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COVID cold war - Experts duel over virus climate theories

Published:Wednesday | December 9, 2020 | 12:21 AMNadine Wilson-Harris/Staff Reporter
Consultant neurosurgeon Dr Roger Hunter has poured cold water on Jamaica''''s coronavirus response.
Consultant neurosurgeon Dr Roger Hunter has poured cold water on Jamaica''''s coronavirus response.
Wilmore Webley, associate professor of microbiology at the University of Massachusetts.
Wilmore Webley, associate professor of microbiology at the University of Massachusetts.
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Consultant neurosurgeon Dr Roger Hunter has blasted government officials and his medical colleagues for creating mass hysteria over COVID-19, which he has described as a winter virus that thrives in cold climates.

But infectious disease expert Dr Wilmore Webley has questioned several of Hunter’s theories.

“I think the good doctor should stick with what he knows best. This is a very serious infectious disease that we are talking about,” Webley retorted.

Hunter has argued that reducing daily exposure to air conditioning, getting more sunlight, improving the immune system, getting sufficient exercise and eating more nutritious meals is much of what is necessary to counteract the virus.

He said that Jamaicans have, for the most part, overreacted to the new coronavirus, which up to Monday had infected 11,271 people locally and killed 265 people.

“It is horrible how people have seen what’s happening in cold, cold countries, copy, paste and translated it into Jamaica and the rest of the hot, hot tropics,” Hunter lamented.

“What we don’t have on the record is the number of deaths from corona hysteria. People who did not go to get their medication and died from a stroke, died from heart attack, or the treatment for cancer that was not started in time,” he told The Gleaner on Tuesday.

Hunter, a graduate of The University of the West Indies and a recipient of several prestigious awards, including the Braakman Diploma from the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies, said Jamaicans are far more likely to die from crime and violence than COVID-19.

The neurosurgeon believes that the Government should redirect its resources to dealing with cancer, stroke and heart attacks. He said that some COVID-19 containment protocols were not necessary.

“I am very disappointed to hear colleagues closing their practices, going online, telling patients that they can’t see them in person,” said Hunter.

But Webley, a Northern Caribbean University alumnus who is now an associate professor of microbiology at the University of Massachusetts, countered Hunter’s assertion that the virus doesn’t do well in warm temperatures.

The pandemic has had a devastating impact on countries like Brazil, Venezuela and even Cuba, which is just 90 miles away from Jamaica. Infection rates in states like Florida and Texas, which have warm climes, have also been high.

“There has been zero research that has been linked with any reduction in infection rate and temperature. The virus doesn’t really care that the temperature is warm,” said Webley.

Webley said that while crime and cancer kill thousands of Jamaicans annually, COVID-19 is contagious and has been given apt attention from government officials.

He said that Hunter’s strategy would cause COVID-19 infection rates to soar, not recede.

“A lot of people over the course of this pandemic have ventured into giving expert advice on this pandemic when they have never really thought seriously about infectious disease and epidemiology, and it gets a lot of people into trouble,” Webley added.

nadine.wilson@gleanerjm.com