Until now
I kinda scoffed at any mention of a psychological impact to the pandemic. Not that I didn’t accept the possibility: I felt above it. I had an interior world to explore, a family around me...why would this be a problem?
Mask.
Turns out it is.
I’m not depressed but there’s a definite change in the air. Mornings are heavier, pleasures tend to be fleeting and barely skin deep. Any momentum appears stalled, as we wait, unknowing of what the months ahead will bring.
Our provincial government is now hellbent on deconfinement. Even though little has changed. Yesterday they announced primary schools would re-open on May 11-19, while higher levels (secondary, CEGEP and university) will remain shut until September. In our case this means Héloïse would be the only one returning—she won’t. She’s had a great year, it isn’t mandatory and frankly, I’m not convinced this will go well.
I can’t shake the feeling that the entire strategy is completely flawed: our curve is linear, not descending. Not yet. Quebec has been the hardest hit province in Canada by far, and continues to be (to be fair we seem to be testing more, but still). This is due to a catastrophic situation in our nursing homes, which is a tragedy of epic proportions. But while the age and frailty of that specific population is obviously a factor, I’m struggling with the government’s overall interpretation: the big differentiator in those closed environments is also a lack of confinement. The virus spread like wildfire because no distanciation measures were implemented, if they were even possible. I may be wrong—a return to normality might not create a surge in the general population. Given what little we know about the disease however, we’re not ready to risk it with our youngest daughter. If she was struggling at home, if she didn’t have a brother and sister, if she had trouble at school...all of this would factor in. But she’s doing just fine.
The concept of herd immunity will eventually play a part in this—but then we’ve yet to understand the actual efficiency of antibodies with COVID-19. More uncertainty.
Dear god...I’d like to write something uplifting!
Ok here goes: Saturday was gorgeous. We finally inched our way to double digits and spent most of the day outside.
There, I did it. Kinda.
Be safe. Don’t deconfine if it doesn’t feel right.
