Living with COVID-19 by Shirley Dolan
- 2022-02-01
- By admin
- Posted in Latest News
We are entering our third year of the COVID-19 pandemic. In Ontario, we are in our fourth lockdown presumably so that we do not overwhelm our hospitals. The lockdown applies to vaxxed and unvaxxed alike so one wonders about the efficacy of getting the jab. Hospital data for Ontario suggests that you can still be infected whether vaccinated or not.
Data from the Province of Ontario’s Hospitalization Status page Hospitalizations | COVID-19 (coronavirus) in Ontario illustrate that there are hundreds of adult ICU beds still available, 453 as of January 25, 2022. Yes, there may be hospitals where the ICU beds are in short supply, and yes, its also about the availability of staff, but hospital over-capacity is not new, and we have had years to fix it.
One thing COVID-19 has done is shine a light on the fragility of our capacity to deal with a health crisis. To repeat, capacity problems are not new. See Queensway Carleton Hospital exceeds capacity | CBC News and Ottawa Hospital operating over-capacity | CTV News. It is just more evident since the pandemic started. And yet, there has been little or no government action to improve the situation. Better to shine the light somewhere else than on the crippling failure to protect those most at risk and to improve our crumbling hospital system.
Lorrie Goldstein wrote, in the Toronto Sun: “According to the Fraser Institute, for example, Canada is in 25th place out of 26 developed nations with universal or near-universal health-care systems comparable to our own, in our number of acute care hospital beds — 2.1 per 1,000 population.
But Ontario, which spends 42 cents out of every dollar on health care — the province’s largest single expenditure by far — fares even worse when compared to the other provinces.
The Ontario Hospital Association reported in 2019 that, “Ontario has fewer acute care hospital beds per 1,000 population than any other province and fewer beds than any country in the world (tied with Mexico) that is tracked by the OECD.” “
Most people understand that COVID-19 is here to stay and at some point, we will have to learn to live with it. After all the measures that have been taken by governments and all the money spent, we don’t appear to be any further ahead in stopping this virus or to reasonably manage it. Analyses of how the pandemic was handled will go on for years if not decades.
We will have to learn to live with COVID-19 whether governments acknowledge this or not. Some people are quietly doing this. They are finding ways to get together with friends and family, they are traveling, they are taking responsibility for their own health, assessing the risk, and moving beyond the lockdowns and government policies that make life so difficult.
And indeed, for most people, it is not COVID-19 that is making life difficult, it is government policy. Lockdowns have created a plethora of hardships from postponed and cancelled surgeries, increased drug and alcohol use, increased mental health issues including suicides, the abandonment of the elderly, and the loss of support and companionship from those we love. To add to this, the federal government has mandated vaccines for truckers crossing the border, spawning what may be the largest protest of its kind in Canada (Freedom Convoy 2022). Prime Minister Trudeau’s response is to double down on the mandate.
One of the worst results of government policy is the war on the unvaxxed. They have become the target of the government, the media, and the public in general who are relentless in their demonization of a group of people who have taken responsibility for their own health. As shown above, a brief look at Ontario’s data on hospitalizations shows that you can be hospitalized whether you are vaxxed or not. It also shows that the majority of those in hospital are there NOT because of COVID-19 but for some other reason.
Some thoughts on living with COVID-19:
- Get vaccinated – don’t get vaccinated. The choice is yours and everyone just shut up about the choice someone else has made.
- Wear a mask – don’t wear a mask. The choice is yours.
- Remove as much stress from your life as you can.
- Go outside and get some fresh air.
- Go for a walk, get a little exercise.
- Call a friend and chat about a mutual interest.
- Be kind to your neighbours.
- Tune out the media including social media. Its mostly bad for your health.
- Improve your immune system. Talk to a health professional about how you can do this. Do your own research.
- Lose a few pounds if you are overweight.
- Eat healthier and wash your hands.
- Take responsibility for your own health and stop worrying about what other people are doing.
It doesn’t seem to matter which government is in power. They are all pretty much doing the same thing. Kudos to those that have spoken out about the ineffectiveness and damage of the government pandemic policies. You are a voice for many of us but you will not form government and so we must live with what we have.
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference – from the Serenity Prayer.
Search:
Categories
Archives
- April 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- June 2013
- April 2013
- October 2012
- May 2012
- September 2011