News editorial: An option not worth thinking about

By Medicine Hat News Opinion on May 8, 2020.

gslade@medicinehatnews.com@MHNGillianSlade

There have been many calls and emails to the News about the planned re-opening of businesses and offices.

Some people think it can’t happen soon enough to get the economy started again while others are petrified that it will mean devastating consequences from COVID-19.

When the restrictions were put in place there were countries such as Italy in a devastating situation and hospitals that could not cope with the volume of people needing care.

As Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, has repeatedly said the province had to make some assumptions based on modelling of the possibilities and prepare accordingly.

The approach resulted in much lower numbers, those needing hospitalization and the number of deaths.

It does not mean that we need not have taken any of the precautions that were put in place.

There is a comment in “ticked” today about needing to know how many cases in Brooks are “really ill, moderately ill (need bed rest etc.) and those with no or very mild symptoms”.

It would be interesting to see how people who tested positive would feel about being categorized like that and it is highly unlikely Alberta Health Services (AHS), ever mindful of not releasing information that could violate privacy concerns, would be willing to provide such information.

It is however easy to see some encouraging news from the numbers that we do have.

In the last three weeks, when Brooks began experiencing an outbreak, about 380 people of about 1020 have already recovered.

In the whole of the south zone where there have been a little more than 1,100 cases almost half of them have already recovered and the most that have been in hospital at any given time is about six. There have only been a handful of deaths which is typical or less than an average flu season.

If we all stayed at home until a vaccine for COVID-19 was discovered we may have no economy at all, no jobs, no food – devastation.

That option is not worth thinking about.

Gillian Slade is a News reporter. To comment on this and other editorials, go to https://www.medicinehatnews.com/opinions, email her at gslade@medicinehatnews.com or call her at 403-528-8635.