VANCOUVER SUN | COVID-19: A common-sense guide to going out again

A clipping article for writing practice.Enable GingerCannot connect to Ginger Check your internet connection
or reload the browserDisable in this text fieldEditEdit in GingerEdit in Ginger×

In the article "COVID-19: A common-sense guide to going out again," Randy Shore.

Dial down the anxiety, says James Stein, a professor at University of Wisconsin's medical school. If you are out taking a walk and someone walks past you, "that brief (near) contact is so low risk that it doesn't make sense to get scared." ARLEN REDEKOP / PNG

If you have already taken advantage of the freedoms and services allowed under Phase 2 of B.C.'s pandemic response, you know that things don't look or feel the same in the public realm.

Stores are a maze of tape, physical-distancing dots and sneeze guards. Some of your neighbours cross the street to avoid being near you. It is presumptuous to pet a dog you don't own.

You can as easily draw glares and verbal condemnation for not wearing a mask in public as you can for wearing one. And let's not forget the risk of walking down the street while Asian.

Vancouver police have investigated 29 anti-Asian incidents so far this year, up from four during the same period last year, and "90 per cent" of those occurred during the COVID-19 period, according to Deputy Chief Howard Chow.

Judy Lam Maxwell runs two businesses, Historical Chinatown Tours and Masterclass Dumplings, both of which have been shut down due to the pandemic. Photo: Francis Georgian/ PNG. FRANCIS GEORGIAN/PNG

"I'm keeping my eyes open," said Vancouver's Judy Lam Maxwell. "I was talking about this with my cousin. We are both half-Chinese and people automatically assume we are Chinese. It's irrelevant, but it's so crazy now, and before we just took our safety for granted."

Lam Maxwell runs two businesses, Historical Chinatown Tours and Masterclass Dumplings, both of which have been shut down due to the pandemic.

"I think they can start up again, but maybe online," she said. "I've invested in equipment, knives and cutting boards for 30 people, but I won't be doing that again for a long time."

Just getting groceries has become a source of real anxiety for many people.

"If I see a group, or even two people, in the grocery store, I will avoid that aisle and come back later," said Lorae McFarlen, a hospital booking clerk from Langley.

"I worry that people won't follow rules and guidelines and start believing the pandemic is over."

In a straw poll on social media, many people noted that their shoppers appear unable to follow distancing and directional guidelines in stores.

McFarlen plans to remain "mostly isolated" except for work and small group of family - and social distancing rules will apply.

As the phases of recovery kick in - phase 3 begins in June - more businesses will reopen, schools and campgrounds will reopen, as well as hotels. More restaurants will resume sit-down service, though not as before. People will travel, even if it's not as often or as far.

"COVID-19 is not going away anything soon ... It may not go away for a year or two and may not be eradicated for many years," said James Stein, a professor at University of Wisconsin's medical school.

"That means being willing to accept some level of risk to live our lives as we desire."

People are notoriously bad at assessing risk, so Stein suggested a few guidelines for getting back out in the world.

• People in the highest-risk categories, such as the ill and the elderly, should continue to be "very vigilant about limiting exposures, if they can."

• Wearing a fabric mask is good idea in crowded public place like a grocery store or on public transport, "but you absolutely must distance, practise good hand hygiene, and don't touch your face."

• Dial down the anxiety. If you are out taking a walk and someone walks past you, "that brief(near) contact is so low risk that it doesn't make sense to get scared."

• Don't stress if someone bumps into you at the grocery store or reaches in for a loaf of bread. That is a very low-risk encounter, "as long as they didn't cough or sneeze."

• Dial down the obsessiveness. "There really is no reason to go crazy sanitizing items that come into your house from outside, like groceries and packages."

• Human beings are social creatures. Social distancing means we connect differently, but "being afraid makes us contract and shut each other out."

• Get comfortable with a few calculated risks. "We might be at this for a very long time."

Experts agree that there are a few situations and venues that carry considerable risk, and should be treated with extra caution.

• Bathrooms are full of touch surfaces, and the transfer risk is high.

• A cough or sneeze can release ten of thousands of droplets; some will remain airborne, while other can settle on surface

• Weddings, funerals and birthday parties are at the heart of many community outbreaks.

• Experiments show that viruses transfer readily in crowded restaurant dining rooms.