The issue: Easing Covid orders
We say: Reasoned plan; inform all
It's been two months that have felt like two years.
Finally, there's word that some of the Covid-19 restrictions that have inconvenienced us to protect our well-being are about to be eased.
Chief public health officer Kami Kandola put smiles on many a face Tuesday when she revealed that the loosening of some restrictions is essentially upon us, barring a virus outbreak in the meantime. But mixed with those smiles was surprise and confusion.
Phase one of the GNWT's Emerging Wisely plan could go into effect as early as Friday. Schools were told they could reopen with limitations on class size and the use of masks (school boards announced Thursday that they won't). The problem there is school boards were not informed and caught off guard. Educators, students, parents and some MLAs were left asking a lot of questions, even though Premier Caroline Cochrane assured that Education Minister R.J. Simpson had been working closely with school bodies.
This marks yet another communications slip up in what has otherwise been a relatively well managed crisis by our government. It's critical that the GNWT heeds this lesson: best laid plans can go awry when there's a failure to communicate.
This extends to the late response last week from Premier Caroline Cochrane's office to the NWT Chamber of Commerce, which was seeking a moratorium on evictions for commercial tenants during the pandemic, and the government's bizarre decision not to consult the mining industry for its economic recovery plan.
Don't let all this hard work and foresight get derailed by failing to give adequate notice to the key players each step of the way.
Beyond that, we're edging closer to a semblance of normalcy that we've been longing for. Hair salons, gyms offering personal training, bottle depots, libraries, some museums and art galleries will get the green light to allow the public to return – although masks will continue to play a prominent role in our society for the foreseeable future, as will social distancing.
Gatherings of up to 10 people indoors can resume and outdoor gatherings capped at 25 people will be permitted, along with some recreational activities such as soccer, cricket and ultimate Frisbee.
There will be a second phase of lifting restrictions – targeted for mid-to-late June – and a third phase that's dependent on the NWT developing a rapid-testing strategy and a second wave of Covid-19 having passed.
The removal of the final measures won't happen until a vaccine is available, which is expected to take at least 12 to 18 months.
It's important to remember – and accept – that this may not be a straight path. There could very well be some significant setbacks due to Covid cases popping up within the territory. The Emerging Wisely report warns of that possibility.
So we will venture forth with great hopes and realistic expectations. We must be mindful of recommended practices that haven't disappeared: washing hands thoroughly and frequently, keeping our hands away from our faces, maintaining two metres or more from people outside our households, covering a cough and so on.
We can trust Kandola's guidance. For the most part, she and the GNWT have done a tremendous job of keeping the residents of our city and our territory safe. There were some grim predictions of how devastating Covid-19 could be in the North and the primary reasons why those prognostications didn't come to pass is because Kandola imposed measures that protected us and, by and large, we did a stellar job of following the directions.
Total cases of Covid-19 diagnosed in the NWT: five. Each of those individuals, fortunately, has recovered.
It's proof positive of a job well done, but we're not at the end of the road yet. Let's start moving forward at a pace that doesn't leave us vulnerable to a major reversal of fortune, and let's be sure the GNWT provides us all with the full picture of what's to come and that we're fully prepared to respond in kind.