B.C.’s Public Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced the province’s restart plan this week. It’s all dependent on decreasing case counts and hospitalizations and increasing vaccine counts, but we could be back to nearly normal by Canada Day and fully normal by Labour Day.
“I'm excited and confident that we in B.C. have taken the steps so that we can see the end of the pandemic. That light at the end of the tunnel is getting closer and it's getting stronger and brighter,” said Dr. Henry.
International travel and quarantines are not addressed – those are up to the federal government – but indoor dining and outdoor sports are on immediately and up to five people or one additional household can visit indoors. By mid-June, we should be able to travel within B.C. again, have up to 50 people at seated indoor events and go back to high-intensity indoor fitness classes.
By early July, the plan says nightclubs and casinos will open once again, albeit with safety plans and capacity limits. By Labour Day, even masks will be a personal choice and we might be able to go to a music concert, dress up for a Hallowe’en Party or celebrate the holidays with our office mates in person.
This is an immense relief and feels too good to be true. Of course, it’s all dependent on case levels and could be derailed by a variant, but still, we might be hugging our family and friends by B.C. Day or booking a vacation in Hawaii or Paris before too much beyond then. Phew.
It’s thanks to science and scientists who worked round the clock to develop not just one, but several, effective vaccines. And we must remember that nearly 150,000 British Columbians have had COVID-19 and more than 1,500 of those have died. Worldwide, 168 million people have become ill and 3.5 million have died.
But still, how nice will it be to go out for dinner and a movie this summer? How heartwarming will it be to go away for a weekend with friends? How much will it mean to hug our grandparents and parents? Never before have the simple comforts sounded so appealing.
Of course, COVID-19 will still be with us for many years to come. But as more people are vaccinated, the disease should become less deadly. It may become one of the respiratory diseases we deal with every winter, but it should no longer control our lives.
Businesses will still need to follow safety plans, although they may be modified. Employers will need to understand that when an employee isn’t feeling well, they need to stay home.
Here’s hoping we remember and keep some of the positive things that came with COVID-19, ranging from the inane to the crucial. For instance, how great is it that you can now book a regular doctor’s appointment as a phone call, rather than a visit to the office? This saves time and energy, to say nothing of carbon emissions.
Similarly, this pandemic pushed organizations like the B.C. courts, ICBC and many others to modernize and allow innovations like online renewals or phone-in court hearings. Working from home has also saved countless carbon emissions and I hope employers continue to encourage it.
Dr. Henry is advocating for B.C. Hug Day in July, and that’s a lovely idea, but there will also be anxieties attached to reopening.
“There are people who may be concerned that we're going too fast,” Premier John Horgan says of the reopening plan. “If there is anything we have learned from COVID-19 it's to expect the unexpected.”
Dr. Henry urges us to remember we’re all different – we all have our own risk tolerance and levels of vulnerability to COVID-19. Although she very nearly cried when announcing the restart plan, she also laughed when she talked about watching a movie from “before” and cringing to see crowds of people.
"All of us are going to have to carefully and slowly walk through that."
The need to be patient and kind may grow through the summer, but at least it’s with a hopeful heart that September may mean a return to the very best of those before times.
Tracy Sherlock is a freelance journalist who writes about education and social issues. Read her blog or email her tracy.sherlock@gmail.com.
