------ Two points on COVID from last week's edition

 

1) I enjoyed Lily Ryan's editorial on Covid, but there is an important point not mentioned:  it's hard to pin down causes.  Establishing causality requires a controlled experiment.  Specifically, there's a real possibility that COVID has seasonal behaviour, spreading more quickly in cold weather.  There are several possible reasons, and we must not blame a surge in the fall and winter on things like schools without being cautious in drawing conclusions.  This period will be studied for many decades to come, and finding answers to these questions will not be easy.

2) In response to Ron George's letter saying we should refrain from criticizing the COVID responses of our governments, I disagree.  Not having a national response is detrimental to controlling the virus, as it saps the public's confidence in our policy-makers.  Different advice for areas a few kilometres apart makes people question what they're hearing, and compliance suffers. 

  The single most important rule is "if you're sick, stay home".  This is not easy for those without paid sick leave who have to choose between going to work and spreading the virus, or losing income that they can't afford to lose.

Something not well covered by the press is federal legislation proposed for 10 days per year of paid sick leave for every worker.  Since it's been covered almost nowhere in the media you probably don't know that this legislation exists, but try Googling "Pan Canadian Sick Leave Program".  Unfortunately this hasn't gotten very far since the early summer.  The only province pushing for this is Manitoba.

Given that we're almost in flu season, this is an excellent improvement to our COVID responses.  Here's hoping our various levels of government and the media give it the attention it deserves!

Ian Barrett

Aylmer