Originally published on Wall Street International Magazine. Link below.
Sheltered in this tranquil, magic Far East land, I follow developments across the globe, in particular the Covid-19 onslaught, and now with new mutations and variations. And whenever I shared information on the global pandemic with communities across my country our simple people are confused about how the mighty powers of the world are literarily down on their knees.
One year since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the overall situation throughout most of the world has deteriorated, hospitals and hospital staff are overwhelmed, the virus spread and made a comeback with a vengeance where it was initially subjugated and premature victory declared. In the US alone more than 400,000 died and counting. Worldwide the numbers are numbing, over 100 million infected, 2 million deaths, over 50 million recovered but many live with Covid related effects, from mild to severe. Economies are in tatters with staggering social toll, millions throwing back into poverty.
We are among the lucky few in the world without Covid-19 fatalities and so far without community transmission. We couldn’t have done it alone. The UN system, WHO, UNDP, UNICEF and WFP, China, the US Embassy, Japan, and the European Union, Cuban and Australian volunteer doctors, all assisted and worked closely with our own health officials and others in other branches of the State quickly developed policies, put in place testing labs, quarantine facilities and Covid treatment clinics.
