By Pepper Parr
July 21st, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
We are approaching something that is a little closer to normal.
Burlington enters Stage 3 of the Emergency Measures on Friday with a bylaw in place that makes face masks mandatory.
What can you do – what can you not do?
What will we see in the way of new infections in ten to 15 days? Will there be an increase? How severe will the increase be?
Much of this depends on how we behave individually.
The disastrous situation at the Long Term Care Centres is pat. Hard lessons have been learned and hopefully plans are being prepared to ensure that never happens again.
The lesson that the civic leadership is pushing very hard – and spending a lot on to get out to the public – is that we are not at normal yet.
Data from June 25th: The number of infections is increasing – even while we were in stage 2.
July 16th, 2020. This is the most recent report before we moved in Stage 3 – now that we are in Stage 3 how big an increase will there be. If it gets too big the province could push us pack into Stage 2
Far from it. Dr. Hamidah Meghani, Halton Region Medical Officer of Health commented during a recent Regional meeting at which the wearing of masks was heavily debated that she felt we were going to be dealing with this pandemic well into 2021.
We have the traditional fall flu season to deal with – along with COVID 19 – the two viruses can apparently live together.
The province is about to have in place a much more sophisticated tracking application in place that will allow the public heath people to quickly identify any hot spots and be able to take quick action.
Dr. Hamidah Meghani, Halton Region Medical Officer of Health
The balance of July, all of August and the early parts of September might lull us into a false sense that we have this virus beaten.
The truth appears to be that we are far from beating it – the scientists are learning something new about the dynamics of the virus and the way different demographics are impacted.
Residents are in charge of their own health. Simply because the Premier indicates that Burlington can move into Stage 3 doesn’t mean that residents have to follow suit.
No one is making residents sit in bars, eat in restaurants or go to the gym or yoga studio, if they don’t feel comfortable. I for one will not be eating in restaurants or sitting in bars or coffee shops. Exercise will be going for walks
The way to protect ourselves from those who decide to take advantage of Stage 3 is to make certain that the people we engage with personally feel the same way we do.
Indeed, we are being too hasty. We all have to continue to be very patient and take just very small steps at a time.
IT IS FAR TO SOON TO ENTER STAGE 3!! Look at today’s, Tuesdays new numbers!