Dalmation_Girl said "I can understand the orange level being lowered to the yellow level (caution) but saying that masks are strongly recommended but not required and public gatherings will be limited to 50 people indoors and 100
people outdoors is too soon. Look back at our recent outbreak before we limited outdoor gatherings back to 10. Our numbers increased dramatically. Given the fact that school has only been back in session just over a week they should have left the mandatory mask policy in place . I believe that the mandatory mask wearing was in fact working. Just look at our low numbers over the past while. Our province is responding by downplaying the danger and removing mask mandates that were working well and were widely accepted. Our province is displaying their inability to properly deal with this situation. Keep those masks on. It really isn’t that bad to wear a mask to keep everyone safe. We all have to do our part to keep this virus under control so let’s all work together .
Edited by Dalmation_Girl, 2020-09-18 08:38:24"
While I do agree with a lot of what you say, really we have to keep in mind that the local outbreak was due to a handful of very specific events/instances that facilitated the spread within cohorts of people (with some subsequent spreading outside of those groups, because that's the nature of illness).
BUT had those individuals followed the protocols that were in place already (which is what we're reverting to now), it's unlikely the sequence of events that happened would even have occurred. The orange protocols we're just emerging from had the desired effect - it controlled and virtually stopped the outbreak in it's tracks - but there needs to be a balance between protecting the public and keeping rules reasonable.
We're pretty cautious, and I'm okay with reverting back (although I'd be more okay with keeping mandatory masking). We'll continue to wear masks and avoid crowds because we can, and I don't fault people who want to take advantage of the loosened restrictions AS LONG AS THEY FOLLOW THE OTHER MANDATORY PROTOCOLS, such as respecting distancing, staying home while sick, and avoiding unnecessary exposures when possible. It's finding a workable solution that's sustainable in the long-term, because it's going to be years until either a vaccine is available for general usage (if ever), or until it's become a part of our lives so that it fades to the background, like so many other diseases.