Scott Thompson: COVID-19 spreads and cities close, but there’s some good in where we are

Information on the pandemic of COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, is coming in so fast and so furious it’s hard to keep up.

Even those of us who consume the news in mass quantities every day are becoming fatigued by the never-ending fluidity of this event.

​I know it’s hard to find a lot of positive in what’s happening right now, as COVID-19 invades more of Canada, but there are lessons to be learned here, and a better world will prevail.

For example, as difficult as the obstacles are for the average Canadian, it could be a lot worse.

Just ask any of our immigrant parents or grandparents who came here fleeing chaos in their homeland to tell their stories.

2:05 Workers, business owners concerned about the future

• Workers, business owners concerned about the future
• Some Canadians still stranded abroad, trying to get home
• Measures being taken to boost health care capacity
• Canada to spend $82 billion in emergency stimulus plan
• Where on the curve will Canada struggle to keep up?
• Canada-U.S. border closing to non-essential travel

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Also, imagine if this virus was more deadly than SARS — where would we be?

(All signs so far point to COVID-19 being less deadly.)

This event will only help us deal with a far more serious outbreak if it were to happen.

Here’s another: we’ve been living in a pretty divisive world these days. This is one of those life-altering events that can change society’s trajectory by uniting us.

And finally, experts say it’s in times like these that leadership is defined.

Hopefully, we’ll recognize the great ones — and the others — at the end of this journey.