Discussions

I still see lots of people wearing masks when they go out but they are in the minority now. I still hand sanitize before going into a store but I feel I am alone in this practice. I see no one else using the sanitizer when they enter stores. Covid is still out there and the most recent variant ba.5 is easily transmissible. I have friends who got covid and they told me they would not wish that on their worst enemy. They were all up to date on their vaccinations. There is a risk, if you get covid, that you will suffer from long covid where symptoms linger.  
 
If Public Health again asked us to wear masks, increase hand sanitizing and socially distance ourselves, how would you respond?  
 
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/the-ba5-subvariant-can-evade-protection-but-there-are-still-tools-to-fight-it/ar-AAZlC7b  
 
https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/covid-wave-ba5-ba4-subvariant-1.6513639  
 
Edited by Spades!!, 2022-07-08 21:04:49

I would follow public health advice and take required precautions designed to protect us and reduce pressure on our health services. Wouldn’t anyone with any common sense do the same?

Though if we have to return to more restrictive measures I suspect it will be a big hit for many people and businesses. I hope this wave, if it happens, is muted and quickly over.

I still wear a mask everywhere. I still seek out the sanitizer. I've even complained at major businesses that have removed it.  
 
I am high risk having had a lobectomy due to lung cancer but more importantly my aging mother with Alzheimer's lives with me.  
 
I don't want her sick with anything as leaving the house confuses and terrifies her... I can't imagine what a trip to the hospital would do to her.  
 
So if wearing a piece of paper over my face will keep her and myself safe... I will do it regardless of whether the Government suggests it or not.  
 
I already wear masks during cold & flu season for these reasons, so I will continue until Covid is gone, gone, gone.  
 
We will not be Covid statistics.

I can tell you right now.. there will be NO restrictions enforced at all going ahead with his "COVID" situation, besides recommendation of wearing masks. No matter how bad it gets, not matter which new variant comes along. I am not against restrictions at all but restrictions have hurt the economy far too long and people just don't want to work due to it.

People do want to work, Iceman.  
 
People don't want to be exposed to risk and danger. People want to feel safe. There is a difference.  
 
If the refusal to implement policies is done to protect our economy (to our detriment), it's clearly way too fragile to rely on and we should stop pretending it's fine.

I still wear a mask when I go into stores, and also use the hand sanitizer if it is there. In my small town, there are very very few of us. In Brandon there are a few more. When we went to Winnipeg in May, I was very pleased to see that all the hotel staff, all the servers at the restaurant, and many employees at the grocery store we went to, were wearing masks. There were also many shoppers at the store wearing masks as well. I work in health care, and we are still wearing masks at work, so it really isn't a big deal to wear one at other times.  
I have seen so many people who are now having not only covid, but other viral illnesses and are feeling unwell. The number of other illnesses can be minimized by wearing a mask, but people seem to have forgotten that. When we had influenza going through town, people who had tested positive went to the pharmacy with no mask to pick up their Tamiflu! Obviously giving no thought to the fact that they could be passing to other customers and the pharmacists and staff. Sigh.

"When we had influenza going through town, people who had tested positive went to the pharmacy with no mask to pick up their Tamiflu! Obviously giving no thought to the fact that they could be passing to other customers and the pharmacists and staff."  
 
As a retired pharmacist I can tell you... people would come to the counter "I feel sick" then literally cough directly in my face... as if they have to 'prove' they are sick.  
 
I would (overly exaggerated & dramatized) step back from them... hold my hands out... then wipe my face (even if they didn't get me) and make a comment.  
 
People have no self-awareness or understanding of how they interact with other people. It's baffling.  
 
Edited by OutinBrandon, 2022-07-09 11:16:25

If the province got its act together and dropped eligibility age for 2nd booster.  
They keep stating that your more vulnerable if last booster was over 6 months ago so considering. they dropped 1rst booster eligibility to everyone 18 and over back in December 2021 so there are plenty of people who could be getting their 2nd boosters already back in June .  
Been at the 50 and over long enough now drop the age to 18 let those who want the 2nd booster get it.

How does a mask requirement hurt business? How does the 6 ft distancing rule hurt business? In recent months I have yet to be in any store or business where there wasn't entry of room for every customer to be 6 ft away from every other customer. These 2 requirements should not cut down on anyone's business.

Wearing masks and hand sanitizing are simple, common sense & effective measures we can take to protect ourselves and others - not just from Covid/Omicron but from other more common seasonal illnesses. These simple measures go hand in hand with the vaccines.  
These measures should in no way affect business as usual and they go a long way toward keeping people from becoming seriously ill and out of the hospitals.  
COVID offered us quite an opportunity to look past ourselves to help others and act for societies’ greater good.  
My husband and I continue to wear masks, hand sanitize and stay away from crowded venues as we are both seniors with some risk factors plus we have very vulnerable loved ones … we are happy to do what we can to contribute to the well being of ourselves and others. We do wish they would open up the eligibility of the fourth vaccine dose - we have younger family members that want the fourth dose but are not eligible. Seems counter productive to be holding them off when they are so willing to step up and get it.

I'm triple vaxed and so is pretty much everyone I know. I also got omicron about a month after my third dose along with almost everyone I know. How does it still make sense to mask after all that? at what point could I possibly be more protected from covid than I am currently? Either I continue to where a mask for the rest of my life or I stop now. They stopped testing and tracking cases a while back so I don't think the government cares anymore either.

As you already know even with being vaccinated you can get covid. When you get covid virus you can spread it to other people. Sometimes you can do this without knowing you have covid. There are people who are vulnerable - elderly, immunocomproised people etc.  
Wearing a mask lowers your chance of picking up the virus and it also lowers the risk of you spreading it to other people. It is all about keeping the community safer. Also some people vaccinated or not may still react badly to covid and these people fill up hospitals then surgeries and various other treatments get cancelled because hospitals are full of people with covid. Extra measures need to be taken in hospitals and long term care facilities to reduce the spread, extra cleaning measures, there is increased risk of hospital staff getting sick resulting in more short staff facilities and the dominoes continue to fall.  
 
This is the reason and has always been the reason for wearing a mask, hand sanitizing and socially distancing.

Dr. Fauci is probably one of the most recognized voices on the topic of covid, and I imagine he has followed all the protocols on the virus as well as trying not to get it.  
Which leads me to post this.  
 
https://ca.yahoo.com/news/fauci-says-hes-taking-2nd-151221089.html

I am over it. All of it. I haven’t worn a mask since it became optional. We followed all rules the government implemented, have our 3rd vaccine. No more mask and sanitizer for us. We have not had Covid yet and will deal with it should it happen.  
 
If anything the government needs to help support businesses by helping with sick time. My employer pays for sick time and forces people to stay home if sick. Hubby’s job has 20-30 sick days a year.  
 
We need life to continue and go on. Just my 2 cents for what it’s worth but unless masks are mandated I won’t be wearing one.

Someone commented here that the government doesn't care anymore about covid because no one hears anything in the media.  
 
That is not true. And for factual information I encourage people to check out the Manitoba Public Health site to see all the information they are collecting. The people working in Public Health care about our community and individual health. So should we.  
 
https://www.gov.mb.ca/health/publichealth/

Its such a simple thing to do to protect everyone.  
 
I too have an elderly parent living with me and take precautions for her. I spent plenty of time in hospitals and ERs pre-Covid to know I do not want a repeat of any of it. I can only imagine how much worse it is now.  
 
We are all tired of all of this, but I can't understand why some folks feel so hard done by to wear a mask to protect their community. Just because it doesn't affect you personally, what about those around you?  
 
No one is making you stay home, just wear a mask for a little bit.

COVID and its variants will exist for decades, just as the common cold and flu viruses have done. Everyone will react in different degrees when they contract COVID. Some will be mildly ill, like a mild cold, while others will suffer more pronounced symptoms. It's not a question of IF we contract COVID, but WHEN. As Dr Tam said earlier, we are going to have to learn to LIVE with this virus, just as we have lived with cold and flu viruses for decades. I fall within a risk group, and have received all the booster shots available. I refuse to live in fear of this virus and live my life as it was pre-pandemic. If people choose to be ultra cautious, employing all the safe guards, fine but don't look down on others who aren't. As I said, one way or another, EVERYONE will eventually contract COVID

That’s like choosing not to fix the failing brakes on your car.  
“ It’ll be fine, I’ll hit someone or something one day and it may be maim or kill someone, it may not be that bad”.  
A smart person will take sensible precautions to protect others for however long it is needed.  
Maybe masking in a public environment and keeping one’s vaccinations up to date should be a legal requirement, like maintaining your vehicle in a roadworthy condition. It’s basically the same principle.  
 
Edited by Farmergeorge, 2022-07-11 20:58:12

My good ol' immune system will kill it off if I come into contact with it again. If people wear masks that should be their right, to not wear one should also be a right.

Your “good ol’ immune system” may kill the Covid virus off if you come into contact with it again and you may not get symptoms but not before you spread virus to a few other people. Some of them may be compromised and become seriously ill, some may develop long Covid and some may die. Your inaction and refusal to follow some simple guidelines may cause extreme suffering to others. Can you live with that?

Yes it is very likely that everyone will eventually get covid. I agree you can't live in fear of the virus as you would not live in fear of the cold or flu.  
 
But there is one factor you are missing. That is the potential for covid to spread faster and farther than any cold/flu. It sickens enough people that they have to go to the hospital. This results in a very real possibility that enough people with covid will completely overwhelm the medical services available in the community. Medical staff having to spend their workdays attending hospitals full of people with covid are at increased risk of getting covid themselves which results in medical services being cut due to not enough staff to work. Surgeries and treatments are cancelled, massive wait times for treatments and more people living in pain, at risk of dying from other treatable illnesses because covid has overwhelmed the medical services.  
 
Our lives with covid in the world is very different than before covid. It is fact that wearing a mask, hand sanitizing and socially distancing helps to slow the spread, helps to lessen the number of people who get covid so as not to overwhelm our medical services.  
These fundamentals help to maintain a balance in the medical system so that everyone can get the treatments they need.  
 
It is not about being living in fear but about working together to support our community health. Something we all have a role in.

This kind of response shows a) a really uneducated/ignorant understanding of COVID and the science and statistics behind it b) an extreme level of selfishness I’m surprised you’re happy to put on display and c) unadulterated laziness. I know plenty of people who still have not contracted COVID nor passed it on to their family and friends and everyone involved is grateful for it. Not only because of the risk of severe outcome and death, but because the studies about Long COVID are showing the significant and damaging effects of contracting COVID, especially multiple times, has on the human body. Simply saying everyone will catch COVID is your way of trying to abdicate any responsibility for doing the bare minimum and you’re a prime example of what is wrong with this country.  
 
Edited by Voyageur, 2022-07-12 11:06:04

This is a pretty strong statement. I've read it over a couple of times and really, I can't find much of anything I disagree with.  
 
It seems that all the good advice about reasonable precautions that could be taken to help prevent the spread of covid and variants yet to come are falling on the deaf ears of those that don't care enough about other's well-being. We have the makings of a great society in this country: the actions of a few people with selfish attitudes help to keep it from being all it could be.

I totally agree basic human rights is the mainstay of a democracy. Rights i:nclude a right to safety, a roof over our head, education, healthcare, access to food etc. We also have personal rights to our culture/lifestyle of choice, religion etc.  
The key to rights is that we all have "equal" access to rights.  
No one person can claim to have more rights than another person. I hope we can all agree on this.  
 
When our rights are threatened as a community we must come together to defend those rights. It is the government's responsibility to work with us to ensure equal access to rights is maintained. Sometimes to do this the government may restrict privileges (not the same thing as rights) to ensure everyone has equal access to their rights.  
Perfect example. Covid. The infectious nature of covid and its impact on the community was affecting our equal rights to access healthcare. Covid also put in danger the right to live pain-free, to not die unnecessarily.  
So the Government/Public Health experts were within their 'rights' to restrict privileges within the communities and implement evidence-based fundamentals to limit the spread of covid. Otherwise the right to healthcare would be severely limited and more people die of covid or other illness unnecessarily.  
 
At this time most restrictions have been lifted except in high risk areas like medical services. In public once again we can all exercise our own right to not wear or wear a mask. Lots of people are choosing to not hand sanitize when they enter a store or socially distance. People are choosing to attend large gatherings without masking up.  
But all this comes with a higher risk of another covid wave where medical services again become limited.  
When another wave hits the government is again within its 'rights' to implement any restrictions they see fit to manage this next wave.  
 
This is the reality of the post covid world we live in now.  
 
To anyone who insists they have a right to go maskless/not sanitize/hold large gatherings during a covid wave, ask yourself this. Am I entitled to more rights than the next person? If you say yes to this then you are 'self-entitled'. Self-entitled is a mindset where you think you are better than everyone else. That you deserve to live your life how you see fit with regardless of the impact your choices make on other people.  
 
To be self-entitled is not a right.  
 
Edited by Spades!!, 2022-07-12 11:48:08

Not only this country but all around the world are people who think they are above everyone else. People who think they can do what they want when they want regardless of the consequences to another person.  
 
A very sad commentary about the human race.

That businesses would maintain the sanitizing wipes for the carts. Most times those dispensers are empty.

Sanitizing wipes or stations are gone from a lot of businesses. I have also noticed businesses still have sanitizing wipes, the wipes are dry which means they haven’t been used in a while.  
This speaks to the complacency that is happening around covid. Covid is still out there. Likely always will be. If people do not want government telling them what to do then people need to take personal responsibility for keeping covid in check.

I have worn masks long after they became optional, and it's only been about a month for me that I have stopped masking at work. I still occasionally choose to wear a mask depending on where I am going and how busy it is. I was also definitely one of the people who was paranoid and upset with people who were no longer masking. Then, a friend got me sick with Covid, not a random member of the general public.  
 
I've been vaccinated three times, and sick with Covid once in the past couple of months. If I hadn't yet been sick, I would still be masking diligently. Now that I have been, I just can't find as many reasons to do so, especially when I spend so much time at work. If masks were to be mandated again, I would wear them without complaint.  
 
In an ideal world there would be a balance. People who were feeling ill would stay home, or wear masks if being in public were necessary. People would be more inclined to mask up in enclosed spaces shared with lots of people. Unfortunately it seems that people's opinion of masks have been soured so much that it would be like pulling teeth to get most people to be considerate of others in this way. If you ask me, the reason why so few people are masking is because people have lived with Covid for a couple of years, and weaker variants have become dominant, and so many people have been sick at least once, that the vast majority of people don't currently feel the need to mask up the way we used to.