Dear Editor,

The novel coronavirus pandemic 'celebrated' its one-year anniversary in Jamaica in the month of March, and what was a good year for the virus has been devastating for Jamaicans.

The virus has caused closures, cancellations, and suspensions to myriad events, among them the beloved Boys' and Girls' Athletics Championship (Champs), face-to-face learning, and carnival. However, passing by the Criminal Records Office (fingerprint office) at 56 Duke Street in Kingston would cause one to think carnivals were given the nod to resume.

The gathering consists of people applying for or collecting their police records for various purposes. There is a daily bundle of people that swells from the sidewalk, taking over one of the two lanes in the road. The crowd resembles a mass group of bacchanal revellers waiting for the music truck.

It is ironic that the police are the ones used to enforce the Disaster Risk Management Act, but obvious breaches of the Act are sliding off their doorsteps like water paint at the end of J'Ouvert.

The comparison is always amazing how Jamaicans show that they have the ability to be orderly and obedient at the embassy. No Act needs to be enacted to get Jamaicans to adhere to anything the helpers from the 'Standpipe' community institutes at the embassy. Whatever they say is obeyed. You hear, “Put your phones in this clear bag,” “Empty your pockets,” “Persons for 7:30 line up here,” and, like Abraham, there is obedience.

We have embraced a culture in which bundling is accepted, and now physically distancing in a line is only for oversees purposes.

The options are simple, though, comply with the protocols or live the carnival-bundling life and run the risk of dying in pain at home because the hospitals are full.

Moral suasion doesn't seem to work with Jamaicans, but granny always said: “Who cyaan hear will...[COVID]!”

Hezekan Bolton

h_e_z_e@hotmail.com