The pandemic is hanging on. Here as elsewhere, we are moving from confinement to déconfinement. Between the light at the end of the tunnel and the end of the roller, we wander.
Hence the mounting criticism of the “yo-yo” directives of the Legault government. Changing as COVID can be, in the fifth wave, they are nevertheless also confusing and sometimes even contradictory.
The climate being heavy, the Prime Minister announces a “soft” deconfinement. The “soft” being first of all the product of a health system crumbling more than elsewhere in the country under the weight of the Omicron wave.
The “soft” also stems from the delay taken by Quebec on the third dose, ventilation in schools and the recognition of the superior efficiency of N95 masks.
So careful, yes. With reason. However, when Mr. Legault launches at the same time that we are “out of the tunnel”, but that the “train of health is damaged”, the haste momentarily takes over the “easy”.
Faced with the unknown of the coming months, Quebec is no more “out of the tunnel” than the rest of the planet. For the rest, very clever the soothsayers.
After the waltz-hesitation of a badly received curfew, are we therefore witnessing yet another political operation? A question of appeasing a tired population and making people forget Quebec’s delays in this fifth wave?
Or is it a necessary attempt to give a breath of fresh air to the vast majority of Quebecers who, for two years, have been doing everything they can? Short answer: a bit of both.
under high pressure
In fact, despite the intense emotional relationship linking a majority of Francophones to François Legault, the latter is under high pressure. Under pressure from tired Quebecers. Pressed lobbies. From his own caucus. Its deputies hear the impatience of their constituents.
The confusion surrounding several measures, including for schools, annoys them. Vaccination passports are required for customers of certain businesses, but not for employees. In the health network, it is required of family caregivers, but not of caregivers. etc
The pandemic is also a formidable indicator of the distressing weakness of our health system. It also confronts us with our social inequalities which undermine the ability of many Quebecers to better “adapt” to hold on.
In short, one day, once out of this war like no other, how many deaths, direct or indirect, will it have left behind?
How much distress left unsaid?
How many are “offloaded” from screening, surgery or left to languish on endless waiting lists for “mental health”? How many traumatized caregivers?
How many caregivers are crippled for life, physically, emotionally and financially? How many children and adults with intellectual disabilities, deprived of activities and socialization, will have regressed for good?
How much distress left unsaid? How many broken dreams? How many stolen years? How many women are abused behind closed doors?
Among restaurateurs with more modest clienteles, how many will have taken a nosedive, taking with them long years of sacrifices and hope?
Conversely, in luxury catering, how many others will survive thanks to their more affluent customers?
Caused by the pandemic, the real estate boom also enriches some and impoverishes others. And homelessness? It stretches before our eyes.
Do these questions seem too dark? Let’s hope so. Reality is staring us in the eye.
The collateral victims of this pandemic are indeed likely to be far more numerous than we even dare to imagine.