Health vs. economy

BOSSIE WRITES:

I have watched with great interest as the world went into lockdown. In the process it has potentially bankrupted me and many other people and businesses.

The question I now ask is: “What is Corona, or Covid-19 as it is called?”

There has been so much said and discussed about it. I looked on the corona watch website and saw as the numbers of infected people grew, the deaths were fairly low considering the havoc that was wreaked all over the world. In America, the largest and most stable of economies in the world, unemployment went up from 4% to 14%.

Whilst here in Namibia employers were stopped from retrenching workers to enable them to save their businesses. Which is great for the employee in the short term, but in the long term when businesses start closing down, all these employees will lose their jobs and there will be no money for pay-outs.

There are a few questions I would like to ask our Government. I don’t know if they did ask themselves these questions before considering the lockdown or extending the lockdown.

1) Are there any statistics on how many of the deaths attributed to Covid-19 were people older than 70?

2) How many of these people had pre-existing medical conditions?

3) How many people die of the flu annually?

4) There is no vaccine for the flu or the common cold. What makes us so sure that there will ever be an effective vaccine against Covid-19?

5) Would it not be better for the world population to develop a herd immunity against this virus?

6) Do doctors get additional funds for classifying a death as Covid-19 related?

7) Has the cost of the medical support to older people been considered opposed to letting them die of Covid-19?

8) How will the government recoup the loss of income due to less tax and VAT collected?

9) With a struggling economy before Covid-19 will we be selling out to the Chinese for cash loans to keep the country going?

10) Would it not be advisable to test the whole population for Covid-19?

11) In Britain the Minister of Health has stated that the statistics on Covid-19 was wrong as many people have recovered from Covid-19 without showing symptoms or showing mild symptoms. Has our Minister of Health inquired if this is true?

12) Has the number of deaths caused by the flu, suicides or car accidents been compared to the possible mortality rate of Covid-19?

13) What is the next step? Do we ban cars or minibus taxis?

14) How will the world react once we’ve opened up and a new case of Covid-19 is reported? Will we go into lockdown again?

15) How will the Namibian people survive on a once-off payment of N$750?

16) What help is the Namibian government giving to tax paying employees? Companies promised help have not seen any of it yet. Is Social Security really closed until the 3rd of June?

17) How will we come out of lockdown?

18) What will happen if after everything has been opened up there is another case of Covid-19? Do we go back into lockdown and bankrupt the rest of the surviving companies?

19) Why do foreigners booked on the flight with Air Namibia, to be repatriated at the beginning of June subsidise the flight back for Namibians? They could possibly pay double the price but 4 times is really sending a great message to tourists who spend their hard earned savings in this country whilst on holiday. Surely everyone in the world has been equally affected.

20) It would appear to me that more people in Namibia will die of hunger due to the economic impact of Covid-19 than of the virus itself.

I thought I lived in the Land of the Brave, but do I? Where are these brave people we sing about in our National Anthem?