Our household watches the daily number of new Covid cases across each of the western provinces and the rest of Canada. We monitor the number of doses of vaccines arriving in Canada and are excited to see that by the end of June there will be a total of 38 million doses available to Canadians in the next six weeks.
All that information gives us hope that we will be able to see our grand daughter by July 1 and that over half of Canadians will have received their second dose of vaccine by then. Already 40 per cent of Canadians have received their first dose and by the time you read this column all Canadians 18 and over will be able make appointments to be vaccinated.
All this information gives hope that within weeks, many of the restrictions that are in front of us today will be removed and Canadians will once again enjoy more social contacts than we have experienced in the past 15 months. Even though we are getting close to resuming life as we once knew, now is not the time to flaunt the rules.
With the first summer long weekend approaching, it would behoove the provincial government to open overnight Crown land camping in the northwest to single family units. Nothing could be safer that pitching a tent on Rainy Lake or Lake of the Woods or any of the hundreds of other northwestern Ontario lakes and rivers. It would be wise to open Quetico and other provincial parks in the northwest, but restrict the number of campsites.
Great outdoor spaces like golf courses too should be open. If it is safe to walk sidewalks and park foot paths, walking fairways pulling a golf cart must be equally safe. Similarly, if it is safe to have your immediate family in your household, it should be equally safe for families to rent detached cottages from resorts for the weekend.
Small steps must be taken to again bring life to the new normal. We must understand that even if we are fully vaccinated, one can still catch the covid virus and transfer it to others. That will be a fact of life that we will live with for at least a generation. Wearing masks indoors to shop may be the norm. Watching a baseball game in the stands or attending a hockey game may require a mask in the future. However, family gatherings indoors or out again will be possible as will hugging.
Schools will again have in-class learning and students may be expected to continue to wear masks in classrooms.
We will learn the new protocols that will keep us safe.
Jim Cumming
Former publisher
Fort Frances Times
