Same on Andros. We operate in the last century. Who seems to care?

I am passing this along. Seems like some sound advice.

>
>
> Subject: From a professor of pharmacy at U of Toronto sent this clearly worded update to his family
>
>
> For this pandemic there’s a greater chance of survival for those getting infected 3 months later like June 2020 than those who got infected 3 months earlier say February 2020. The reason for this is that Doctors and scientists know more about Covid-19 now than 3 months ago and hence are able to treat patients better. I will list *5 important things* that we know now that we didn’t know in February 2020 for your understanding.
>
> 1. COVID-19 was initially thought to cause deaths due to *pneumonia- a lung infection*- and so Ventilators were
> thought to be the best way to treat sick patients who couldn’t breathe. *Now we are realizing that the virus causes
> blood clots in the blood vessels of the lungs* and other parts of the body and this causes the reduced oxygenation
> Now we know that just providing oxygen by ventilators will not help but we have to prevent and dissolve the micro
> clots in the lungs. This is why we are using drugs like *Aspirin and Heparin ( blood thinners that prevents clotting) as protocol in treatment regimens in June 2020. *
>
> 2. Previously patients used to drop dead on the road or even before reaching a hospital due to reduced oxygen in
> their blood- oxygen saturation. This was because of *happy hypoxia*- where even though the oxygen
> saturation was gradually reducing the COVID-19 patients did not have symptoms until it became critically less, like
> sometimes even 70%. **Normally we become breathless if oxygen saturation reduces below 90%. **This
> breathlessness is not triggered in Covid patients and so we were getting the sick patients very late to the hospitals in February 2020. Now since knowing about happy hypoxia we are monitoring oxygen saturation of all covid patients *with a simple home use pulse oximeter and getting them to hospital if their oxygen saturation drops to 93% or less*. This gives more time for doctors to correct the oxygen deficiency in the blood and a better survival chance in June 2020.
>
> 3. We did not have drugs to fight the corona virus in February 2020. We were only treating the complications caused
> by it... hypoxia. Hence most patients became severely infected.
> ```**Now we have 2 important medicines favipiravir & remdesivir**```
>
> These are antivirals that can kill the corona virus. By using these two medicines we can prevent patients from becoming severely infected and therefore cure them before they go to hypoxia. This knowledge we have in JUNE 2020... not in February 2020.
>

I know. That popped out at me too.

Any new cases today?

Excellent points

Start with a progressive taxation regime, if you want long-term sustainability.
Right now, taxes on the poorest and working class here in The Bahamas will destroy any middle class aspirations any may hold. Eliminate Custom's Duty. We have way too many of our people in Make Work, producing nothing. They spend too much of each day moving things around and twiddling with entries and numbers. Imagine if Customs agents were free to actually help Bahamians, instead of throwing up roadblocks every chance they get. Bring in FDI, sure. But, then not to tax them or their businesses is not a way to make life better for Bahamians. If they have the right to profit from here, for God's sake we should tax them fairly and effectively. If we had Statesmen in our government, none of the current MPs would be in office.

Unfortunately, what is being proposed is to jump back into the failed policies of our current economic system. Had there been more emphasis placed on taking care of the long term interests of Bahamians, instead of the mere numbers of more dollars coming into the country, we would not see the widespread suffering that will soon overtake this country. Sadly, our business gurus and politicians have both bought into the idea that it is just the volume of money coming into our country that matters. Not how it is distributed, or if there is a more sustainable way to insure the continuity of health and welfare of our citizenry. What we see, evident in all of the so-called reformers, here and abroad, is an all to quick call to patch things up so that business as usual, with them at the top, continues. That we have lost our imagination, along with our intellectual edge, are merely the results of decades of poor business and legislative practices. Yes, the government has failed us. No question about that. However, to suggest that all of us will be equally hard hit by this crisis is disingenuous, at best. Some people have options to leave this country, which many will do. Most however, will be faced with dealing with the mess at hand. Interesting that the country of Mauritius was listed along with The Bahamas. Since this report came out, the environmental disaster of an oil spill in Mauritius is in the process of dooming thousands of the poorest people in that country to certain suffering. As one local said, "We live from the sea, we eat from the sea. What now?" And, likewise, our business gurus whose complete time is spent behind a desk and on a computer will simply up and go, while those whose roots are tied to the environment are screwed. Pretty much like here, right? Let's drill for oil. baby, we'll all be rich, or at least taken care of, hey? Same mentality here. Business so-called leaders have the same short=term mentality with regard to what makes the world work. If it is good for them, it must be good for everyone else. These are the "job creators" they have led themselves to believe. If they were really long-term thinkers, who cared about their kid's future in The Bahamas, they would be laser focused on our environment, especially climate change, sea level rise and the death of life on this planet. Instead, they think that money will buy them out of whatever mess they create.
I call bullshit.

"Cocooning" not in the time of Covid, but in the time of a known exponential rise in homelessness. The Bahamas is about to experience more pain and suffering than ever before in the history of this country since independence. More homelessness, more hunger, more unemployment. Are the readers on this paper only in a select group who reads and can afford to wax on about mindless consumption? Is this where we are now? "We are adding personal touches, paint, new plants, pots to put them in, a fresh set of blinds, a whimsical pillow or throw.
While the economy is suffering and the future is anyone’s guess, we’re spending a bundle making our cocoon inviting enough that we are okay with staying in it."
How did we get to this point?
We still write as if we have a clue.
We still write as if we have a true Christian thought in our head.
We still write as if we represent more than the 1%.
What a sad, sad commentary on the state of our condition, our compassion, our humanity.
What a sad, sad editorial.
It does prove me wrong on one important point.
That education helps our citizens become more................................................

JB,

I agree. However, please see the Tribune article of a man being arrested and fined for suggesting a change in government. Is it the words that got him into trouble, or the suggestion? The police work for the ones who sign their paychecks, as they did in Hitler's Germany. There will be a clampdown on free speech by the ones we wish to oust. The goal posts will change for the right to free speech, just like what PMs must do in contravention to the constitution in the future, hey? There is a word for this way of governance too, but I fear to use it, as it could be used as evidence to arrest. And, while we use a pen name, be assured that the competent authority's henchmen have their ears and eyes all over us. I am confident that the Tribune would be the first to capitulate to the "authorities", in requesting our names, places of residence and other personal data.

Some people get paid to think, others get paid to write. This editorial is a good example of the latter. 10 cases is now 69 one day later?. There is almost no honesty nor demand for truth in this country, just like the US. This country is also led by a person drunk on power with little to no sense. Worse, the educational level of adults here is much lower than in the US, as if this has no bearing on anything, except perhaps why editorials like this can get published. This inability to critically think is evident in most every aspect of life here, just like in the US. Both narcissistic and selfish cultures. Yes, it is ludicrous for the US State Dept. to blacklist The Bahamas, however it takes a truly dense mind to argue for others to emulate us in our approach to the virus. And, while we most likely saw the increase in cases from the US, it was not the US that caused these cases. It was stupidity, selfishness and carelessness on our part. Nobody in the US forced our own citizens to travel there, and then to ignore quarantine and go party. And no editor, "The only enemy here is the virus", is not correct. Cars aren't the enemy, food isn't the enemy, guns are not the enemy. Only when these things are not taken seriously by people, and abused, do they become dangerous. Only when our hubris takes hold of us, as it has, do the things of the world become an "enemy". We can beat this virus by using something that we have given little to promote in our history; Education. Unfortunately, it is a little late for that now.