Now is when we can change things. Do your part.

Ontario has taken unprecedented measures to try and flatten the curve of COVID-19 infections, but the public doesn’t seem to hear what is being asked from them. Here in Cornwall, things look like business as usual. Friends are going out dining, bars are packed… It’s as if most of us see this imposed down time as a social opportunity to mix and mingle, when we should be doing the exact opposite.

We have precious little time, NOW, where it is CRITICAL for us citizens to do our part. Every day we are not going out, is an extra day we give front line workers. Our nurses, paramedics and doctors, who will be right in the midst of the chaos this disease will bring to this country in 2 weeks time, deserve a fighting chance, and it is OUR responsibility to give them that chance.

They closed the schools. They closed cities and government buildings. They closed libraries, museums. They are calling for all events over 250 people to be postponed. They closed down churches, stopped visits to prisons, locked down hospitals. BUT IF WE DO NOT STOP GOING ON ABOUT OUR LIVES AS IF NOTHING IS HAPPENING, IT WILL ALL HAVE BEEN FOR NOTHING!

YOU and I NEVER HAD SUCH POWER AS WE DO NOW

I know people need to go to work, and for the time being, work is the only place you should consider going to. I know that having the kids at home for weeks will be a major inconvenience. I can’t tell you what your solution to childcare is. How will you keep going to work if your kids are not cared for? At my house, it means I stay put and my husband goes to work. I am lucky that I can stay home, I know. Ask your employer about working from home. Maybe your shift can be changed. I don’t know what that looks like but maybe one parent takes time off and the other goes to work… Maybe a neighbour watches the kids… Maybe older kids can be left home alone while parents keep working… Maybe it’s just about the community coming together to help each other out.

I’ve seen individuals offering to open an impromptu daycare service and take 15 kids at home to help out parents. Don’t you get that this completely defies the purpose of closing down daycares? I know some see an opportunity to make money, but please don’t let greed guide your steps! This is CRUCIAL! You want to help, take 1 or 2 kids, not 15!

It’s called social distancing for a reason.

We are being told this thing is spread by the droplets of an infected person. At the same time, we are being told that asymptomatic people can transmit it. So I asked a doctor today, which is it? Both really. Turns out an asymptomatic person still throws micro droplets in the air by talking or even just breathing. The viral load is less and it doesn’t reach as far as the 3 to 6 feet a cough would, but still. It’s possible to be infected in that way, hence the social distancing.

And I know what I am asking, no pleading with you to do, will really hurt our local small businesses, and it breaks my heart to do so. I am one of those small businesses and already am feeling the slow down. We had to cancel the Women’s Day Show that was supposed to take place today. It was a tough decision that meant a lot of money to a lot of people, but it was the right call. It’s a small sacrifice to make to ensure things get back to normal as quickly as possible. Don’t crucify me, but I think a lot of businesses should do the same, without waiting on the government to tell them to.

Social Distancing Means:

• You don’t go out
• If you must go out, when out, stay 6 to 10 feet away from each other
• Don’t go out
• If you are sick, definitely don’t go out
• Wash your hands often
• Stay away from the elderly unless absolutely necessary
• Don’t go out
• Did I say don’t go out?
• Yes, that means no bars, no restaurants, no movies, no basketball games with your friends, no church…

We are social butterflies and drawn to human contact so it will be hard. It will be scary. It means we have to make sacrifices. Tough decisions will have to be made. You will have to say no to your children who will want to go out to see their friends. You will have to limit going to the store for every little item you need or want. You will need to stop going to church for a while. You will have to stop visiting grandma on Sundays because she is vulnerable to this… But this is how we protect our vulnerable people.

And please stop telling me we’ll be just fine. I know I will be just fine. I’m not afraid of what this can do to me or my kids. I’m not afraid it will kill us. But I am afraid of what it can do to a health care system who is already running at 120%. Yes, 80% of us will have a mild cold, but can you imagine 20% of the Canadian population needing ICU beds and ventilators, which we don’t have, all at once? Do you not see that people who need critical care, like surgeries, chemo, dialysis, might end up not getting the care they need if our system is busy fighting this war? I don’t want our doctors having to decide who lives and who dies, like they are doing in Italy right now.

NOW IS WHEN WE CAN CHANGE THE COURSE OF THIS VIRUS

STOP GOING OUT WHEN YOU DON’T HAVE TO. 3 weeks won’t kill you.

We have to hunker down and try to keep some sort of normalcy in this situation that seems to be changing every minute. The world as we know it depends on it. If you value it, you will take all the precautions humanly possible for you and yours. Thank God, with social media, at least we can stay connected.