Dear Editor,

The following is an open letter to Prime Minister Andrew Holness:

In the early days of COVID-19 I felt that you and your Government really cared for the Jamaican people. You were timely with communication and deliberated between saving lives and livelihoods. ‎I was proud of you, as you and your Government took credit for low COVID-19 numbers and I felt someone with great empathy was in charge.

Fast-forward to recent days and I cannot help but feel that my fellow Jamaicans and I have been conned by you and your great public relations machinery, and ultimately deserted in this our greatest time of need.

Regular briefings have ceased, as have the reports in the form we were accustomed to, and it now feels like a free-for-all, with every man, woman and child for themselves, as we enter the dreaded community spread phase, which was conveniently announced within 24 hours of the ill-advised and ill-timed general election.

It also seems to me that livelihoods have certainly beat out lives and, while you have not announced it, you seem to believe that herd immunity is now the way to go while thousands of Jamaican lives are at risk based on what I term to be your irresponsible policy of opening our borders with little or no monitoring of those visiting our shores.

Testing has become a farce, where people get their results in the most ad hoc fashion, with seemingly no rhyme or reason and contact tracing — which was touted as being so critical to our safety — is now a faded memory of a distant past.

As I lie in bed praying to be spared from the visible enemy of the gunman, and the invisible enemy called COVID-19, I cannot help but ask Brogad, Brogad, why hast thou forsaken me?

Joshua Lambert

lambertjoshua932@gmail.com