Nooo! Don’t relaunch. I wish I could be anticipating steps to return to “normal” and I hope that I’m wrong to think it’s too early. Totally and completely wrong. I am afraid that the Province is loosening restrictions too soon. Businesses are suffering, people are out of work, and the “lockdown” can’t go on forever. I know and I sympathize.

I am not an epidemiologist or a doctor but I do hear the numbers of new cases and deaths each day. They aren’t going down, yet. More testing has been done but long term care facilities are still hot spots. The meat packing plants account for over 1,000 cases and hospitals are reporting outbreaks. This doesn’t sound like the time to re-open anything.

The announcement that dentists and other medical professionals could open Monday shocked them. There was no warning, so there is no PPE and no guidelines, yet. People will be wanting appointments and as long as it’s safe…some elective surgeries can now be done.

These seem like the more reasonable things if covid policies make them safe. What doesn’t seem reasonable is opening golf courses. There’ll be so much temptation to just hang with your golfing buddies. Allowing ATVs into natural areas again is asking for more fires. I worry that the re-launch isn’t well planned AND I did go to the Alberta Goverment Website and read it all. So noooo…don’t start a relaunch. There are a lot of immuno-compromised people. There are many people with, as Dr. Hinshaw phrases it- co-morbid conditions. Over 65s are more likely to see a fatal outcome but the average age of those infected is 41.5. There is no invincible age.

If you want to read for yourself, here’s the link:

https://www.alberta.ca/alberta-relaunch-strategy.aspx

People have compared the covid pandemic to a war. We have been locked down, self-isolating and avoiding public gathering for five weeks. World War Two lasted 6 years. Surely we could have “flattened the curve” just a little longer so we don’t have to lockdown a second time. The relaunch is underway already so DO follow all of the safety suggestion.

Apologies– when I started writing about covid 19, my plan was to summarize the little sacrifices and coping mechanisms, me, my family and my friends were making. Yes, today, I veered off course.