I am going to reiterate the definition of health again as I don’t think it can be understated: “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
Our Canadian medical elites had a singular approach for dealing with the COVID pandemic. And I agree in the early days, these might have been needed for a temporary time. On the other hand, very early in the summer of 2020, the data started showing that healthy children were at extremely low risk, people under the age of 64 without co-morbidities were at low risk, and even the elderly who were living outside institutions and without co-morbidity were at low risk as well.
And I am not saying that some of these people did not contract COVID (or have a positive test) and subsequently die in the next 30 days, but we can’t base HEALTH policies on the outliers at the expense of the 99%.
So, the approach taken by governments, on a temporary 2 year basis were:
indoor and sometimes outdoor masking
2 meter social distancing - right, not 6 feet
any number of in-door nonsense measures such as not wearing masks at tables, but having to wear it to your table in a restaurant or while attending the WC
lockdowns based on any number of ad hoc and variable criteria
limiting social interaction with friends and families
preventing people from exercising their religious rights to assemble in a place of worship (or don’t sing too loud)
closing gyms and other exercise facilities
Some of these were and are at the threat of tickets, fines or arrests (that poor pastor in Alberta). The health effects of this on mental health are massive - how many excess opioid deaths from simple despair or suicide for the same reason. How many people increased the amount of cigarettes or cannabis that they smoked or turned to or increased the volume of alcohol they drank?
The scientific basis for any of the above, apart from virtue signalling, is scant if it exists at all. Most are just arbitrary and capricious. And yet, the health elites continue to spout their value. They are continuing the mask charade in Ontario and BC for some time to come. BC is continuing the Vaccine Passport while 4 other provinces are scrapping them. Some of my sibs have still not hugged their grandchildren. I have friends who were unable to be with their parents when they died and were unable to have a proper funeral service.
So, given solid data on the importance of co-morbidities (esp. obesity, but many others as well) on the effects of COVID where are the aggressive ad campaigns to mitigate risk for:
quitting smoking
losing weight to optimize health (no, obesity is not healthy)
eating a better diet
promotion of exercise for overall health
promoting strategies for social well-being
Bottom Line: Health Canada and Provincial medial elites blew this big time. They are too engrossed in a disease mentality. As a result all they could focus on was the one disease COVID.
They forgot that health is ‘complete physical, mental, and social well-being’ and ignored a fantastic opportunity to improve the health of the community - you know, PUBLIC HEALTH.
But this week they are all congratulating each other on how much they have improved things with all they have done. I think this is definition of stupid people - and it is we as a society that have not only been harmed over the past two years but will for a generation or more to come.