Diary of an Isolate
14 Days in Quarantine
Day 12
Preparing for the Unlock.
The reverse countdown has begun. In two days from now I would step out of the room that has been my home for the last 11days.
In theory our 14 day period ( i.e 14 twenty four hour units) ends on Monday 9th Nov night ( Tuesday morning) but the last RT PCR tests are only expected in the morning of Tuesday 10th Nov and results to be out same afternoon — which effectively means we would be isolated for 15 days and not 14.
When I first came to Mauritius, India was already an established outsourcing destination with its engineers designing governance software for Western countries But its own use of IT within the government and public sector was primitive.
I recall, as a young engineer working with HCL — a leading technology corporation, computer equipment supplied to government institutions remained in boxes for years partly because there was no electricity. By comparison, Mauritius was reasonably computerised — funded by donor agencies and ahead in its use of IT within government and public sector. Of course there was no shortage of electricity.
Something, changed however in India in 2009. The Unique Identification Card project ( Aadhar), an unprecedented initiative at providing a biometric Identity to the country’s 1.2 Billion residents — led by Nandan Nilekani — Insosys cofounder and a rare respected businessmen turned politician ( Indian parliament is full of crooked businessmen) spawned a whole range of e-governance programs ( called the India Stack) such as eKYC.
The Identity Card Project in Mauritius also had similar objectives but it was shot down by ill-informed citizens and irresponsible politicians. It is now a plastic piece with a picture and name on it. Telecom monopolies and regulatory cholesterol in the tech and financial services sector have prevented innovation and progress to occur so far; despite best intentions of the state leadership.
Track, trace and isolate is a very effective strategy used by several nations around the world including in places such as South Korea and Taiwan and Singapore to contain Covid infections. Countries that have well established tech ecosystems have done particularly well.
Initial hard lockdowns and closure of borders has served Mauritius well. It has slowly begun to open up. How far it will go will depend on its ability to strike a delicate balance between the need to allow foreigners ( businessmen and tourists) and activities related to it — such as tourism and offshore; and the need to keep local population isolated from incoming carriers.
Contrary to public opinion, I reckon a reliable Covid vaccine is several years away. The virus is still mutating and anyone who claims to have known it fully, leave alone found a way to deal with it with vaccine, is lying. Obviously we have the choice of believing in those lies — and most governments will; at a great risk to their citizens.
Instead, what is required is a combination of track-trace-isolate and periodic hard lock downs.
All incoming individuals via sea or air ( including foreigners and citizens) could be provided with a health band with the ability to not just measure temperature and heart beats ( an early indication of Covd19) but also signal status ( as a recent incomer to the society) on a real time basis to those that come in touch with them. Some bands use Blue Tooth for these purposes. Ultimately, this data could be relayed to a control centre where an early warning system can help identify the individual.
The cost of RT PCR Tests has dropped so much ( a friend of mine in the sector estimated it to be US$5) that it is possible to administer these tests daily to all incomers for 14 days for less than US$100 per person.
A 7 day home isolation with mandatory surveillance via the mobile phone could be imposed.
In the remote case that Virus gets into the local population, the presence of effective track and trace mechanism coupled with a 14 day complete lockdown could easily contain any serious damage.
From what we know so far, the virus in not fatal or as fatal as the common flu — what is dangerous is its ability to spread rapidly and infect enough people to overwhelm the public health infrastructure. In many ways it is not Covid19 but the lack of adequate treatment facilities that must be death with.
The impact of technology on facing such medical emergencies cannot be overemphasised. Here is an opportunity for Mauritius to leapfrog and set an example in the region not just in its ability to lockdown successfully and save its citizens but also to unlock and normalise social and economic life equally effectively.
That will require rapid adoption of technology and innovation — which in turn will require some political will and an open mind and trust in the power of technology itself.
