What do you do when COVID hits close to home?
For the past year, we’ve heard of COVID-19 cases being reported all around the world, including hundreds right here in Nova Scotia, but we took comfort in the fact that there were no reported cases in our community.
All of that changed on March 31 when it was confirmed that a travel related case was reported in Liverpool.
Your immediate reaction? Panic.
It was the natural reaction. Our community had worked so hard for the past year to keep the potentially deadly disease at bay, but now it had come home. With such a highly contagious disease, we knew it would happen some day, but as long as there were no confirmed cases close by, we could take comfort in thinking that the longer we could keep it out of our community, the safer we’d be.
The inevitable was bound to happen, however.
So for a few minutes on March 31, Facebook lit up with speculation, accusations, finger pointing and assigning blame. But eventually, as calm, rational and reasonable voices joined the discussion, a sense of relief took over and people began to understand that as long as everyone continued to practice COVID-19 protocols and follow the preestablished rules, people in our community would remain safe.
That really is the key, isn’t it? Remain diligent. Don’t jump to conclusions, learn the facts and avoid spreading speculation as that only serves to fan the flames of fear during these volatile times of uncertainty.
Once the panic subsided and people came to realize that the fear of a major outbreak, while potentially very real, had became overblown immediately following the release of the news that a local case had been confirmed, people began to focus on those who were, in fact, impacted by the virus.
Hopes and prayers were quickly turned to the individual who had tested positive as well as the immediate family involved and anyone who may have had direct contact with them. Thankfully, within a day or so, as it became clear that there was no major outbreak, a sense of calm replaced the fear and people went about their business.
Like most Nova Scotians, people in my community are resilient, supportive and caring. They will rise to meet any challenge and will always be there to help their neighbours. If the people at the centre of this story needed help, then they would surely receive it. We don’t turn our backs on our neighbours in their time of need, even in the middle of a pandemic.
Thankfully, the people immediately impacted by this case had, by all accounts, taken the proper steps and there were no major health concerns. Because proper procedures had been followed and because people had been alerted, our community appears to have been spared a potential tragedy, despite the initial fear we all experienced when the news first broke.
Dealing with COVID-19 is a new challenge for everyone so it only stands to reason that with everything that has transpired over the past year, people would be on edge.
For the past 12 to 13 months, we’ve been inundated with the horror stories of people coping with this dreadful disease and we’ve had to deal with the constant barrage of disturbing images of people suffering through the pandemic. The situation is frightening and surreal, often leaving us numb and shocked to the point that it has often become too much to process.
The pain is palpable so it only stands to reason that when the disease landed on our doorstep, people would have questions and, yes, they would panic.
But if there’s one thing we’ve learned over the past year, it’s that people, when they work together and support each other, can overcome many obstacles. We’ve seen people face challenges by knocking down barriers, pulling together and leaning on each other.
We knew the day would come when COVID would come to our community. We would be naive to think otherwise.
It is true that living through this pandemic is unlike anything most of us have ever experienced in our lifetimes, but it is also true that if we embrace our neighbours and help them deal with this burden we will all be stronger when we emerge on the other end.
Fear of the unknown, like what we’ve been facing throughout this ordeal can be a powerful force. It can cause us to do and say things that we may not have previously done or said. However, through all of this, we must never lose our capacity to understand or to demonstrate compassion when circumstances call for it, and that’s the view from here.
THE VIEW FROM HERE
Vernon Oickle, the author of 32 books, writes The View From Here column, which appears weekly in the South Shore Breaker.