How to carry on with life despite dangers of COVID-19

Although I don’t have kids in school, I understand parents’ fears about the return to classes during the pandemic. But such is the challenge we have to face as a society: how to carry on with life through it all, despite the dangers.

When this outbreak arrived in B.C. in March, like many I was a bit confused and found myself “second guessing” the government response and their experts. Then I realized that they were and are operating on the best available information around what is by all accounts an evolving and unpredictable contagious disease. So I decided early on to follow the simple precautions stated from the onset that remain in effect today: stay home if sick, social distance when in public, and wash hands frequently. If everyone follows these steps with vigilance, we will continue do a good job of slowing the spread of the virus. And that is the best we can do, as the reality is it cannot be stopped completely. Likewise, we can’t let it paralyze us into thinking that we can be totally protected, which would be false.

This is certainly the hardest challenge communities have faced in my lifetime, both locally and globally. And I like to think we have the strength and collective resilience to overcome it, however long it takes.

Charles Leduc, Vancouver