not okay right now.

“We are still in this pandemic. The pandemic is lethal, people are still losing their lives, people are still getting extremely sick.

“We know that this is becoming the pandemic of the unvaccinated but there is great vaccine hesitancy out there. Persons simply may not trust the vaccine, the persons giving the vaccine or the government, etc, and so we have to make sure that we use all of our resources — human, physical, monetary, etc — to try to overcome the hesitancy and also to win this war that we are waging against this virus.”

Dr Dillet said healthcare facilities were feeling the strain of rising cases.

“Our health institutions are at capacity. The wards are full. Resources are stretched – both human as well as physical resources are being stretched to the limit. So, we are definitely in some difficult days.

“I think the healthcare workers, physicians (and) support staff are doing the best with what they have and providing the best quality care that can be given under these circumstances.

“But we are getting to that point where it’s possible that our health system could become overwhelmed if we do not see a decrease in the number of cases that are being hospitalised.”

He also said: “We’ve been in this pandemic now for about a year and a half and we’ve lost some loved ones, some healthcare workers and support staff along the way.

“So, this has not only been physically taxing for persons who might have contracted COVID and recovered, but also emotionally taxing for persons who are working very long hours or who have lost loved ones or colleagues.

“The entire country is a bit worn down. A year-and-a-half is a long time, but the pandemic is not over. We have to continue to fight on.”