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Does the order in which we re-open things reflect the priorities we as a society place upon them? Or only the priorities of a few chief decision-makers? And who ARE those decision makers? Politicians? Health experts? Businesspeople? Behind-the-scenes advisors? Professional lobbyists? The people who inspire the most collective guilt in us because of past injustices?
Of course, there are a few on both sides of the spectrum who completely reject the whole concept of a phased re-opening. It's either: (a) We can't even BEGIN to think about venturing out into the wider world until there's a reliable vaccine that's accessible to all; or (b) Let's just get back out there and let the chips fall where they may - life is the survival of the fittest! But most of us fall somewhere in between the two extremes - we just can't quite seem to agree on the right balance of risks and rewards.
Take schools, for example. The demand for 5-day-a-week in-person instruction beginning in September. And now that bar re-openings have begun, there's a "schools before bars" movement afoot, mostly from parents of school-aged kids. Some prominent public health people are also questioning the re-opening of bars at this stage too. But now there's also a growing chorus of concern from families where one or more members has a compromised immune system. They worry that they'll be pressured to send the kids back to school too soon, putting their lives and health in jeopardy. Strangely enough, I've heard nothing about, say, a "libraries before bars" initiative, although surely libraries are also important components of the educational process, and arguably THE central component when it comes to life-long learning!
I suppose a lot of the discord arises from the U.S. situation, where many states have been hard-hit by the virus and have been obliged to backtrack on their re-openings or double down on closing things in the first place. And certainly Canadian border towns like Windsor have been particularly vulnerable to U.S. mismanagement of the problem.
For those who are hunkering down for the long haul, prepared to put everything on hold until they can get vaccinated, I'm actually thinking we may get one sooner rather than later:
https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/coronavirusvaccinetracker/
No guarantees, of course. But if we could get a vaccine into doctors' offices and pharmacies before the flu season of 2020-21 gets going in earnest? That might be doable, I think.
Of course, there are a few on both sides of the spectrum who completely reject the whole concept of a phased re-opening. It's either: (a) We can't even BEGIN to think about venturing out into the wider world until there's a reliable vaccine that's accessible to all; or (b) Let's just get back out there and let the chips fall where they may - life is the survival of the fittest! But most of us fall somewhere in between the two extremes - we just can't quite seem to agree on the right balance of risks and rewards.
Take schools, for example. The demand for 5-day-a-week in-person instruction beginning in September. And now that bar re-openings have begun, there's a "schools before bars" movement afoot, mostly from parents of school-aged kids. Some prominent public health people are also questioning the re-opening of bars at this stage too. But now there's also a growing chorus of concern from families where one or more members has a compromised immune system. They worry that they'll be pressured to send the kids back to school too soon, putting their lives and health in jeopardy. Strangely enough, I've heard nothing about, say, a "libraries before bars" initiative, although surely libraries are also important components of the educational process, and arguably THE central component when it comes to life-long learning!
I suppose a lot of the discord arises from the U.S. situation, where many states have been hard-hit by the virus and have been obliged to backtrack on their re-openings or double down on closing things in the first place. And certainly Canadian border towns like Windsor have been particularly vulnerable to U.S. mismanagement of the problem.
For those who are hunkering down for the long haul, prepared to put everything on hold until they can get vaccinated, I'm actually thinking we may get one sooner rather than later:
https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/coronavirusvaccinetracker/
No guarantees, of course. But if we could get a vaccine into doctors' offices and pharmacies before the flu season of 2020-21 gets going in earnest? That might be doable, I think.
