The Pandemic

The Ted Talk video that I watched stated that we are no longer in a health crisis. Instead, they claimed we are purely in a financial crisis now. I am torn between both of these statements because I can see both sides of it. I have a compromised immune system, which puts me in a higher risk category relating to Covid-19, therefore, of course it is still a health crisis to me. However, the pandemic lockdowns have affected my finances, just as it has many other people, so I see that side of the story as well. There is another crisis that the pandemic has caused, which is not talked about much in the media, which is the mental health struggles.

Sometimes I am afraid to go outside because of Covid-19. I have type one diabetes, which puts me in a higher risk category. If I get sick, I have a higher risk of a type acid building up in my body, causing something called diabetic ketoacidosis. Simply put, this acid build up could put me in a coma, and if not treated, would ultimately lead to death. This is in addition to difficulty breathing and other symptoms that Covid-19 causes. That being said, if I were to go into a diabetic related coma, I may be turned away from the hospital, as many medical treatments have been put on hold as a result of the pandemic. My hairdresser’s husband unfortunately passed away as a result of cancer recently. He was turned away from getting medical treatment, as there were so many restrictions at hospitals and doctor’s offices as a result of the pandemic. I feel scared for my life sometimes to hear this is not being taken seriously when I hear statements like the fact that some people do not consider this to be a health crisis. This being said, I do agree that there is only so much that lockdowns can do, as this does create the next crisis I will discuss.

This video talked about how the current pandemic is now purely a financial crisis. While I disagree with the fact that it is the only crisis currently, I do acknowledge the financial struggles of everyone right now. According to Canada Buzz, “Canadian households had an average net savings of $1,100” (Canada Buzz, n.d.). This indicates that the average Canadian lives paycheck to paycheck. If I was the average Canadian with just $1,100 in savings and lost my job, I would be able to afford my rent for only about two weeks. When the pandemic first started, the health officials talked about two weeks to stop the spread. So, if that was the case, and the average Canadian lost their job for two weeks, they would be ok financially, as long as it did not go any longer. The pandemic has lasted 34 times longer than the two weeks of initial shutdowns. I have no idea how the average person would be able to afford their bills if they lost their job, as so many people did during the pandemic. Thankfully, with the assistance of government programs such as CERB, people have been able to survive. However, we cannot survive on printed government handouts forever; the German Mark and many other examples of hyperinflation from government’s printing too much money come to mind. Living on government handouts for too long would only make the financial crisis significantly worse.

The Ted Talk was so focused on the economic aspect of the pandemic, that there is another crisis that is not getting much media attention. I believe there to be a mental health crisis, which has been caused by health and financial crises. The video does not talk about mental health at all, which makes me feel concerned for anyone struggling mentally right now. The lockdowns of the pandemic have led to a deprivation of social interaction among people, which is essential for life. Social isolation can trigger feelings of loneliness, fear of others, and low self-esteem. It is almost similar to the mental struggles of spending time locked up in jail. Combine the isolation of being in lockdowns with the stress of losing your job and not being able to afford the basic necessities of life. Not to mention the inability to go to the gym or participate in hobbies which are used as stress relief for many people. I remember seeing something on social media about a young child, around the age of 10 years old, who was sad because he was unable to play hockey, but instead had to sit at home at watch the professionals in the NHL play. Almost as if his idols in the sport were turned against him, preventing the child from having fun playing the sport he loved. This has indirectly created a government supported double standard, that must be infuriating to those on the short end of the stick. There are also the people like me who are afraid of getting sick and risking their life just to buy groceries. This pandemic has created such a vast mental health struggle in just about everyone, which needs to be talked about more.

I feel like the Canadian Government is trying to please to many people, and instead of making things better we are making things worse. It is not easy to run a country, but there has to be a middle ground between protecting the health and safety of the people, keeping the economy open, and the little discussed mental health struggles. The video I watched discussed that if we remove the shock of Covid-19 in the media, we have a chance of going back to normal. It has been fifteen months and here in Canada, we are not much better off than where we were at the beginning of the pandemic. I am scared of getting sick, but I am also scared of living in the deepening economic crisis as well. I just want things to go back to normal.