Coronavirus, COVID- 19, the Wuhan Virus, whatever you’d like to call it, at this point, probably some of you have heard of it. We have watched COVID-19 start in Wuhan, China and rapidly spread around the world, coming to Canada, and now with its 3rd confirmed case (at the writing of this) in Halton region. We have heard government, media and every agency say how we can help ourselves and our family. But what we should also ask, is how can we help others?
Since COVID-19 we have seen multiple countries have their human rights stripped away in the name of public health. Italy, a country of over 60 Million is now on lockdown, Denmark is on lockdown, Spain and many others as well, Germany has also just planned to close its borders, along with multiple other places.
Rights such as freedom of movement and travel and assembly are being stripped away in the name of public safety. While, from a medical perspective this seems great, Wuhan China was commended by the WHO ( World Health Organization) for the way it has handled the Coronavirus with WHO's current Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus saying that “China is actually setting a new standard for outbreak response.” But from a human perspective, it is scary.
We all saw leaked videos from China about Coronavirus and how the Government was handling it. If that is the world’s new standard for “epidemic and prevention control” I’m not sure I want to live In the World.
While a lot of us think “that could never happen here” and that Canada is a great protector of human rights, the reality is, just like in science, pressure will change the state of matter.
Canada before COVID-19 had a healthcare system under extreme pressure with overcrowded hospitals, and lack of resources. Without a doubt this will exasperate the situation, and the reality is, we are unprepared.
While a lot of us think of rights and all the benefits that come with them, what we often forget, is the responsibilities also come along.
You have a right to travel and move around right now, but should you be?
You have the right to assemble with a large group of people, but is that necessarily a good thing right now?
You have the freedom of consciousness to not get tested if you’re sick and continue on with your life, but is that something you should do?
While we all currently have rights, I know we could debate the extent of them and whether some actually exist in practice as they do in theory, however, we do certainly have more freedom than some places in the world. With these rights comes responsibility to use them properly, because if we don’t, Martial Law (Wartime measures Act in Canada is a very real possibility).
While a lot of us think, “this could never happen here”, I have no doubt that if Canada needed to, it would enact Martial Law. While it does not happen often here, it has happened before, and it happened under a Trudeau government, not our current one. Whether it would just be enacted in particular areas or Canada as a whole, or even whether it would happen at all, is all up to speculation. But if things got bad enough, I have no doubt we would also lockdown and follow suit of so many other countries.
As said, pressure changes matter…BUT… pressure also creates diamonds.
It is time for these diamonds to all shine with all their rays of brilliance.
I recently saw a post on a Milton group where volunteers created a hotline for Seniors who need stuff during the spread of the virus.
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