These days feel like a bad dream
Dear Editor,
Sometimes lately, I feel that I am having a bad dream when I read and see what is taking place in our society due to the coronavirus pandemic.
I understand of course the methods utilized to prevent the spread of this terrible pneumonia causing virus, especially to our seniors who are more prone to the worst aspects of this thing, mainly because of underlying conditions many of them have due to their advanced age or lifestyle choices.
What I do not understand as of yet, perhaps I will in time, but why are we condemning these seniors to a slow death in underequipped nursing homes that do not have the equipment, such as ventilators and medical staff to handle this disease, while our hospitals across our land are laying off staff due to all the cancelled elective surgeries, and therefore the loss of millions normally paid to the hospitals every day.
The hospitals are not full of COVID virus patients as we were told they would be initially. The models as it turns out, were way off in their projections, thankfully of course, but now we find ourselves suffering many ailments still at home needlessly, like joint replacement, or even heart surgery. People will die because of these decisions, and not from the virus. They will be collateral damage in the war against this virus.
Why are these seniors not moved, if at all possible, to hospitals when they show signs of COVID-19? Why stay in a facility that is underequipped with trained staff and proper life saving equipment to give them a chance at survival? Especially when the hospitals are not anywhere near 100 per cent capacity after not receiving the much anticipated influx of COVID patients, in most cases, and also cancelling all of the much needed surgeries, which would alleviate unnecessary suffering that we see now.
On top of that we are pretty much confined to “house arrest,” while we see reports of prisoners being released into society.
In New York City already, the mayor has claimed astonishment at the fact that many of the prisoners he released have already committed new crimes against society. Who knew?
We were dealt a lousy hand by China, and there will be many questions that must be answered in the coming months or years, but in our haste to “protect” our citizens from this killer, there have been many citizens so frightened that they willingly give up their rights like sheep, not people.
I do not endorse any type of civil disobedience, but it is frightening how easy it was to give up on our constitutional rights, and follow blindly along with the suggestions given by the WHO, who were wrong concerning face masks, and claiming it was not necessary to cancel flights from China, and covered for communist China and it’s denials. Democratic Taiwan next door to communist China knew better and are not part of the WHO, which we should probably emulate, and fared much better then most by taking the proper precautions early on. They are not communist, but a democracy like us, or we used to be.
Any death is a tragedy absolutely, but more deaths will follow if we are “locked down” for a long period of time as needed operations are cancelled and people no longer have a job to feed their families. The suicide rate will soar and mental anguish will be itself like an epidemic in our society. Oddly enough, AA is closed but the LCBO is still open for business.
We must learn to do two things at once: Protect the vulnerable from the virus while opening up our country in a responsible manner to get our economy out of the basement.
By the way Mr. Prime Minister, on top of all our problems we have before us now, you adding a carbon tax, and even increasing it by 50 per cent on top of everything we need to buy at a time like this, is absolutely heartless and wrong headed. Kicking your own people when they are down, millions out of work, is disgusting, and will make not one iota of a difference in the climate situation. You know that but did it anyway.
Russ Horner