AN EYE OPENING COVID ARTICLE IN TODAY'S K-W RECORD

The title of the Opinion piece by Bruce Arthur is "Teen's COVID death a personal tragedy and a systemic failure". While the first part of the title is accurate and obvious I did not at first understand Mr. Arthur's suggestion that it was a "systemic failure". Well after reading it I am beginning to understand. I knew that the big population centres such as Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton etc. had sufferred more from the transmission of the virus and I simply had chalked it up to numbers i.e. more people in close proximity to each other. ....................................................................................................... Well it's more than that. It is about inequity and disparity. It's about living hand to mouth and paycheque to paycheque becaue of low wages in a high rent, high cost of living location. Four people (Mom, Dad two siblings in a two bedroom apartment while the Dad worked in a warehouse. Ironically he was the only one of the family of four who did not recently test positive for Covid. I'd been looking at overall statistics suggesting something like a 2.5% infection rate across the province. The reality however is that lower income families with available work being outside the home are bearing the brunt of the pandemic. .................................................................................................................... Mr. Arthur suggests very strongly that the Ontario government has knowingly not allocated adequate resources including vaccines to the hardest hit areas of the province. That perhaps the poor in high population areas have been intentionally allowed to bear the brunt of the disease. It is difficult to read however he makes a strong case. Peel Region is full of warehouses and factories along with citizens who need their full paycheques, week in and week out. Hence up to 25% of workers in a survey done by the Peel Public health had indicated that they went to work with possible symptoms of Covid. As there is NOT sick pay in this province, non-unionized (especially) workers are not only risking a days pay or more but even their jobs if they stay at home while sick. ................................................................................................................ My friends and family have been avoiding Covid but in hindsight it's because we have been able to work from home and or have an employer who is willing to behave like human beings ought to.