STAY SAFE: COVID-19
Lessons from the past can help us now and in the future
More stories of hope and inspiration in these challenging times.
With COVID-19 rearing its ugly head, more and more people are relying on video calls, texts and phone calls to reach out to loved ones. Social distancing is what we need during this uncertain time. What was first thought of as a disease that aects mainly older people has now turned into something that has aected us all. It cares nothing of your age, race, religion or politics. Our minds, emotions, wallets and economy are taking a hit whether we are sick or not. The news is filled with rising numbers of the aected, doctors and government ocials are begging us to do our duty and help stave o this virus.
Talking with my sister, Kathie, on our first video call, I mentioned that I was feeling guilty about being relieved that our mother wasn’t here to deal with it. Her health and age would have put her in the high-risk category and though I so miss talking to her at times like this, she was spared having to deal with it. Kathie brought up a very good point, though. Our mom was a survivor of the polio epidemic that hit Montreal in the 1940s. The precautions we are taking now, the distancing, fear and uncertainty would have been a reminder of what they themselves had to go through Kathie sent me some information about polio and it struck me that while there are similarities, there are dierences as well.
Back then, children were at high risk of contracting polio. According to the material Kathie sent me, starting in 1916, an epidemic notice was put out in Brooklyn, N.Y. From then till the late ’50s, polio hit cities every summer like a hammer. Fearing for their children, many left the cities and went to the country, desperate to avoid contracting polio.
At that time, they would post the names and addresses of those a ected. The family would be placed under house quarantine until the disease ran its course. Younger children showed a better chance of recovering with less permanent damage and were then immune to it, but the older they got, the chances of paralysis and death increased.
Pools were shut down, and places such as theatres, or any place that children would gather, closed their doors. One survivor related that they got a headache, then in the next hour, they were paralyzed—just like that, their lives were changed. I can only shudder at the thought of what parents of that time endured.
Today, with the COVID-19 virus, it seems that rather than the young being at highest risk, once again a generation that survived one horror is being asked to do so again. I believe, however, that there is hope in the gloom. We have learned to slow down, to realize that we can stay home and not rush to the store daily. We can reconnect with loved ones, sit down and enjoy our families, o er help when needed, bond together and come out stronger for it. ■