Facing COVID-19 together
Pandemic.
If events seemed to be moving rapidly before the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 novel coronavirus a worldwide epidemic last Wednesday, what’s occurred since then has been a blur.
Borders closed. Travel discouraged. Scores of events cancelled. Major professional and amateur sports — including the NHL, NBA and MLB — suspended. Nursing homes locked down. Courts on hiatus.
In Ottawa, Canada’s Parliament has shuttered for five weeks. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau went into self-isolation. His wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, tested positive for the virus.
In Nova Scotia, an 811 line set up to advise anyone who thinks they have COVID-19 symptoms was quickly overwhelmed.
Looking back to earlier this month is like peering at a different world.
Since then, so many of the assumptions people use in making everyday decisions — about work, school, travel, entertainment, shopping, you name it — no longer apply.
What’s allowed and what’s not is being revised almost daily.
And today’s new normal may shift again tomorrow.
As Dr. Gus Grant, registrar and CEO of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Nova Scotia, said in an op-ed in the Chronicle Herald last week: “These are nervous times. As we awaited the first case of COVID-19 in our province, fear and confusion could easily overwhelm us.”
His solution? Don’t panic. Listen to the experts.
That’s sound advice.
The measures being enacted to contain or at least slow down this virus are causing widespread economic pain and personal inconvenience.
So let’s remember these actions have two main purposes.
First, if COVID-19 were to quickly roll unchecked across this country, the resulting large waves of stricken people urgently — and simultaneously — needing medical care could overwhelm our health-care systems.
The goal, and you will likely hear this phrase a lot, is to “flatten the curve” of infection. In other words, rather than hospitals and health-care providers seeing a ton of cases all at once, the hope is to reduce the rate of new cases enough that medical teams can handle the volume.
Second, it’s vital that we take all steps available to shield at-risk populations, such as the elderly or people with underlying health conditions. Based on what’s already occurred worldwide with COVID-19, we know those groups have the highest risk of dying if they’re infected by the coronavirus.
Even if you don’t personally feel threatened by this virus, remember many of these precautions are about protecting the vulnerable, of which there are many.
It’s been 11 years since the last WHOdeclared pandemic, the 2009 outbreak of H1N1 “swine flu,” which killed more than 18,000 people worldwide. As of last Friday afternoon, COVID-19 has so far claimed more than 5,300 lives. And the number increases daily.
The world is now in full-blown crisis mode. Let’s get through this together.