Think back to a year ago this time.
Well, okay, ten months ago. Back in May of 2021. May 25, to be precise.
The announcement came out that Covid restrictions were relaxing. People could have up to five people at their house and up to ten people in their backyard.
You could go out to dinner with up to six (count them) six people.
Sports could be played with no spectators.
The plan was that by June, we could move to step two of the restart plan.
And, come June, we indeed moved to step two, which included a lifting of the non-essential travel ban.
Outdoor gatherings could be up to 50 people.
Theatres could have up to 50 people.
Indoor faith gatherings could have up to 50 people. Outdoor sports could have crowds of up to—you guessed it—50 people.
Pubs and restaurants could serve alcohol until midnight!
You remember all this?
There were two more planned steps. And we made it to step three on July 1. Canada Day. Big day.
Masks were no longer mandatory, though they were still recommended. Indoor and outdoor personal gatherings returned to normal with no limit on the number of people who could attend. Organized gatherings could be up to 50 percent capacity, and travel across all of Canada was allowed.
Those were heady days. Full of optimism and freedom and, well, quite frankly, a lot of people breathing on each other.
And the planned fourth step? Never happened. Never came to fruition. Because people went a little crazy with their newfound freedom and rates of infection started to rise again.
Now, the world we live in is vastly different from July of last year. Most people who are going to get vaccinated have, and rates have crept up to over 90 percent for first doses, about ten percent less for second doses and a fair number of people having three (count ’em) shots of the vaccine.
At the same time SARS Co-V II has changed. A couple of times. It got more dangerous there for a while.
But the most recent version of the virus, the so-called omicron variant, discovered how to do it. It became less dangerous, but more infectious.
People still died from it. People are still dying from it. As I write this on Monday, I have an email from the province saying 14 people died over the weekend.
That’s not great, but it’s well below the 28 in one day from December 2020.
So, infections are going down (198 yesterday, down from a hight of 4383, also in December of 2020). And there are 359 people in the hospital, which is just about the fewest that have been in the hospital all year. The trend—for now—seems to be heading the right direction: fewer cases, fewer deaths.
Of course, in Europe—where they began lifting mask mandates about a month ago—cases are spiking again, so it’s probably a foregone conclusion that the same thing will happen here. Again. The question is: will it spike hard enough so that health officials start to worry about the impact it has on the medical system?
Remember, their concern is not for you. They don’t actually care if you die. Oh, sure, prayers and thoughts will go out, but if there’s capacity in the hospitals? Go ahead, get sick. Die. As long as you aren’t too much of a drain on the health care system, they don’t care.
Okay, that’s a little factious, but only a little.
But again, we’re in a different world. On day one of Covid, there were only a few ventilator units available. These days, there’s more of those kicking around.
What hasn’t increased, though? Is the amount of staff. There hasn’t suddenly been a spike in new graduates from medical school. And if doctors and nurses were overtaxed this time two years ago, the last 24 months have not done much to improve their situation.
So, if case numbers spike like they are doing elsewhere, there’s a chance that restrictions will come back. That mandates will come back.
There’s a chance that the province might decide to ride out the storm, but having people dying in waiting rooms? In hallways? Is not a good look. Having to store bodies in refrigerated trucks on the street? Is not a good look. But, you know, people are getting tired of this whole mask thing. And we’ve only lost a couple people here in Tumbler Ridge, what’s a few more?
Or—and this is kinda radical—but maybe we could not dive headfirst back into the way things were a couple years ago. I mean, the way things were? Kinda sucked. Rather than try and go back to the halcyon days of 2019, maybe we can move forward into 2022 with a bit more thought and care and concern. Maybe we can not be so divisive, so willing to fracture society along party lines. Maybe we can try not to hate people because of their gender or skin colour or sexual proclivities. As we watch our favourite organizations struggle with finding volunteers, maybe we will step out and step up and say “I’m willing to help.”
Maybe we’ll drink more water and less alcohol. Maybe we’ll walk more and drive less. Maybe we’ll donate to charity, or be more generous with our time and funds. Maybe one of us will start an apiary to help the bees. Maybe we’ll compliment people more about the choices that they make and the actions that they take, rather than on the way they look. Maybe we’ll adopt a pet from the SPCA or cook someone a meal and leave it on their doorstep with no expectation of a reward. Maybe we’ll travel responsibly, declutter, and sprinkle kindness around like confetti, filling the world with happiness.
Maybe. Or then again, maybe not. The choice is up to you.
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
