A question on many people’s minds right now is, “Is it too early to put out a Re-Open Saskatchewan plan?”
Others may well have a different slant, like “It’s about time!” and “Can we just get on with it already?”
As can be seen on news broadcasts from both the U.S. and Canada, there is a growing impatience with the lockdowns for COVID-19 that is overtaking the common sense and good judgment one would think would prevail at a time of crisis like this.
For those who have lost their job or are on a temporary layoff, or whose business had to shut their doors as they were not deemed “essential”, it’s hard to have patience and wait, day after day, for the lockdowns to end.
There is logic and sense behind the restrictions, as a sort of “method to the madness” kind of thing. The COVID-19 pandemic is unlike anything we’ve seen in our lifetimes, and has been compared to the Spanish flu of 1918, which killed whole families as it swept through the land.
This is quite different from the Spanish flu, and the quarantines imposed are being handled differently in that this time all of society is basically shut down with the exception of certain “essential services” to enable people to survive.
As most of the recent reports from the provincial health authorities have shown, Saskatchewan has pretty much “flattened the curve” by keeping low numbers of new cases and deaths due to COVID-19. So with that in mind, it isn’t unreasonable to be setting out a plan for reopening of businesses and services, in a slow and gradual manner.
The outbreak occurring in La Loche should serve as a warning, however, because this virus can spread rapidly if given a chance. This particular outbreak was due in part to workers in the heavy oil sector in northern Alberta, and then spreading it to fellow residents as the workers returned home.
What is truly puzzling are plans from the very provinces that have most of the COVID-19 cases and deaths in Canada, namely Quebec and Ontario. Even with the horrendous statistics from these provinces, they are talking about their own plans for reopening.
At least in Saskatchewan, the virus is being contained for the most part, and authorities are responding to the outbreak up north. Is this the right time to reopen our parks and businesses and services?
If it’s done in a thoughtful and gradual way, as the plans have been laid out, then it should work. People should give the plan a chance, and play their own part in it by continuing to observe physical distancing and frequent washing of hands.
Even though it can be said common sense isn’t always very common, if we are all on the same page and take care, we can indeed get through this, together.
