“Easing restrictions” in B.C. means filling Rogers Arena with 18,000 QR code holders even though they have no special immunity from a rapidly declining outbreak while at the same time continuing to prevent a significant minority of non QR code holders from sitting down in a mom and pop restaurant anywhere in the province.
Assume one in a hundred people are carrying the virus de jour in their upper respiratory tracts right now.
That means that Rogers Arena would likely have 180 viral spreaders in the crowd. who, (unlike people in churches who have been warned and at times ordered not to chant or sing together) may be tempted to yell in celebration or dismay , spewing billions of viral particles into the collective aerosol. Fair enough. For better or worse many of us find meaning and Canadian identity in hockey and willingly attend games during winter flu seasons.
By contrast, a mom and pop restaurant with a capacity, of say, 30 people, would have a 1 in 3 chance of having even a single infected person in it.
And it is highly unlikely that all 30 people in the restaurant would rise to their feet and scream in unison unless a rat ran across the floor. Granted, a restaurant is much smaller than Rogers Arena, but have you ever stood in line at the urinals there?
The point is, there is no longer any rationale for stratifying risk on the basis of QR code compliance.
Many people, myself included, are questioning the agenda here, but that aside, we are in a time of people demanding things. In this spirit, I demand one of two immediate actions from our top doctor:
1: Immediately drop the QR code requirements for social and public gatherings in B.C. or;
2: Enforce a policy of silence at Rogers Arena allowing only designated “Cheer Leaders” with a negative rapid test on entering the building , wearing N95 respirators to sing, chant , or otherwise raise their voices.
I know this sounds crazy but after more than 50 years of waiting for the Canucks to win a Stanley Cup, I kind of like option 2. The really crazy part is after reading Dr. Henry's amazingly prescriptive orders for two years, I'm not entirely sure I would put it past her.
David Bowering
Hazelton
