It seems we’ve gone ahead with opening up the economy without doing the most basic homework. Scenes of people openly mingling, making a mockery of the practice of social distancing, and casually coming into physical contact with each other will quickly make the whole exercise entirely self-defeating. At the heart of the relaxation of the lockdown was the understanding that it would be done very carefully indeed. The economy is being opened slowly and in phases precisely so as few people are made to go out as possible and the incident of social interaction is kept to a minimum. Yet if the first basic step is not followed and people just refuse to do something as necessary as stand a few feet apart and wear masks and gloves, it won’t matter how few people go to work. Such is the nature of this virus that even if it spreads among a few people initially, it sets off a chain reaction with every case and then multiplies exponentially.
There’s only so much the government can do if the people just refuse to listen, of course, but it does bear the burden of responsibility at the end of the day. And the very least government officials can do is carry themselves with responsibility. Scenes of officials not wearing masks, and crowding each other at meetings and public events, send just the wrong message to the people. There’s also been the rather unnecessary series of events where the federal and provincial governments were not on the same page about something as serious as the response to an existential crisis, especially the necessity of enforcing the lockdown in the first place. Why wouldn’t ordinary people talk down the lockdown if the prime minister, no less, does the same?
The fight against the coronavirus is unlike anything the world has seen in a long time. And as much as globalisation has advanced human civilisation over the last few centuries, bringing the world closer has also made the coronavirus travel so easily all over the planet. And it will also require a rather novel response. As long as there is no medical cure, everybody all across the world will have to adjust and take necessary precautions. No government can really keep an eye on the activities of all citizens. So people will have to play the most central part themselves. If they keep ignoring the rules and continue to make a joke of social distancing, easing the lockdown will not work, more people will be infected and we would be back to square one all over again. Only this time there will not be enough in the economy for another relief package. *