The 3 Pillars of COVID - Taking a Pragmatic approach to our response

I don’t ever write politically motivated articles and this one is no exception. I do however want to share with you a fact-based view of the pandemic and how it affects society.

Those that know me, know that I have been preaching about the three pillars of COVID since almost Day 1 back in March of 2020. My view on any response is that it must take into account all three pillars and weigh the Pros and Cons. We cannot make good decisions when we see the world, and in this case the pandemic, through a narrow lens. I see so many posts for people that cannot wait until 2020 is finally over. Please note COVID-19 does not have an expiry of December 31, 2020.

So, what are the three pillars?

Pillar #1: The Virus

The first Pillar is the virus itself. Getting COVID-19 can be dangerous and life threatening. We understand that it is highly contagious, much easier to contract than the common flu. However, we also know that it is not as “deadly” to otherwise healthy people as first thought. An article in the Edmonton Sun revealed that those that may be otherwise healthy and died from COVID-19 are approximately 10 people since March to November of 2020. 99%+ are those with two or more co-morbidities, and out of the 10 that died, we do not know their ages. In addition, research from California, released this week claims that those who contracted COVID and recovered should have immunity for many years and even if they were to contract a mutated form, might only be mildly affected.

Therefore, we can conclude that COVID, while highly contagious, is not as deadly as first thought and herd immunity works.

I know there are those that call for broad lockdown measures, but even the WHO came out last month having changed their endorsement of the efficacy of broad lockdown measures. Our two main ways to decrease the spread is herd immunity and the vaccination. And even the vaccination might take some time to get distributed to each and every single person. Certainly, front line workers and those most vulnerable are first in line, before the otherwise healthy, low-risk public. In addition, broad lockdown measures ignore the other two pillars of COVID, and as stated above are based on a very narrow view of what COVID is doing to the world.

Pillar #2: The Economy

Everyone is aware of the economic impact of COVID, whether it is the statistic that 50% of small businesses might not survive the pandemic, or job losses experienced by those reading this article or having someone close to them who have lost their jobs. Ask the local foodbank and you will quickly understand the increased demand on their services. Our government in Canada has taken steps quite quickly, I know some will say not quick enough and not enough in general, but they have taken some significant measures to ease some of the financial burden on business. I agree that there are flaws in the system, I also own a retail business that opened up November of 2019 and we’re not able to access most of the funds, CECRA and CEWS are not available to us, as our first 4 months’ revenue were so low due to being a brand-new retail store that was just getting its name out there that our revenue drops are not enough, even though we are not breaking even due to COVID.

The CRA just confirmed that approximate 800,000 individuals that were not eligible for CERB, receive it anyway, that means that we could have paid out $11.2 billion to ineligible recipients.

Broad measures don’t work! We’re being inefficient and giving money away where it is not needed and keeping money out of the hands of those that do need it. Just like broad lockdown measures do not work and ignore the other pillars, so do financial relief programs. When it comes to relief, one must look at the industry and individuals affected and administer the programs with precision and accuracy. The money spent today must be recouped tomorrow, if it is not us, it is our children and their children. Is it not our moral duty to leave the world a better place?

Pillar #3: Mental Health

The last Pillar, and I am not using these as rankings as they are all equally important and need to be taken as a whole, to view the world through a broad lens, is mental health.

We do not report suicide statistics in this country, but through discussion with front line workers, I have come to understand that they see more suicides than ever. Our police officers are dealing with PTSD and this will have long lasting effects on their mental health. We are seeing significant spikes in opioid overdoses, spousal abuse and the CBC had a report on a small southern Alberta town, where 7 young men took their lives within a short period. No, it was not a suicide pact, each on of them was dealing with their own issues, but none of them would have been considered high-risk when it came to suicide prevention.

When we bombard ourselves with bad news each and every day, take broad measures that isolate people from their support networks, whether that is dealing with an addiction or support for depression we are bound to drive people to a place where they are making terrible decisions and cannot cope anymore.

I have children and numbers in the hundreds seem quite large to a 7-year-old. If my daughter hears each and every morning that hundreds of people died from COVID, this is a scary statistic. She cannot put it in perspective, that 99% had 2 or more comorbidities, that hundreds of people die from the flu, that 300 people out of $35 million is in fact not a large percentage. All she hears is “hundreds” and it is a scary number.

I spoke with a local owner of a liquor store since the pandemic his daily sales have gone up 5x! While good for the owner, who by the way, is still eligible for the CEBA loan, shows that alcohol consumption, which can lead to other societal issues, like abuse and depression, is through the roof.

Why do I keep preaching about the 3 Pillars? I see many opinions, some good and some maybe not so good and by that, I mean very narrow views. Lock everything down! Give everybody money! Keep everything open! All arguments are very polarized views of actions we should take.

What I advocate is that we base all our decisions, whether COVID-19 related or not, on a broader view of the world. We take a pragmatic approach and use critical thinking to make decisions and truly assess the impacts it has on society, because at the end of the day we need to do what’s best for the people.

When we apply the three pillars as our measuring stick to each decision and weigh the Pros and Cons, our approach will be more targeted but also much more effective and we can leave the world in a better place, despite COVID-19 and the pandemic.

So my ask is that each and every decision answers the following questions:

1.) Are we protecting those most at risk?

2.) Do any economic measures, whether financial relief or curtailment target areas that pose a high risk AND significant harm to those in Question #1?

3.) What are the broader implications on society and the mental health fallout of any measures proposed?