Living in a remote place is a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, we are by our remote nature, somewhat shielded from a contagious virus. On the other hand, once it arrives, remote communities with limited health care facilities at the best of times are likely to be unable to cope.
Only on Monday did Greenland register its first diagnosis of Covid-19, after it had already appeared and – for the most part – proliferated – in well over a hundred other countries. But there was no doubt that it would come to us eventually. Monday seems like an age away. That was what I was thinking when I read the news today that Greenland still had only one diagnosed case. Phew, I thought. Maybe it is under control? But Monday was yesterday. So maybe we ought to just see how that pans out.
One case. It seems like nothing. It almost is. But if we had 15, we’d be in the same situation – proportional to the population – as Spain. So there are good arguments for staying on top of things. And I am pleased to say that I have been pretty impressed with the Government of Greenland so far. Here are some of the things I have experienced in the past week:
- Daily press conferences with advice from the Premier, the Chief of Police, and the Head Physician.
- Implementation of an email and phone hotline. I have sent three queries to the email hotline and received an informative and definitive reply to each within an hour.
- General adherence to the advice of the epidemiological commission, in the face of huge public pressure – and a moderate amount of social media hysteria – to enact various different strategies
Incrementally, over the past five days, the government has: cancelled all work travel, restricted domestic and internal travel to only residents and those with a specific sound reason for travel, closed all sports facilities, restricted the size of public gatherings, recommended restaurant closures, restricted the number of people who may travel on public transport or be present in airport terminals, and today the Premier accounced that schools will be closed from Monday for two weeks and from midnight Friday all air traffic – domestic or international – will stop .
Let’s hope our one case returns to good health, we avoid hysteria, and being a remote island nation proves a blessing, not a curse.
