Do not expect Pirola variant lockdowns for now

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COVID-19 never went away regardless of what politicians say. After a tumultuous period of time, the lockdowns and restrictions were lifted in an act of governmental shoulder shrugging and a subsequent, rapid cultural and social acceptance.

It has seemingly become a collective agreement to forget the pandemic — for a virus that was never actually entirely eradicated and still very much exists — never happened. If we have not all  associated that period of time to our collective detriment, then we have retroactively redefined our memories of the lockdown era as a period of personal inconveniences and grievances instead of the time almost seven million people died from one disease and its mutations.

COVID-Pirola is the latest variant that most people probably have not paid attention to because everything seems “normal” again. It is an offshoot of the Omicron variant which appeared when we still kind of cared but were ready and willing to mentally checkout. According to Provincial Minister of Health Adrian Dix, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry, and many other health experts, Pirola is more transmissible but does not cause severe illness. 

Does that make it less of a threat? Saying “yes” would be equivalent to saying a fire is less dangerous due to an immediate lack of accelerants, or saying flood waters are less of a threat because they gradually rise instead of rushing through the streets all at once. When it comes to anything that is contagious, transmissible, or in any way spreadable — it could be the common cold or COVID – letting it escalate is never good or permissible. 

All that being said, there is no immediate call for any mask mandates or other precautions to the same scale as the lockdown era. We have been advised to be cautious as individual citizens, to be aware of our actions, health, and so on. A much different message compared to the calls of collective action when lockdowns and mask mandates were first announced in 2020.

We so adamantly demanded to move on from the past three years that it doesn’t seem to be the case that anything comprehensive will be mandated unless the proverbial wildfire rages out of control once again.

So how, exactly, are we to deal with the Pirola variant? I honestly cannot say because I think we are unwavering in our resolve to not care anymore. Paradoxically, we — unconsciously, for the most part — care very deeply about being sufficiently apathetic towards future COVID-19 variants. 

We are willing to live with the virus because the passive response is easier for officials to handle than activity. So the best we can do is just be careful as individuals. It is a strategy with limited effectiveness in the face of any and all society-wide issues but it really is all we have at the moment.

Thus, keep an eye on your health. Stay home if you are sick, voluntarily wear a mask if you think there is something wrong. Cover your coughs and sneezes. Wash and sanitize your hands, so on and so forth. 

Maybe my advice is inadequate and solves little to nothing at all but that is where we are. A collective desire to move on with no real reflections leaves us with no real lessons learnt. This all could change or it may not. It is all up in the air for the time being.