It does get tiring.
Day in and day out, week in and week out, season after season – shaking this pandemic is not getting any easier. Throw in some personal struggles, work-related obstacles and daylight savings time and there is a recipe for feeling pretty bummed out. We have to fight those feelings and hang in there.
Talk of potential vaccines is far more positive than it has ever been before. Numerous makers are on the crest of offering up a serum that should work, helping citizens get back to some state of normalcy. In that respect we are in a more hopeful zone than even a couple of months ago.
Unfortunately, time has dragged on mercilessly. There is no easy antidote, and this has given rise to various conspiracies, short tempers and feelings of genuine despair. All we can say is hang in there, as we will do, promoting safe actions. There is no other responsible course of action.
Several weeks ago a group attended Minto council with the express hope of seeing the emergency orders lifted. It was reflective of what many of us wanted at the time and still cling to: that this will all just go away, but it isn’t.
Perhaps too many moments of complacency, probably numerous occasions of not taking precautions seriously, and now the county finds itself in the unenviable position of rising case counts. It is worrisome on many levels.
When people fail to uphold social distancing, keep gatherings to a bare minimum and do not wear masks when we can’t be physically distanced, we risk a shutdown.
Toronto and Peel Region, obvious hotbeds for transmission, were placed in a 28-day lockdown this past Monday. That is the last thing we want to see here.
The upwardly mobile or those with secure salaried positions, have not faced the same hardships as the working poor, or self-employed. Sure, there have been inconveniences, but missing pay cheques has a way of amplifying the effect on those who can least afford it.
This pandemic has been especially cruel to those with limited means or reliance on a healthy local economy. Small businesses everywhere seem to fall into two camps: those doing just fine and those barely treading water. A further lockdown or restriction of customers and their livelihood could easily be down the drain.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business has been very vocal on this issue, noting that big box stores, for example, where dozens if not hundreds congregate at a time are open, yet small stores with limited customers are forced to close. We don’t want to see that for our merchants and small businesses in Wellington County.
Is it not incumbent on all of us to do our part so our neighbours and friends can keep their doors open for business?
We think so.
Hang in there and do your part as we all work together to traverse the dark days that lie ahead.
