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We’re not hearing much about the virus anymore, but it’s the gift that keeps on giving — with long-term effects of notable concern.
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By: Emily Oelberg
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The phrase “spirit of the holidays” tends to evoke feelings of benevolence, kindness and generosity. Christmas is the season of giving, after all. However, there’s an elephant in the room that no one seems to want to talk about: an unwanted — and sometimes deadly — gift that many are spreading without a second thought.
Bringing it up in family group chats is often met with awkward silence. In person, people shift nervously, mumble and change the subject. That dreaded thing-that-must-not-be-named: COVID.
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Many people seem to believe that the pandemic is over. Or, at least, they don’t hear about COVID-19 much anymore. Tests are difficult to find. Mask mandates are a thing of the past. “Surely if it was still a problem,” one might speculate, “then the government would say something, right?” And one might be forgiven for thinking so.
However, governments are political entities, and politicians seem to have learned that COVID-19 is not a popular subject. Yet, if one were to look at data from wastewater testing, hospitalization numbers, and test positivity rates, it would be obvious that COVID-19 is thriving in some places.
Because public health appears to have dropped the ball on public communication, volunteer organizations have had to fill that role. COVID-19 Resources Canada is one such entity, run by a team of volunteers with a broad range of skills and expertise, including researchers and health care professionals. They publish a weekly Canadian COVID Forecast in which they estimate the risk of COVID-19 in each province.
This week, for example, the numbers for Quebec show that around one in 44 people are infected. This statistic is useful, as it allows us to estimate the risk of a COVID-19 exposure based on the number of people at a gathering: the risk that someone is positive is 11 per cent for a gathering of five, up to 37 per cent for a gathering of 20.
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COVID-19 has not gone anywhere.
“True,” one might say, “but COVID-19 is mild now, right?”
Again, one might be forgiven for thinking so, as we have indeed come a long way when it comes to treating the acute phase of COVID-19. However, COVID truly is the gift that keeps on giving, and research shows that “long COVID” is an ever-increasing and serious problem. It is neither rare nor mild.
A Statistics Canada study published last December shows that one in nine Canadian adults “have experienced long-term COVID-19 symptoms; most continue to experience symptoms.”
The study also showed the risk of long-term symptoms increased with the number of infections. After one infection, the risk of long COVID was 14.6 per cent. This rose to 37.9 per cent by the third infection.
In October, the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ) published a report showing that six per cent of the province’s health care workers are suffering from long COVID. When did we stop caring about our “guardian angels,” whom we worked so hard to protect in 2020?
This holiday season, let’s embody the values of benevolence, kindness and generosity and do our best to avoid spreading a disabling virus to strangers and loved ones alike.
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It can be surprisingly simple to protect our health and the health of others — by masking in public, testing before gatherings, increasing ventilation, and staying home if sick. Not only will this help mitigate the spread of COVID-19, but also all other respiratory illnesses of the season, like the flu and RSV.
This year, let’s become better versions of ourselves and spread kindness, not viruses.
Emily Oelberg holds a master’s degree in engineering from Montreal’s Concordia University and is a proponent of community care. She lives in Lachine.
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