How is The COVID-19 Situation in Canada?

My name is “Paul” I have lived in Toronto all of my life and I have never seen so many mixed messages from our government officials.​ We are now about 3 months into the COVID 19 pandemic and things started well with encouraging words from our government. We were told we need not be worried if we are not already very ill or immune-compromised. We were told to be careful not to visit our weak and very old. Many were ill in January of 2020 with a nasty flu bug but were told it was not likely COVID but no testing was available at the time. Many people in my family got it and a couple of them hit pretty hard leaving my Father who has COPD needing oxygen now.

As things unfolded worldwide we all got concerned for what we heard was happening in Italy. We were told by our government we must prevent our hospitals from being overrun and to be certain we will go into a very temporary lockdown of non-essential business to try to flatten a curve. We were told 3 to 4 weeks maximum and no one would lose their jobs. We were assured at this time we the general public were not in any danger and were asked to refrain from the use of masks and gloves as we would not be protected by them and we needed them all for healthcare workers.

As a week passed it was clear our hospitals were not being overrun yet the narrative Changed and Theresa Tam told us we need to continue flights from China and not hurt our dealing with them. Our Prime minister out of the blue tells us we are never going back to normal. We are getting confused.

We are now three months into the lockdown with hundreds of thousands of businesses closed for good and millions of Canadians out of work. I had a locksmith by to repair a door and he was all shook up because he tells me he has spent all day every day for the last week locking business owners out of their stores.

The numbers do not warrant this lockdown as over 95 percent of all COVID deaths occurred in long term care homes with the sickest people in our society. almost all the rest were in hospital palliative care. I asked my doctor if I should be worried about this virus and he said no I am very healthy and I must be very sick already to be in any danger. He also told me even most elderly are recovering and he also believes we were hit hardest in January of 2020 before testing was available. He also mentioned we are not seeing the same strain of the virus as China did and it has mutated into a much less dangerous strain.

I live in Toronto a city of at least ten million people and many stores stayed open including the mega stores that sell groceries and other electronic items. elevator mechanics, boiler technicians, automotive mechanics, bank workers, fast-food workers and the list goes on have been all working and commuting. You see Toronto’s infrastructure had not been built to hold more than 2 million people and most people rely on public transit to get to work and our buses are packed still during rush hour and many never wear a mask. Sounds scary right? Not really as there have been no outbreaks what so ever since January in the general public other than long term care homes. Nurses tell us even those number are much lower as everyone who dies even from natural causes are listed as COVID deaths.

The numbers do not justify millions out of work and hundreds of thousands of businesses closed and getting locked out yet our Federal Government particularly our Prime Minister and Chief Medical Officer of Health keep telling us to be afraid and stay home no matter what and as soon as we leave the house if we must to wear a mask even outdoors alone!

I have never seen such terrible fear-mongering and I read Canada is not alone in this.

Here is the real ugly side of it. A friend of mine had her husband dying in long term care from old age and is not allowed to see him at all not even to say goodbye. She was told he did not have COVID but the rules are the rules. Two days later she gets the call that he had passed away and they then tell her it was COVID. There is no way they could have tested him this quickly and she is devastated.

It gets even worse. No one in our hospitals is allowed any visitors what so ever even if there are no COVID cases in the hospitals. Not even children dying of cancer can say goodbye and there are even claims their electronic devices are being confiscated for privacy reasons as they can be used as recording devices. Our dying is being cut off completely from the outside world and must now die alone.

Imagine a 12-year-old girl with terminal cancer is in her last days in the hospital and her father who told her not to be afraid as he would never leave her side. He now has to break his promise and she must now die alone and afraid. We have lost all our humanity and our Prime Minister tells us this is the new normal and we are never going back to normal.

I called a few hospitals to confirm this is now standard practice even though we were told there would be humanitarian visits allowed. Families could wear full protection and even go into a 14-day quarantine after saying goodbye but no it is not allowed. We need help and we should all be outraged by this.