I wrote a column on the COVID-19 situation three weeks ago. Since then the situation has become much worse especially here in Alberta.
At the present time we have about the same number of cases as Ontario, but they have 3 1/2 times the population that Alberta has which means that our per capita rate is by far the worst of any province in Canada.
There are more people getting sick from this virus than at any time since the beginning of the pandemic, as well are getting sick and tired of this whole issue.
However, this is NOT the time to let our guard down, this is the time to redouble our efforts to cooperate with the new restrictions that have been imposed by the authorities.
Due to the increased number of people becoming infected, Alberta imposed more new restrictions December 09th to try and reduce the infection rate.
I thought that Jason Kenney struck a good balance when increased restrictions were announced some time ago.
Many people in Alberta did not. There were large demonstrations in Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer objecting that the new rules were too restrictive.
On the other hand you had Rachel Notley from the NDP yelling that they were not restrictive enough. She wanted the government to shut everything down.
With her you have to remember that her major interest is with the public service unions. Their pay cheques are not affected by business shutdowns.
Of course, she has never demonstrated any respect for taxpayer money anyhow, so her answer would be for the government to just borrow more money to pay the private sector.
So, you can see that the government is caught between a rock and a hard place. It wouldn’t matter what the government did here in Alberta.
As I see it, what we have here is a fundamental problem of attitude. People seem to think that these restrictions are infringing on their rights, freedoms, charter rights, you name it.
Alberta has a significant number of people with no respect for the ‘rights of others’ and especially the safety of the elderly in the senior’s institutions.
The way some people act you would think these restrictions have been implemented permanently. I just don’t see why people can’t put up with the inconvenience for a few months.
This virus will not be with us forever. What is so difficult about frequently washing your hands and using hand sanitizer, keeping your distance from people, wearing a mask and only interact with no more than three or four people in a group when you are outside your home?
Scientists have developed vaccines that they say are effective 95 per cent of the time
We were informed on Mon. Dec. 7 that some of the Pfizer vaccine will be available in December.
The problem with that vaccine is that it has to be kept at -75 degrees Celsius which complicates the vaccination process.
There are other vaccines that will be available before too long that will be much easier to administer.
When vaccines are available the first people to receive them will be the residents and the frontline workers in the senior’s institutions and hospitals.
It will be some time before enough people are vaccinated to bring this pandemic to an end. Until that happens we will just have to put up with the safety restrictions to control the virus as best we can.
Had everyone in Alberta continued to follow the rules in place last summer I don’t think we would be in the mess we have now.
It is a sad refection on our society when people can’t discipline themselves and have to be forced to do the right thing.
by Herman Schwenk
