A Shediac Cape, N.B., woman who was in the ICU for weeks and almost died from COVID-19 says the province’s circuit-breaker approach doesn’t go far enough.
“It’s frustrating to see that we are not doing enough to prevent it. I don’t think our government has a handle on what we need,” Debby Clements said.
It’s been almost 18 months since Clements was hospitalized with COVID-19 and she said she is still suffering from debilitating side effects. She said the province mishandled the spread of coronavirus leading into the fourth wave by being more reactive than proactive.
“I am not an angry person but I get angry about this,” said Clements. “What we did over the summer with no masks and then letting everyone come in – we might as well just have been going around licking doorknobs,” she said.
With cases and deaths on the rise across the province, she said instead of the circuit-breaker approach tightening restrictions in zones where cases are high, the province should mandate a complete provincewide lockdown.
“I would have the schools shut down for at least two weeks. I would have all public areas shut down for at least two weeks,” she said.
Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Jennifer Russell said the circuit-breaker approach is being taken to keep the virus from “becoming even more entrenched in these communities.”
“These measures are proportional to our situation and the risk posed by COVID-19,” Russell said.
“As I have said before, we cannot lock down everyone, everywhere until this virus has been eradicated.
“We all need to go to work, to attend school, to see friends and family, but we have to do these things as safely as we can.”
Hospitals in the province are feeling the strain said Dr. Mark MacMillan, president of the New Brunswick Medical Society. He said while he supports the province’s circuit breaker, he expects more action may be needed. “If things continue to worsen as opposed to level out and improve then we will support further interventions as the days move forward,” MacMillan said.
Meanwhile, Clements says she is heartbroken for the lives lost in recent weeks and heading into Thanksgiving weekend, is grateful to have survived the virus. She said she is speaking out because “luckily I was the one that came out and they are not … they don’t get to talk and I am lucky enough that I can maybe speak for them, in a way”
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