EDITORIAL – Pandemic becoming a young vs. old finger-pointing battle

An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.

WHO KNEW COVID-19 would become a battle of the ages? As in, young vs. old.

Early in the pandemic, older folks were suffering the most, in large part because of what was going on in long-term care facilities. Now, young people are infecting each other because they’re reluctant to embrace social distancing and mask wearing.

It’s becoming clear that younger people might be able to fight off the disease better than the oldsters but they’re certainly just as capable of catching it and spreading it around.

But those of advanced age are doing their part to keep the pandemic going as well. In B.C. the result is that the number of new cases is once again on the rise after several weeks of encouraging numbers. We were getting the job done and seeing the rewards.

The next few weeks are going to be crucial in either bringing the curve back down or watching it rise again. Some prognosticators are worried that we won’t be able to keep it under control, and are sounding alarm bells.

But the growing tendency to connect the current state of the pandemic to age demographics is concerning. Pointing fingers at each other won’t get us anywhere. It’s not good enough to say young people are being careless or old people should just stay home.

Some people survive COVID-19, some don’t. A woman over 100 got it and beat it. A pre-school child caught it and didn’t. That’s the way it goes with this disease. We react differently to it but we’re all, apparently, capable of carrying it around and passing it along.

The blame game is OK for identifying individual actions but generalities based on how long we’ve been on this Earth are of no benefit. To resurrect a saying that was popular in the early stages of this pandemic, we’re all in this together.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.