You got that? NOT because of the Truckers, okay?!
We were going to do it anyway!
The overarching goal of Freedom Convoy 2022 was for the federal government to declare the immediate lifting of all COVID-19 mandates across Canada.
It was, at root, a politically unrealistic demand, given that most mandates are imposed at the provincial level.
Oh, then why did Trudeau go into exile, then? Why is he hiding?
But there is nevertheless a growing chorus of politicians and health experts now saying that it’s time for Canada to officially abandon extraordinary COVID-19 measures and “learn to live with” the virus.
“We have let our lives be controlled for the last two years in a significant amount of fear and now we are going to have to change some of that thinking,” Ontario’s top doctor Kieran Moore said in a public address last Thursday.
Again: this has NOTHING to do with the truckers. The fact that Ontario’s top doctor is saying basically the exact same thing as the truckers is purely coincidental!
Moore added, “we can’t eliminate this threat, in fact, we have to learn to live with it.”
Eileen de Villa, medical officer of health for the City of Toronto, similarly said last Friday that residents should gird themselves for a future in which COVID-19 is managed like influenza.
“Some flu seasons are worse than others. We know it has impact on our health-care system, and yes, it does make a number of people sick, unfortunately, and yes, unfortunately some people do lose their lives to it,” she said, adding that Canadians must nevertheless “find ways of balancing other activities of life along with the control measures.”
It’s almost as if there are no good options when it comes to infectious diseases, and that we have been lying to ourselves all along in believing that if we just lock down, or if we just mask up, or if we just social distance, then we can Beat The Virus.
No, it’s not possible. Virus gonna virus. The only thing we can do is try to keep a healthy immune system with a good diet, regular exercise, and Vitamin D supplements. And if you do get sick, stay home until you feel better.
The statements all point to Canada eventually treating COVID-19 as an “endemic” disease: A virus that is always present within the Canadian population, but can be controlled and contained without overly disrupting civil society.
….
In recent months, epidemiologists have been increasingly of the view that the endgame to the COVID-19 pandemic would be the disease retreating into the background as an endemic illness. While viruses such as smallpox and polio can be stamped out through aggressive vaccination, COVID-19 is simply too infectious to be eliminated entirely.
This is how the Spanish Flu “went away” as well. It simply mutated and merged with the seasonal flu.
At a public health level, the push to declare COVID-19 an endemic disease has been most apparent in British Columbia.
In the early days of the pandemic, B.C. Provincial Health Officer Bonnie Henry was one of the most aggressive at locking down civil society in order to stop the virus’ spread. Some of her orders regarding long-term care homes have been credited with avoiding much of the carnage seen in Ontario and Quebec.
Now, Henry is leading the charge to have COVID-19 treated more like the flu. On Jan. 21, Henry announced a significant drawdown on quarantine measures, and effectively asked anybody with COVID-like symptoms to simply stay home until they felt better.
British Columbians “have to change our way of thinking” and get used to a reality wherein COVID-19 is treated “much like how we manage other respiratory illnesses — influenza … or enteroviruses that cause the common cold,” said Henry.
Alberta and Saskatchewan followed soon after. On Jan 24., even as COVID-19 hospitalization peaked across Saskatchewan, Premier Scott Moe said his government would not be meeting the surge with new restrictions.
In fairness to the author of this post, it wouldn’t be all that shocking if Canada does decide to end the Covid restrictions and does so without any influence from the truckers. We’re seeing European countries lift their Covid restrictions in recent weeks, and it seems to be a general trend building across the world.
But for this to come out now rather than a week ago, or two weeks ago, is, in my view, the truckers forcing the government’s hand. It totally is and you can’t convince me otherwise.