Lockdown for What

I posted this on Facebook earlier today, and I want to post it here so I don’t lose it.

First, go “The Virus Changed. Now We Must ‘Get to Zero’ or Face Catastrophe” over at The Tyee.

We’re staring down the barrel of several much more infections strains of COVID-19 because the government ( provincial or federal ) failed to properly lock us down to get us to zero – not bending or flattening the curve, zero. They failed to implement the testing protocols to know where the virus was so they could quarantine people, or buildings, or cities. They failed to give proper assistance to everyone so that they could safely stay home until we had gotten to zero.

New Zealand, Taiwan, Vietnam, Iceland – there are countries that got this right. And now rather than trying to “bend the curve”, they’re basically at zero. Compare that to a place like LA, where hospitals are out of oxygen and there’s no point calling an ambulance because there’s no room in any hospital. Right now, we’re headed for LA, not New Zealand.

Yes, I’m frustrated that I’ve been stuck inside for basically a full year now. I’ve been lucky: I’ve been able to work from home, and have been able to shop online for groceries, and don’t have any needs that require I leave the house often. It sucks that I haven’t seen friends or family in person since basically January. I’m furious that since March there have been people who have flaunted the rules and have either infected others or had absolutely no repercussions – while frontline health workers are being traumatized, day after day, for trying to save lives.

It breaks my heart that there are people who have to choose between being safe or being able to eat and have a roof over their head. I’m terrified that this is going to infect the people I care about because they either have to go into work, or go into a hospital for non-COVID-related reasons.

The best time to have fully locked down properly; with a mortgage & rent moratorium with no “repayment plans”, massive fines for landlords that try to evict or businesses that open, as well as food and supplies and money for bills provided on a weekly basis to those who need it – the proper time for all that was back in March. The second best time is now.

And if you’re wondering “well what can I do”? If you live in Canada, go her to find your MP and give them a call. If you live in BC, go here to find your MLA and give them a call too. Tell them you want a full lockdown. Tell them you want the government to build a plan based on the success of New Zealand and Taiwan. I called my MP Nelly Shin and my MLA Selina Robinson today. I read from a script because I’m not good at phone calls, and you can read that script here.

Tell them you want them to help the people who have lost jobs or homes, and not their landlords that evicted them or the businesses that let them go. Tell them they should tax the millionaires and billionaires who have made incredible profits in the last year ( while so many have lost jobs, or homes, or even the ability to work at all ) so that they can pay for all that needs to be done.

And if me saying all this makes you upset, makes you think I’m talking about you specifically: maybe examine that feeling a bit. Maybe think about all the people who have either died, are going to die, or will have their lives impacted by this virus. Think about how we could have been pretty much done with this whole fucking situation if we had done the right thing, at the start.