Changing expectations
Nov. 8th, 2020 03:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blogcutterWhen the lockdown first began, how long did you think it would last? When I look back not just at some of my earlier entries but also at what a lot of the experts were saying, I think how naive we all were. And how very wrong many people were.
For example, when the schools first closed, I remember one of the CTV questions of the day was: Should we extend the school term into the summer or should the kids just go back in September and catch up on what they missed during lockdown? By and large, we didn't foresee that the 2020-21 school year would involve all these online classes or masked kids in small cohorts taking one subject at a time. Instead, we banned kids even from typical kiddie OUTDOOR activities like swings and slides and climbing structures and basketball courts. We banned kids and adults alike from sitting on benches or even on the grass in public parks. It wasn't until we were in "stage three" of the the initial re-opening process that we let the kids back into the playgrounds - with no apologies for having kept these kids from these safe and healthy activities before or explanations for why it was suddenly okay (maybe even encouraged) for them to play in the great outdoors again.
Of course, we knew that it would take time to develop a vaccine. But then, flu shots are a relatively recent phenomenon and people have gotten the flu throughout history - but we haven't been in continuous flu pandemic mode ever since the first pandemic. We have anti-viral and antibiotic medications that our ancestors could only dream of. And in many (though not all) ways, our living conditions are healthier than they used to be.
Since we entered the second wave, the advice, rules and restrictions have become a little more realistic. The overall message is that we're stuck with the virus for now and since we can't immediately "Conquer Covid" (as one of the initial slogans went), we need to manage and mitigate the risks as best we can.
Predictions are dangerous, even when you can trot out all kinds of well-reasoned evidence. But most of us need hope, the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm not looking forward to this winter, but I'll make the best of it. And plan for next summer, which I'm confident will be better than the one that's just happened.
For example, when the schools first closed, I remember one of the CTV questions of the day was: Should we extend the school term into the summer or should the kids just go back in September and catch up on what they missed during lockdown? By and large, we didn't foresee that the 2020-21 school year would involve all these online classes or masked kids in small cohorts taking one subject at a time. Instead, we banned kids even from typical kiddie OUTDOOR activities like swings and slides and climbing structures and basketball courts. We banned kids and adults alike from sitting on benches or even on the grass in public parks. It wasn't until we were in "stage three" of the the initial re-opening process that we let the kids back into the playgrounds - with no apologies for having kept these kids from these safe and healthy activities before or explanations for why it was suddenly okay (maybe even encouraged) for them to play in the great outdoors again.
Of course, we knew that it would take time to develop a vaccine. But then, flu shots are a relatively recent phenomenon and people have gotten the flu throughout history - but we haven't been in continuous flu pandemic mode ever since the first pandemic. We have anti-viral and antibiotic medications that our ancestors could only dream of. And in many (though not all) ways, our living conditions are healthier than they used to be.
Since we entered the second wave, the advice, rules and restrictions have become a little more realistic. The overall message is that we're stuck with the virus for now and since we can't immediately "Conquer Covid" (as one of the initial slogans went), we need to manage and mitigate the risks as best we can.
Predictions are dangerous, even when you can trot out all kinds of well-reasoned evidence. But most of us need hope, the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm not looking forward to this winter, but I'll make the best of it. And plan for next summer, which I'm confident will be better than the one that's just happened.
