FROM THE PUBLISHER ’ S DESK
A picture that paints a thousand words
As a reliable compass for orienting yourself in this life , nothing is more useful than to accustom yourself to regarding this world as a place of atonement , a sort of penal colony . When you have done this , you will order your expectations of life according to the nature of things and no longer regard the calamities , sufferings , torments and miseries of life as something irregular .— Arthur Schopenhauer
We are probably growing numb
from the Covid-19 updates released daily by the Joint Information Center . Like everything else in our infected life ’ s new landscape , Covid deaths and widespread transmissions have become “ normal .” A deathfree day is an aberration that offers a bit of relief , if not a suspension of the next day ’ s shocker .
We were shaken out of our growing apathy by a photo — taken by a hospital employee — that shows ER beds stationed at the curbside of the Guam Memorial Hospital ’ s ambulance driveway behind the building . This is a makeshift receiving area for incoming patients , can no longer be accommodated inside the standing-room only public hospital .
Powerful in its simplicity , the photo elicits a million questions that flooded the social media . Whatever happened to the medical tents ? Whatever happened to the CARES Act funds ? Whatever happened to the SNU facility in Barrigada Heights ? Why is the GRMC not taking the patients overflow ?
Unfortunately , one is likely to ask more questions than get answers from the administration .
The photo , which has gone viral , speaks volumes of where we are now . Medical service on the curbside , as well ? It hints of government incompetence that is compounded by the
4
community ’ s stubbornness , all leading to our collective failure to stop the Covid spread .
Guam ’ s fight against Covid-19 , Gov . Lou Leon Guerrero said , “ has gone on far longer than any of us imagined .” The horrifying photo foreshadows our defeat .
With Covid-19 hospitalizations surging and daily positive cases hitting alltime highs , the coronavirus crisis is pushing the island ’ s fragile health care system to its limit .
The beds-on-the-curbside photo was a cry for help . “ We are physically overfatigued and emotionally drained . Sometimes we lock ourselves in the bathroom to cry ,” a GMH nurse told us .
The photo warns us that we are doing things wrong . Unfortunately , the default response to it was , again , wrong . Instead of finding out how things can be done better , the GMH management began a witch hunt to identity the anonymous “ leakers ” of the photo . Instead of responding to the hospital ’ s needs , political leaders engaged in mudslinging .
We had over 4,500 positive cases as of the last week of October and nearly 80 deaths — still counting — an epic tragedy of lives cut short . The daily census does not even include the Covid-related suicide cases and collateral deaths that were not incorporated into the statistics — such as those with non-Covid chronic ailments whose conditions became fatal due to their inability to get medical treatments . They are not just cold numbers on a spreadsheet ; they are our mothers , fathers , grandparents , brothers , sisters , wives , husbands , children , coworkers , friends .
The full measure of Covid-19 ’ s impact may not be known for some time . And it ’ s possible , even likely , that the death toll from this pandemic has been severely undercounted from the beginning .
For a small island , any number of deaths is a staggering loss to consider . The virus has brought immeasurable heartaches to many families . In many cases , the families and friends of those who lost their lives could not be by their sides when they passed .
The pain of this pandemic is further aggravated by the delays or cancellations of wakes , funerals , memorial services and other traditional methods of dealing with such a tremendous loss . There may be limits on in-person attendance , but there is no limit to the sorrow felt by survivors and all those who lose the chance to say goodbye .
We have no roadmap for this new territory . But we all have reason to mourn and find a better way to win this battle .
Publisher / Editor-in-Chief Mar-Vic Cagurangan publisher @ pacificislandtimes . com
Contributing Writers Vincent Akimoto Raquel Bagnol Bea Cabrera Zaldy Dandan Jayne Flores Jeni Ann Flores Geoff Goodman Julian Janssen Theodore Lewis Joyce McClure Diana Mendoza Johanna Salinas Joy Santamarina Jay Shedd CJ Urquico David Weingarten
Visual Editor Mar-Vic Cagurangan
Sales and Marketing Executive Jan SN Furukawa jan @ pacificislandtimes . com
Account Executive Anna Marie Alegre sales @ pacificislandtimes . com
Administrative Assistant Ricky Panelo
*** Pacific Independent News Service LLC Tumon Sands Plaza 1082 Pale San Vitores Rd . Tumon Guam 96931
Mailing address : P . O . Box 11647 Tamuning , Gu 96931 Telephone : ( 671 ) 929-4210 Email : PacificIslandTimes @ gmail . com Website : www . pacificislandtimes . com
The Pacific Island Times is published monthly and circulated in Guam and Palau by the Pacific Independent News Service LLC . Editorial and advertising submissions become property of the Pacific Island Times and cannot be lifted without consent of the publisher . Views and opinions from contributors do not necessarily represent the editorial position of the Pacific Island Times .