There were rumours in Ottawa last week that Wednesday’s throne speech was going to lay out an aggressive and ambitious plan to kick start the economy, which is still suffering from the hangover of the COVID-19 shutdown.
But the continuing increase of new COVID-19 cases has apparently changed the anticipated narrative of the government’s game plan.
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Health experts and political leaders are worried that those new cases may be the beginning of the second wave of COVID-19, and that’s likely to re-direct a lot of energy and money toward flattening the curve and ramping up testing, purchasing more personal protection equipment and ensuring that hospitals are prepared to handle a possible surge.
That’s frustrating.
But we need to ask, are we the people part of the solution or part of the problem?
Sure, most of us are wearing masks, and that’s a good thing.
But, we’ve dropped the ball on social distancing and self-isolation, and many of us seem to think that large gatherings are now OK, when they’re not.
Canada’s chief medical officer of health says we are at a crossroads.
If we continue to be lax about prevention, the second wave of COVID-19 will be as bad or worse than the first devastating wave.
Unfortunately, we’ve taken our eye off the ball.
Of course, we want to see the economy rebound. But if we don’t control the spread of the virus, that’s not going to happen any time soon.
Bill Kelly is the host of the Bill Kelly Show on Global News Radio 900 CHML.
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