THE END OF HANDSHAKES
Canada faces months, not weeks, of life under lockdown — in some form or other. It will be a long while before we return to normal. IF we return to normal. One lesson of the COVID -19 crisis is that, perhaps, we shouldn’t.
A simple example: shaking hands. By now, we know not to do this while the novel coronavirus potentially prowls our epidermis. And we know that if we sneeze, we should direct the discharge into our sleeves. But this advice is given every flu season, and people often ignore it. What if it were to become a permanent practice? We’d all benefit, year-round. There are respectful greeting alternatives, after all: joining one’s palms, placing your hand on your heart, and so on.
Socially distanced, many folk have started to phone, Facetime or text frequently with relatives they can’t visit in person. When face-toface contact eventually returns, we might like to normalize that extra effort.
Then there’s the work-from-home experiment. A huge swath of the adult population has adopted the kitchen table as the office, cats and kids underfoot. In future, teleworking or other variants may become more common. Fewer cars, less pollution. This could be good for the climate.
Exercise: Many people are discovering that they can do this without an expensive fitness club — though we’re all for fitness clubs if you like them. But a fresh-air walk — something you can do safely even now (while social distancing) is a great habit to hang on to. And if you work at home, no one sees if you pause for a 20-minute stretch.
Meanwhile, it turns out that business doesn’t always put profits over people. Retailers maintaining our essential access to food and medicine have offered special hours so seniors, the disabled or immune-compromised people can shop without fear of everyone else’s microbes. What if merchants continued this offer permanently? That would be good.
And, how refreshing to see public officials out there daily providing real information, not talking points. Would that this became a permanent fixture of government. We have even seen co-operation across party and provincial lines. How awesome Canada’s politics would be if this continued in post-pandemic times.
Yes, there are drastic policies to shed as soon as it is safe: the mandatory shutdown of businesses and public amenities; deep deficit spending, closed borders. We pray these extraordinary measures will end at the right time.
But meanwhile, we’re learning some best practices for a healthy society — let’s work to make them permanent.