Finally coming to impact in Canada, the COVID-19 infection (formerly the novel Corona Virus) has taken a hold of society on every level. The very jobs and functions of many Canadians days lay altered and gone all together. Restaurants, movie theatres, nightclubs and even bars (on St. Patrick’s Day no less!) were forced to close or else risk fines from $5,000-$25,000 for serving patrons. Many people face tremendous loss of income forecasted for April due to the partial or full closure of their workplaces. And an even larger amount of citizens voluntarily have opted for self-isolating measures as the Federal Government has recommended. This is in conjunction with a suspension of nearly all civic services and programs from daycares to parks and pools. The city has slumped into a quite lull with the shadow of fear and panic always looming.
The best way to contain the “community spread” potential is to take a series of proactive steps in pursuit of stricter hygiene, which isn’t really bad at all. The Centre for Disease Control and Canadian Health Services suggest washing your hands throughout the day, especially after increased social activity or possible exposure. When performing this frequently, as well as being proactive in wiping down any surfaces or objects in your home that have frequent interactions with people, the disease should have a much harder time transmitting from one person to the next. No longer is the threat simply from the disease hitching a ride on an unaware traveller, now anyone could have indirectly been exposed to it and likely to spread it even without themselves showing symptoms.
In a crisis our first instinct may very well be stock up on resources as soon as possible and hoard them. But this is specifically mentioned against doing by the government and the reasons are clear. Stockpiling materials or foods takes them out of circulation and often away from people who may not be able to race to the store and claim for their families. People have been advised to slowly build up their foods and toiletries over a period of time as to not put undue strain on the supply chain. Most stores like Costco, Lobalaws and others have limited the amount of certain goods people can buy at one time. None the less, these stores have quickly become barren and are often devoid of everything from canned beans to cleaning supplies and wipes. Though the infection count in both Ontario and Canada is thankfully low right now, we all need to do as much as we can to help each other endure the next while during the pandemic. Canadians are a famously kind and caring lot, so let’s make sure to be extra neighborly to each other because there still might be a few weeks or months of craziness ahead of us. As United States president Trump said in his Corona address “things will come back, people do not come back” so let’s remember to make healthy decision, act smart and be healthy for everyone’s sake.
