Thunder Bay – OPINION – Are we at the beginning of the end of the pandemic? Or are we at the end of the beginning?
There has been a lot of angst over the past year with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Our first report on the virus, was on February 2, 2020 when the global death toll was at 350 people.
First Report on Coronavirus – February 3, 2020
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At that point, it was still difficult to imagine what would happen.
We have seen lockdowns, restrictions on our daily lives, an economy hit so hard that despite all efforts, many businesses have been forced to close.
Now, let’s talk, a year into the pandemic about some ideas moving forward.
Reality is even at the government’s best goal, of having all Canadians vaccinated by September, and as we are being told there is light at the end of the tunnel, the truth is we have a long ways to go still before things in our lives can return to something like it was.
So right now, there is a lot of pressure on our provincial and federal leaders to ease off on the restrictions. We have some in our society actually claiming the whole pandemic is a hoax.
Heck there are people who still think the world is flat.
As far as I see it, and not being a medical expert or a trained economist, what I am wondering is if we are rushing things. Are we putting all the effort, all the sacrifices, and all the pain in the back seat so we can open the economy?
The coronavirus, COVID-19, and the new variants of the virus which are transmitted much easier and faster are just rearing their ugly head in Ontario and across Canada.
Ontario is headed into what many feel is the home stretch of a provincial lockdown.
The hope is on February 11, 2021 the doors will re-open and people can start up again.
Maybe though that is too soon, and maybe some of us, including political leaders are seeking to open things up because they are getting scared of the people more than the virus?
There have been small protests here in Thunder Bay. There have been larger protests in Toronto.
While most people are treating this situation with the full seriousness it deserves, the voices of a few yelling loudly should not be directing the country.
Frankly if Ontario pulls back the restrictions, takes our eye off the ball, puts the economy ahead of the lives of seniors, the lives of our loved ones, we are likely to see another spike a third wave of this virus.
We need, right now to show the kind of courage needed not to fight this “war” on COVID-19, we need to demonstrate the courage to win this war on COVID-19.
To be real, that is going to mean more sacrifice. It is going to cost all of us more money. We are going to need our government to show the leadership and courage to realize supporting our economy best won’t come from easing off, but rather from stepping up and supporting businesses, supporting people, and showing the needed leadership to get the job done.
Really, if you think of it, is there really any other real option?
If you look at this from a historical perspective, Canada has in our past shown real courage.
The courage to get through the First World War, the Great Depression, the Second World War, and all the dangers we have faced.
Are we willing to admit that now, in the fight to knock out COVID-19 our desire to go shopping is greater than the lives of Canadians?
Really?
During the Second World War, in the House of Commons, Port Arthur MP and “Minister of Everything” in the Liberal Government of Prime Minister MacKenzie King, C. D. Howe was questioned over the cost of war time armaments.
Howe responded about the high cost, “If we lose it won’t matter, and when we win we won’t care”.
In many ways that is exactly the attitude we need right now.
Instead of rushing to open, we should as a province and as a country realizing that the war isn’t over against this pandemic.
Right now we have a vaccine. That represents hope.
Perhaps in historical perspectives, this is more like El Alamin in 1942.
British Prime Minister Churchill said after the Allied victory, “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”
That is where we are right now. The vaccine is a victory in the battle, but it is not the end of the battle.
Now no matter how much it pains us, now is the time to double down, not ease up.
We have all sacrificed so much. We are all missing the normal of our lives. May though, pushing and putting the victory ahead of everything else we can see things through to a total victory.
That of course is just my opinion, as always your mileage may vary.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
