Thinking back to last New Year’s Eve, we had no idea what was to come. We were carrying along, blindly, naively, planning our faraway vacations, buying tickets for concerts, even opening new restaurants or gyms.
This New Year’s, we’re harder, disillusioned. We’ve been through a rough patch, the likes of which the world has not seen in most of our lifetimes, perhaps since the Second World War.
The pandemic has been devastating, particularly so for our seniors living in long-term care. They’re the most vulnerable to the disease and they’ve been cut off from all but the barest minimum of visitors, like prisoners who have committed no crime. There have been 1.8 million deaths from covid-19 around the world, nearly 16,000 in Canada and almost 900 in British Columbia. We will be happy to see the end of covid and 2021 holds that hope.
There have been silver linings, both mundane – we can now renew our car insurance online or speak to our doctor on the phone! – and profound – the global community of scientists has collaborated like never before and developed several effective vaccines within a year. If the same single-minded determination could be focussed on climate change, a more hopeful future would be in sight.
So it's a mixed bag of tragedy and triumph, but here's hoping 2021 will be a much better year.
There’s a shorter list of changes this week, given nearly everyone is on holidays, but here’s what happened:
- Thirty-one residents at one Vancouver care home have died from covid-19, News 1130 reports. Of the 114 residents, 93 were reportedly infected with covid-19 and 14 have recovered. Many staff were also infected, News 1130 reports.
- The new covid-19 strain that first appeared in the United Kingdom arrived in B.C. earlier in December, B.C. health authorities reported. The case was found in a person who travelled home to B.C. from England on Dec. 15. While in quarantine, the person developed symptoms and tested positive for the new, more contagious strain of covid-19. All flights from the U.K. have been banned until at least Jan. 6. So far, there is no evidence the new strain causes more severe illness or that vaccines will be less effective against it.
- At the last minute, B.C.’s provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry decided to cut off alcohol sales in B.C. on New Year’s Eve at 8 p.m. instead of 10 p.m., leaving restaurants scrambling.
- A B.C. mom who was put in an induced coma to fight covid-19 and delivered a baby via c-section during the month she was in the coma was able to go home for Christmas, the CBC reports.
- A third vaccine, developed at Oxford University by AstraZeneca has been approved for use in the U.K., the BBC reports. Moderna's vaccine, the second to be approved in Canada, has also arrived in B.C. and doses have begun. Meanwhile, two healthcare workers who were given the Pfizer vaccine in B.C. experienced allergic reactions, but are fully recovered, Dr. Henry said.
- Logistical problems are plaguing the vaccine rollout in the United States, the New York Times reports. The goal was to have 20 million people vaccinated by the end of 2020, but so far only 2.8 million people have received their first dose.
- A small number of previously healthy people develop psychotic symptoms after being sick with covid-19, the New York Times reports. People in mid-life with no history of mental illness have experienced paranoia, delusions and hallucinations, doctors report.
- As of Jan. 7, air travellers into Canada will need to test negative for covid-19 72 hours before arriving, the Globe and Mail reports. The new rule does not apply to people crossing the border by car and the 14-day quarantine will still apply to air travellers, even with a negative test.
- A man spent Christmas in jail after hosting parties against health orders at his Vancouver home, the Canadian Press reports.
- Ontario’s finance minister resigned after being found out taking a vacation to the Caribbean over the winter break, the Globe and Mail reports.
As we turn the calendar page, let’s hope there’s more positives to come, with wiping out this virus at the top of our list. Happy New Year and here’s to 2021.
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