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Getting around during a pandemic
Sep. 6th, 2020 04:36 pmWhat is the best way to get around during a pandemic? As with many things in life, the best answer may be "it depends".
If you're immune-compromised or self-isolating, perhaps the safest option is a private family vehicle. But what if you don't have one of those, or a readily available driver to go with it? Ambulance? We'd like to think that's always an option, although most of us tend to think of it as an option of last resort. Even before Covid-19 struck, we'd regularly hear of ambulances waiting for hours at the hospital while drivers and paramedics awaited word that they could "offload" their patient. Which meant, of course, that these aforementioned drivers and paramedics were unavailable to to what they're trained to do - attend the next emergency.
Since March, people with medical issues they think are unrelated to the coronavirus have been staying away in droves, to the point that emergency room personnel have been bending over backwards to get the message out that they are still available to deal with pressing non-Covid matters.
Now that we're into the phases of re-opening, we're once again looking at all possible ways to get healthy people around again. Trouble is, with distancing protocols, crowd limits and masking regulations in place, we suddenly need a lot more vehicles and other means of transportation at our disposal than we did in pre-Covid days.
One idea that the City of Ottawa has put into place is e-scooters, as outlined in the following article:
https://www.ottawamatters.com/local-news/concerns-aside-escooters-a-hit-in-ottawa-fleet-could-grow-bigger-by-end-of-week-2693017?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Email
I'm a bit sceptical myself about this one. It looks like you can only use them in a pretty limited area of the city. Besides, not everyone has a smartphone to photograph themselves returning the scooter to a station - and what are the privacy implications of it all? Still, I guess plenty of folk have embraced Uber and if this scooter initiative helps out a significant demographic without too many vehicles lost, too much blocking of public pathways or too many intrusive by-law officers handing out exorbitant fines... well, who am I to argue?
And now that school is underway again, school buses are once again on the roads. Again, more of them will be needed under distancing restrictions if all the kids who qualify for the service decide to sign on. Let's hope most of them won't all be as unlucky as that kindergarten child from a school in Sandy Hill, who somehow ended up in Clarence-Rockland when the driver failed to properly conduct the mandatory attendance check:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/school-bus-driver-fired-1.5713986?cmp=rss
There will be some bumps in the road ahead, to be sure!
If you're immune-compromised or self-isolating, perhaps the safest option is a private family vehicle. But what if you don't have one of those, or a readily available driver to go with it? Ambulance? We'd like to think that's always an option, although most of us tend to think of it as an option of last resort. Even before Covid-19 struck, we'd regularly hear of ambulances waiting for hours at the hospital while drivers and paramedics awaited word that they could "offload" their patient. Which meant, of course, that these aforementioned drivers and paramedics were unavailable to to what they're trained to do - attend the next emergency.
Since March, people with medical issues they think are unrelated to the coronavirus have been staying away in droves, to the point that emergency room personnel have been bending over backwards to get the message out that they are still available to deal with pressing non-Covid matters.
Now that we're into the phases of re-opening, we're once again looking at all possible ways to get healthy people around again. Trouble is, with distancing protocols, crowd limits and masking regulations in place, we suddenly need a lot more vehicles and other means of transportation at our disposal than we did in pre-Covid days.
One idea that the City of Ottawa has put into place is e-scooters, as outlined in the following article:
https://www.ottawamatters.com/local-news/concerns-aside-escooters-a-hit-in-ottawa-fleet-could-grow-bigger-by-end-of-week-2693017?utm_source=Email&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Email
I'm a bit sceptical myself about this one. It looks like you can only use them in a pretty limited area of the city. Besides, not everyone has a smartphone to photograph themselves returning the scooter to a station - and what are the privacy implications of it all? Still, I guess plenty of folk have embraced Uber and if this scooter initiative helps out a significant demographic without too many vehicles lost, too much blocking of public pathways or too many intrusive by-law officers handing out exorbitant fines... well, who am I to argue?
And now that school is underway again, school buses are once again on the roads. Again, more of them will be needed under distancing restrictions if all the kids who qualify for the service decide to sign on. Let's hope most of them won't all be as unlucky as that kindergarten child from a school in Sandy Hill, who somehow ended up in Clarence-Rockland when the driver failed to properly conduct the mandatory attendance check:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/school-bus-driver-fired-1.5713986?cmp=rss
There will be some bumps in the road ahead, to be sure!
