The solution here in North America is simple. The US is unable to do so right now due to the gamesmanship of Trump politicizing mask wearing, but it can still be successful here in Canada.
It starts by recognizing that the level of informational campaigning on Covid-19 by health authorities is far too low. Schools and workplaces need to begin having doctors and nurses visiting to provide accurate information.
A) It is very contagious, and spreads as easily as colds and the flu. B) The fatality rate is higher than both the cold and flu. The complication rate is also something people need to take into consideration as besides a few high risk groups such as age and previous health conditions, Covid-19 may cause unforeseen medical issues in unsuspecting people. C) Canada does not have the hospital capacity to allow Covid-19 to spread unmitigated, so it is incumbent on all Canadians to help reduce the spread of Covid-19 by taking simple precautions such as mask wearing and hand washing.
On television, the government needs to send this simple and quick message every commercial break: "It is incumbent upon every Canadian to fulfill the duty of helping mitigate the spread of Covid-19 by taking some simple precautions. Please, wash your hands whenever you go out, and remember to wear a mask."
On services such as Facebook, Twitter, and so on, Canada needs to run this public service announcement every other post, and ensure it cannot be skipped over easily.
On services such as YouTube and Netflix, Canada needs to hijack the first few minutes of every program and make the public service announcement unskippable.
Spending $50 million on advertising such as this could potentially save Canadian federal and provincial governments hundreds if not billions of dollars in medical costs.
Just inundate the public until people start wearing mask out of either pride or shame. Either feeling is less important than the result right now.
Our governments definitely have to pick up their game on voluntary precautionary measures, Troy. We already see surveys showing a troubling percentage of people who intend to refuse to be vaccinated when that becomes available.
Huh. I guess that's BC. Here in NS, I haven't seen an unmasked shopper in months. Signs are posted on every store entrance about the law under our emergency regulations since the end of July. Before that, it was a crazy free-for-all.
Some twit calling himself Chris Sky from the Hamilton ON area and his equally dumb wife had already not isolated themselves after returning from an anti-mask rally in Ireland. That broke federal rules and he and she face charges. Not feeling in any way impeded, he got on a flight to Moncton to attend an anti-mask rally where I'm sure a hundred outlaw bikers would have shown up for sure, and got into a scuffle there with flight attendants while brandishing one of those fake medical exemption cards. The Mounties were called and arrested him, and he got sent back to Ontario for his troubles, but has a court date in Moncton for January. Here's the sanitized CBC report:
I also note that many "progressive" people whose blogs/articles I used to read with varying degrees of interest, seem set on conspiracy theory about masks and vaccinations, which are in fact injections. Yup, it's Bill Gates and Big Pharma out to get us all so as to reduce world population size. Complicit too, according to these people afraid of their own shadow, are the World Economic Forum (which is a useless private club kind of like a Fraser Institute for the World, I must admit), the Bilderberg group and anything with Davos in its title. The latest idea is to equate control of the masses with dire fears of Covid with that of the way the Catholic Church ran things some hundreds of years ago, when you could get excommunicated for breaking ranks. Of course, 95% of these "commentators" are American, haven't the faintest clue about other countries because America = navel-gazing, and who gives a damn about anyone else, anyway? They're unimportant. And we get to live next door to the Disunited States of America. Oh joy.
Mound, I'm not worried about people who don't plan to get vaccinated when a vaccine becomes available. This is actually good for two reasons.
First, people are right to be skeptical of a vaccine rushed to market with insufficient testing. Would you take the Russian vaccine if it became available tomorrow? I wouldn't. Some people are going to wait and see, and this is normal.
Second, we need people willing to forego the vaccine, at least initially, to prioritize delivery to those who need it most. So some of the people saying they wouldn't take the vaccine when it becomes available are being altruistic. Generally, vaccine compliance is good in Canada and once an effective and safe vaccine is available I expect people will take it.
You confirm my point, BM. Your province has passed a mask ordinance. BC hasn't. Your stores uphold that ordinance. Ours have nothing but their own initiative and their eye is on their competition. If you can stroll into the grocery store without a mask it must not really be such a big deal, eh?
As for that scofflaw, Chris Sky, he stands as a beacon to others of a mind to defy professional advice, common sense and a general responsibility to others.
Cap, I didn't go to med school. I took the same path as you. I know how I often feel when lay people educate me on the law as they know it. I have no reason to suspect our medical authorities, our health care system, will rush any vaccine to market. Can you imagine what would befall our minority government if they did that?
A Covid vaccine will come with a distribution protocol. High risk groups will receive priority. As for the general public, I'm less optimistic. Perhaps that's because I know a couple of these anti-vaxxer, conspiracy theory types - reasonably well-educated people with scads of life experience who abruptly went dumb like a missile losing lock. I'm talking the whole enchilada - healing crystals, "chem trails", some US government communications array in Alaska that is causing climate change, the vaccine conspiracy. One of them even believes in the lizard people. When their mouths open you imagine they must have suffered some horrible brain injury.
Your confidence in our fellow man is admirable. I wish I shared it.
The guy who cleans our building (and four other buildings) is happy to share the elevator while cleaning it. A potential disease vector!! He refuses to mask up because "I don't want to die".
I kid you not.
My crystal ball says, "We will be more mask compliant in six months. And even more so in 12 months."
Sadly I would disagree. Not until the hospital beds are full of Covid patients and emergency cases tax the resources available will we see a difference. I see a future of confusion and mixed ideals where Canadians demand to keep the border closed but also demand easier access to flights to warm climates ! Between Covid and a possible Trump win the future looks bleak.
Owen, my self defence instructor from a bygone era who was a retired RSM in the Canadian Armed Forces used to frequently remind us, "Assholes travel in packs."
It won't matter much anymore if people continue to pretest against the wearing of masks in southern Alberta as Kenney is about to get rid of 16,500 medical personnel.; making cleaning services, laundry and food services private enterprise, and closing down a maternity ward in a hospital. One can look forward to a 99.9 per cent probability of contracting coved from the lack of people standing up for what is correct. There isn't a more dirty species on the face of this blue ball than humans and especially many lawyers....I happen to know that first hand as I have a brother who is one of those too. A
The solution here in North America is simple. The US is unable to do so right now due to the gamesmanship of Trump politicizing mask wearing, but it can still be successful here in Canada.
ReplyDeleteIt starts by recognizing that the level of informational campaigning on Covid-19 by health authorities is far too low. Schools and workplaces need to begin having doctors and nurses visiting to provide accurate information.
A) It is very contagious, and spreads as easily as colds and the flu.
B) The fatality rate is higher than both the cold and flu. The complication rate is also something people need to take into consideration as besides a few high risk groups such as age and previous health conditions, Covid-19 may cause unforeseen medical issues in unsuspecting people.
C) Canada does not have the hospital capacity to allow Covid-19 to spread unmitigated, so it is incumbent on all Canadians to help reduce the spread of Covid-19 by taking simple precautions such as mask wearing and hand washing.
On television, the government needs to send this simple and quick message every commercial break: "It is incumbent upon every Canadian to fulfill the duty of helping mitigate the spread of Covid-19 by taking some simple precautions. Please, wash your hands whenever you go out, and remember to wear a mask."
On services such as Facebook, Twitter, and so on, Canada needs to run this public service announcement every other post, and ensure it cannot be skipped over easily.
On services such as YouTube and Netflix, Canada needs to hijack the first few minutes of every program and make the public service announcement unskippable.
Spending $50 million on advertising such as this could potentially save Canadian federal and provincial governments hundreds if not billions of dollars in medical costs.
Just inundate the public until people start wearing mask out of either pride or shame. Either feeling is less important than the result right now.
At a large grocery store on the south end of Nanaimo I saw 20% of shoppers with no masks.
ReplyDeleteThey were aware of their actions and showed it!
We are reaching a point where we have believers, none believers and those that don't give a damn.
Polarisation is slowly taking place .
The Orange one walks amongst us.
TB
Our governments definitely have to pick up their game on voluntary precautionary measures, Troy. We already see surveys showing a troubling percentage of people who intend to refuse to be vaccinated when that becomes available.
ReplyDeleteI've seen the same thing, TB. The stores share the blame for not requiring masks.
ReplyDeleteHuh. I guess that's BC. Here in NS, I haven't seen an unmasked shopper in months. Signs are posted on every store entrance about the law under our emergency regulations since the end of July. Before that, it was a crazy free-for-all.
ReplyDeleteSome twit calling himself Chris Sky from the Hamilton ON area and his equally dumb wife had already not isolated themselves after returning from an anti-mask rally in Ireland. That broke federal rules and he and she face charges. Not feeling in any way impeded, he got on a flight to Moncton to attend an anti-mask rally where I'm sure a hundred outlaw bikers would have shown up for sure, and got into a scuffle there with flight attendants while brandishing one of those fake medical exemption cards. The Mounties were called and arrested him, and he got sent back to Ontario for his troubles, but has a court date in Moncton for January. Here's the sanitized CBC report:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/ontario-anti-masker-arrested-at-moncton-airport-1.5758793
I also note that many "progressive" people whose blogs/articles I used to read with varying degrees of interest, seem set on conspiracy theory about masks and vaccinations, which are in fact injections. Yup, it's Bill Gates and Big Pharma out to get us all so as to reduce world population size. Complicit too, according to these people afraid of their own shadow, are the World Economic Forum (which is a useless private club kind of like a Fraser Institute for the World, I must admit), the Bilderberg group and anything with Davos in its title. The latest idea is to equate control of the masses with dire fears of Covid with that of the way the Catholic Church ran things some hundreds of years ago, when you could get excommunicated for breaking ranks. Of course, 95% of these "commentators" are American, haven't the faintest clue about other countries because America = navel-gazing, and who gives a damn about anyone else, anyway? They're unimportant. And we get to live next door to the Disunited States of America. Oh joy.
BM
Mound, I'm not worried about people who don't plan to get vaccinated when a vaccine becomes available. This is actually good for two reasons.
ReplyDeleteFirst, people are right to be skeptical of a vaccine rushed to market with insufficient testing. Would you take the Russian vaccine if it became available tomorrow? I wouldn't. Some people are going to wait and see, and this is normal.
Second, we need people willing to forego the vaccine, at least initially, to prioritize delivery to those who need it most. So some of the people saying they wouldn't take the vaccine when it becomes available are being altruistic. Generally, vaccine compliance is good in Canada and once an effective and safe vaccine is available I expect people will take it.
Cap
You confirm my point, BM. Your province has passed a mask ordinance. BC hasn't. Your stores uphold that ordinance. Ours have nothing but their own initiative and their eye is on their competition. If you can stroll into the grocery store without a mask it must not really be such a big deal, eh?
ReplyDeleteAs for that scofflaw, Chris Sky, he stands as a beacon to others of a mind to defy professional advice, common sense and a general responsibility to others.
Cap, I didn't go to med school. I took the same path as you. I know how I often feel when lay people educate me on the law as they know it. I have no reason to suspect our medical authorities, our health care system, will rush any vaccine to market. Can you imagine what would befall our minority government if they did that?
ReplyDeleteA Covid vaccine will come with a distribution protocol. High risk groups will receive priority. As for the general public, I'm less optimistic. Perhaps that's because I know a couple of these anti-vaxxer, conspiracy theory types - reasonably well-educated people with scads of life experience who abruptly went dumb like a missile losing lock. I'm talking the whole enchilada - healing crystals, "chem trails", some US government communications array in Alaska that is causing climate change, the vaccine conspiracy. One of them even believes in the lizard people. When their mouths open you imagine they must have suffered some horrible brain injury.
Your confidence in our fellow man is admirable. I wish I shared it.
The guy who cleans our building (and four other buildings) is happy to share the elevator while cleaning it. A potential disease vector!!
ReplyDeleteHe refuses to mask up because "I don't want to die".
I kid you not.
My crystal ball says, "We will be more mask compliant in six months. And even more so in 12 months."
Have you noticed that fools like to congregate in large groups?
ReplyDeleteNPoV, has anyone spoken to management? This guy is indeed a potential vector.
ReplyDeleteYou mean as in the Michigan statehouse, Owen? Yes I have noticed. And, you're right - they're fools or worse.
ReplyDelete"We will be more mask compliant in six months.
ReplyDeleteSadly I would disagree.
Not until the hospital beds are full of Covid patients and emergency cases tax the resources available will we see a difference.
I see a future of confusion and mixed ideals where Canadians demand to keep the border closed but also demand easier access to flights to warm climates !
Between Covid and a possible Trump win the future looks bleak.
TB
Owen, my self defence instructor from a bygone era who was a retired RSM in the Canadian Armed Forces used to frequently remind us, "Assholes travel in packs."
ReplyDeletemr perfect
It won't matter much anymore if people continue to pretest against the wearing of masks in southern Alberta as Kenney is about to get rid of 16,500 medical personnel.; making cleaning services, laundry and food services private enterprise, and closing down a maternity ward in a hospital. One can look forward to a 99.9 per cent probability of contracting coved from the lack of people standing up for what is correct. There isn't a more dirty species on the face of this blue ball than humans and especially many lawyers....I happen to know that first hand as I have a brother who is one of those too. A
ReplyDelete