From Almost Just inside the Pandemic

It has been an interesting few days. I woke up at some point Saturday night feeling rather damp. My t-shirt was wet as were my sheets. I had a fever. I didn't know why but clearly my body was overheated. I went back to sleep only mildly curious as to what was happening. Sunday morning I got up and felt fine but within 10 minutes I felt clammy all over. I got concerned. We have all, for the last two months been inundated with warnings about COVID-19 and the need to be ever vigilant so I did the "right thing". I went online, answered a few standard questions and then was directed to call a 1-800 number. I answered a few more questions and fairly quickly was given an appointment time to be tested first thing Monday morning. Given my age, my minor heart and lung issues - I was not surprised.

The testing area was in a large drive-through tent at the back of the hospital. I, in my anxiety, got there early and had to wait a few minutes as the staff got organized. It was quite a production as the nurse had to put on a plastic gown with sleeves that ended up in a loop that her thumbs went through to ensure that the sleeves stayed in place. She then put on regular surgical gloves. Then, on one hand, another glove was put on. This glove looked like the ones that veterinarians use to examine animals. It went all the way up to her shoulder.  She then put on her mask. Poor lady - it was going to be so hot in that outfit.

I stayed in my car, answered a few questions, had a stick shoved up my nose and was told that with 24-48 hours I would get a call explaining the results. I was gone from my house for less than thirty minutes.

Two remarkable things about this experience. One is that everyone I spoke to from the person who took my name and identifying data to the nurse who did the swab - were quite wonderful. I generally am not inclined to praise people for just doing their job. I can appreciate that there are many health care providers who are working in potentially dangerous jobs, but the folks on the phone or even the nurses at the testing station were working in low-risk situations - they do not get extra praise for doing what they get paid for - BUT they do get my thanks (and praise) for doing what they did with grace and most importantly with humour. They did their job well, efficiently, politely and professionally. Well done indeed.

The second thing that was remarkable about this experience was that it was my birthday. What a present! A stick up the nose!

24 hours later I was feeling anxious, waiting for that phone call. I have all kinds of symptoms, most of them, I suspect are imaginary. Due to my lung condition - I cough more than most people. Am I coughing more than normal - who knows? My breathing is always a bit laboured - I get out of breath easier than some. But is it harder to breathe than it was a week ago? Again, who knows - I certainly don't.

I know I have been careful. I have gone out no more than I thought I needed to. I have worn gloves in public and have done my best to stay six feet away from everyone. I know no one who has traveled out of the country. In fact, I have not spoken to anyone who has travelled more than20 kilometres from where I live. I do not know anyone who knows anyone who has been tested positive for the virus. I think the nurse said that they have not had a positive test in almost a month. So I should not be worried.... but I am.

The waiting is difficult. I don't want to be too far away from the phone in case I miss the call.

I finally got the message around 4:00. It was a bloody long day but at least I know that I do not have the virus. Perhaps it was a pretty damn fine birthday after all.

A Tale of Two Institutions

Two unrelated - unconnected facts - except of course, that they are both about the consequences of allowing the COVID-19 virus to spread.

1) nearly 80% of all deaths in Canada attributed to COCID-19 have happened in nursing homes(1).

2) the largest single largest COVID-19 outbreak has occurred in the Cargill meat processing plant in Alberta (2).

I find it fascinating and more than a little bit worrisome that in general Canadians (or at least the Canadian press) are alarmed at the number of cases of COCID-19 and the consequent deaths within our long term care facilities. We are quite right to be concerned that so many people have died within a very short time when we knew how to prevent the virus from spreading. As noted in an earlier blog, any one who has spent any time in a nursing home knows the problems - not enough staff, staff who are underpaid and who have to work in more than one facility to live and environments for the seniors that do not allow for enough private space - are all factors which can facilitate the spread of viruses. Especially for those who had not thought about the problem, it must be more than a little bit troublesome to contemplate their potential future. There are already demands for a national strategy to alleviate the the problem, a demand that Canada takes better care of its "most vulnerable".  While it would be nice if in, fact, such a strategy was developed, I cannot imagine a time when the provinces will allow the federal government to control something that is under provincial jurisdiction nor can I imagine a time when the Canadian taxpayers will tolerate a significant increase in taxes to pay for any such plan.

Canadians, however, seem to have far fewer concerns as to what is happening at the meat processing plant. There are no calls for a national investigation as to how this could have happened or for a national strategy to ensure that it cannot happen again. Perhaps because there is no apparent danger to ourselves and we most of us cannot imagine ever having to work under those conditions, we do not see what is happening in Cargill or the other meatpacking plants as being our concern. But if seniors are being labelled as our "most vulnerable", surely the employees of that and the other meat processing plants, most of who are immigrants must come close to being our second most vulnerable.

For those of us who have read reports or seen documentaries (https://www.nfb.ca/film/24_days_in_brooks/)  about meat processing and immigrants, we are well aware that not only are the working conditions sub-standard but also that the employees are frequently treated poorly because they are immigrants and may feel powerless. We should all be just a little bit angry about the fact that the employees are treated poorly much of the time. We should be offended that this has been allowed to happen for decades. But now we should be bloody mad that at a time when most of us are not supposed to get within six metres of anyone, other than those we live with, employees who are afraid of being sent back to their country are being forced to work in dangerous conditions where it is highly likely some will become infected.

It is well past time that those who profit from the abuse of workers who are immigrant are held accountable. It is equally well past time that all of those who enjoy the products need to speak up. One cannot help but wonder whether or not people's love of cheap meat blinds them from doing what is right.

(1) cbc.ca/news/politics/long-term-care-homes-covid19-1.5556041 

(2)newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform/cargill-covid19-outbreak

Observations From Just Outside the Pandemic #11

I am, I must confess, just a little bit nervous when I hear or read about the possibility that some of the COVID-19 restrictions/limitations will be reduced or even done away with. I understand that for some, these limitations have been almost impossible to live with, that individuals and families have suffered real hardships during the month or so of reduced social contact. For families that have mortgages, car payments and student loans to pay off, the anxiety as to how they could financially survive must have been almost all-consuming. I am not at all sure if a sudden reduction of limitations will do much to ease their worries. It will help but it might take months before the economy will get back to anything like normal.

It is much easier for people like me to argue that the restrictions around personal contact and travel should be maintained for a bit longer. I have lost very little in the last few weeks. I go out a lot less than normal, I miss my 7-8 hours a week of volunteer time and I would much prefer to go shopping every 4-5 days rather than once every two weeks. But I have talked to my neighbours more than I ever have, I have spoken on the phone more than normal and I have seen my son more frequently than in other months. My pension cheque comes in like clockwork; I have not bothered to look at my few investments - there seems no point. Other than not buying a new bicycle, I have not lacked for anything. The one area that has impacted me the most - the closure of farmers' markets for craftspeople, is a concern in terms of income and in finding other ways of dealing with my being a bit of a work alcoholic. But that too is quite manageable.  

Yesterday, a neighbour argued that on Vancouver Island - all of the restrictions are unnecessary as there are only (relatively) a small number of people who have developed the disease. He was right, there have been only 94 confirmed cases (58 recovered), three deaths and as of the last report - no new cases this weekend. It sounds very positive and on the surface of it - life should get back to normal as soon as possible. But.....

It has been suggested by public health officials and others with expertise in community disease management, that if places like BC have managed to "flatten" the curve avoiding hospital over-crowding and the depletion of resources, it is because we have been successful at limiting the spread of the virus. There is no cure, there is nothing that we can do to stop it spreading except to not inhale/ingest the contaminated breath of other people. It is true that the risk of becoming infected on Vancouver Island during the course of daily events is extremely unlikely. It is even less likely for those of us who live north of the Malahat.  However, for those of us who have compromised lungs or hearts - we need to remain vigilant. Sounding rather selfish - as much as I want people working and investing in their lives, as much as I want my grandchildren to be able to play with their friends and get back to school - I do not want to get sick because we all relaxed too soon.

I would be far more comfortable with restrictions being reduced if someone could guarantee that no one would visit the island or that no one from the island would visit anywhere else and then comeback.

Stop the ferries and close the airports. Vancouver Island could be COVID-19 free in a few weeks. But we can't do that, nor can we assume that people will be careful, that all people will continue to limit contact, wash hands and to monitor their health perhaps more closely than normal.

I can trust myself to be careful - but as much as it saddens me to say so - I am not sure if I can trust someone else, someone who I have never met, someone who may not look or feel sick, but someone who might be spreading, inadvertently, the virus to me or those I care about.

Observations from Just Outside the Pandemic #4

It is all too easy to rant about the sheer dumb and irresponsible behaviour of some people such as a few church ministers in the USA who have continued to preach to large groups of people saying that if you truly believe in Jesus, then you won't get sick from COVID-19 or the doctors who continue to order and self prescribe anti-malaria medication because they think it will help them (and thereby potentially depriving this medication from people who have malaria). It is equally as easy to publically fume about the greedy, immoral people who develop scams to prey upon individuals who are, at the best of times, at risk of being taken in by telephone scams and who now because they are isolated, are even more vulnerable. There are almost no words to describe the despicableness of returning travellers lying to border or security agents about whether or not they have any symptoms.

One could also talk, in glowing terms, about the thousands of people who have continued to work because what they do is critical to a community's capacity to function. Long distant truck drivers, medical professionals, personal care aids going into people's homes and of course, all of those workers in grocery stores who are keeping us fed are working long hours and at least some of them are, unfortunately, getting paid just above minimum wage.

So many people have been put in precarious positions because their place of employment has been shut down. Whether one works for a national transportation carrier, in the manufacturing sector or in an office - your income has been reduced. The government's plans to supplement people's income can only be a band-aid for people's real living costs. Owners of small business- some of whom have spent a lifetime creating that company must be in tears over the losses they are experiencing. Hopefully,  the government's plans to support those businesses will alleviate some of the stresses.

It is less clear what self-employed people are going to do, of how they are going to financially stay alive when they may not fall into a specific category making them eligible for support. Musicians who are just starting their careers and who have planed perhaps to spend the summer travelling across Canada to play in various folk festivals will have lost those gigs and will have no potential to replace that income. University students who regardless of whether or not they get a credit, not only have lost at least part of their learning experience for this year, but they face the very real possibility that they will not have the opportunity to work for part if not all of the summer. There are hundreds and hundreds of small crafters who make some or in many cases all of their income from selling at local markets. Many of them have, in the past, been so far off of the grid that the government does not know they exist. Many of them will have no income this spring and there is no back-up plan.

 It has already felt like it has been a long spring - there is no doubt that as the weather gets better - it is going to feel even longer as many of us do our best to ensure that the virus does not spread to ourselves or to those we know. I am hoping that someone far wiser or more creative than I will find ways that people like me can be more supportive of some of the folks who are struggling.