Unequal impact of COVID
It is not an original observation, but it is useful to note now and again that COVID- 19 is a two- tiered phenomenon, and it’s two- tiered in multiple dimensions.
The first is in its impact on health. It is the elderly who are especially vulnerable. Mortality rates for old people are the highest. That was painfully seen in our long-term care facilities. It is not an “old person’s disease,” but the old are most susceptible to its full force.
The elderly were also more exposed in another sense. During the lockdown, those who caught the virus were kept in isolation. Even their closest family members were kept away from them in their dying days. Those who did not contract the illness were also kept in isolation, for fear of catching it from a family member.
Some circumstances were akin to an updated tale from Charles Dickens’ pathos- filled pen. I know of one 96- year- old who was unable to be visited by his 93- year- old wife. The very worst and most emotional time to be alone was the very time they were forced to be alone.
COVID- 19 is also twotiered in the economic sense. A short recap of how things were in the very early days might be useful.
there is another
class that doesn’t
bear the same
burden.
— murphy
When the pandemic first struck, it was gloomy, but it looked to be something that could be endured. We were told that a period of slowdown was needed to “flatten the curve.” But that was so long ago, most people have forgotten what the “curve” even was.
The belief was that after a period of voluntary self- isolation, frequent handwashing and mask- wearing ( the advice here was mixed), our health system would have been protected from being overwhelmed, and things could be dealt with from there on. People were left with the impression that the hardships would be temporary.
That was the early, and understandably optimistic, period. It is now mid- October and the temporary lockdown has extended for well over half a year, in one form or another. Governments did offer direct financial help to many people and businesses. And that was the right thing to do. But even with that help, the restrictions placed on our economy have collapsed ever so many businesses. The psychological and other pressures this has placed on small business owners, their families and their employees must have been, and in many cases still is, immense.
The restaurant trade, for example, which is a trial by fire in the best of times, has been bludgeoned by COVID.
Hotels and motels, both large and small, have likewise been decimated. All the staff at these places, most of whom are at the low end of the income spectrum, have been left stranded. Many will not have a job to go back to, even if the businesses somehow manage to survive.
There is a whole lot of pain out there. But there is another class of individuals, who, through no fault of their own, are not bearing the same burden. These are the people who work in government and enjoy guaranteed salaries, and whose jobs have been unaffected, or, at the very least, will be waiting for them when things fully reopen.
My point is not to fault government employees. My remarks carry no negative freight, moral or otherwise. Those whom circumstance spared some of the economic ravages of COVID didn’t position themselves to be less exposed than those who were. But the gap, the division, is there.
However, “we’re all in this together” doesn’t ring quite true when you take cognizance of this division, this two-tiered impact of COVID. There needs to be something a little beyond words to give that rally cry force.
And in this regard, the prime minister of New Zealand is leading by example. Back in April, Jacinda Ardern announced that she and her ministers would take a 20 per cent pay cut.
“If there was ever a time to close the gap between groups of people across New Zealand in different positions, it is now,” she said. “I am responsible for the executive branch and this is where we can take action. It is about showing solidarity in New Zealand’s time of need.”
This needs no expansion. All the proclamations of “we’re all in this together” and “we have your backs” don’t have nearly the significance that comes from a leader who shares some of the pain. That she and her ministers volunteered to reduce their own salaries — 20 per cent is not a token amount — is leadership travelling beyond just words.
But it is as rare as it is praiseworthy to see a practising politician, a leader in fact, undertake such a commitment. Any takers here in Canada, I wonder.
‘we’re all in this together’ doesn’t ring quite true when you look at the division.