Tuesday, April 19, 2022

. . . But Is COVID Done with Us?

We may be done with the pandemic, but prudence dictates that we should continue with best safety practices

By Andrew Regnerus, Ontario Construction Coordinator

I must acknowledge that my musings below are partly inspired by Back to the office: A return to normal?, an article in Canadian HR Reporter by Geoffrey Lowe, a lawyer at Rudner Law in Toronto.

Full disclosure: COVID has hit most harder than it has hit me. I can do much of my work remotely. Public protection measures are of small consequence to me. Visits to family outside my household depend on a COVID-cautious approach.

My place on the COVID-cautious, COVID-casual spectrum has some people to my right and some to my left. Your position, too, is likely either looser or tighter than other people you know. Yet, we are trying our best, likely, despite frustrating others and being frustrated by them because our approach—or theirs—is too loose or too tight for our liking.

We have had two years of this, and it is spring again—a time of hope, promise, and renewal. More of us are planning to attend events in person. I have no fewer than eight public events this spring where hundreds will gather.

I was at a conference recently where almost 700 registered. But a few dozen cancelled because, well, they tested positive.

I flew three weeks ago for the first time in two years. I’m planning to attend concerts, plays, and sporting events. Please let me use my Elton John tickets in September and my tickets to four other concerts that have been postponed repeatedly.

Many say they are DONE with COVID. I wish it were over, too. But is COVID done with us?

COVID is real—and it isn’t gone

More disclosure: I believe that COVID is real. It is a pandemic that threatens health and life but it can be mitigated by precautions.

I also believe that COVID is not GONE. I believe that we can manage it and must continue to do so.

A combination of hand hygiene, reducing our aerosols, distancing, vaccines, and testing have kept the pandemic from being worse. Continuing these voluntarily is a good idea.

An acquaintance recently reacted poorly to my mask in a public space. “Masks do nothing!” he said as we approached the door.

“It does at least this,” I replied. “With very little effort or inconvenience, we mask, allowing our friends inside to feel safer, less anxious, and keep them from living in fear.”

What does this mean at work?

I work in construction labour relations. Our industry has managed COVID well, due in large part to our health and safety focus. Identifying new threats and mitigating them is how we start each day—long before 2020.

Mandatory precautions may wane, but an employer’s duty to keep workers safe remains. So does a worker’s duty to refuse unsafe work.

The application of these to COVID requires some interpretation and application. Further, vaccination policies as bona fide occupational requirements is situational. Whether accommodating unvaccinated staff is required also depends on context.

Less stringent government requirements don’t mean all public and private spaces, including workplaces, must jettison all measures. Even if we are free to unmask, it may be prudent and gracious to continue the practice.

Keeping distance, limiting cohort interaction to reduce potential exposure, meeting virtually when practical, and doing rapid testing to confirm wellness, whether required or voluntary, may be with us for a while. They have become best practices.

New for ’22

As you work, chill at home, venture out in the public, or hang with friends, family, and strangers, do the best you can to make others feel safe, whether or not you think they are rational. Let’s stretch ourselves to believe that all citizens are doing their best to balance their own physical and mental health and society’s.

We all want the same thing: the real end to COVID. Public safety. Unity. Let’s try to tolerate roadmaps that will get us there.

. . . But Is COVID Done with Us?

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