Passing joggers should keep their distance
In these trying times it鈥檚 important to exercise for both our physical and mental well-being, all while keeping that tricky six-foot distance.
While strolling along the Westsong Walkway, we have been passed by many joggers, and while I commend them for their diligence and determination, I do have a suggestion. The runners often weave past walkers and in doing so can get very close while breathing very heavily. This is concerning as there is little that a walker can do to avoid them.
I suggest that joggers move off the trail onto the grass or road whenever possible and close their mouths while passing someone.
Arabella Martin
Victoria
Six-finger greeting, then 鈥榁鈥� for victory
Instead of a handshake, I greet folks with three fingers up, each hand. When asked why, I answer: 鈥淪ix feet.鈥�
I always get a friendly response. I聽will switch to 鈥淰鈥� for victory when we鈥檝e got the virus licked.
Dave Byron
North Saanich
Assume that you, your neighbours, have virus
Re: 鈥淲ho do we protect with confidentiality?鈥� letter, March 27.
The letter-writer takes issue with Island Health鈥檚 refusal to disclose the exact locations of all confirmed cases of the COVID-19 virus.
Perhaps given the requirement to carefully prioritize what is important in terms of getting information in the public domain, the public health agencies simply don鈥檛 have the luxury to track and report at this level of granularity.
Be that as it may, I welcome this level of uncertainty. Because if certain communities on 91原创 Island are said to be COVID-19 free, then people in those communities might relax against social distancing, social isolation, and all of the well seasoned advice we鈥檙e receiving on our 鈥渘ew normal.鈥�
Instead, everyone should assume that folks in their communities have it. As well, they should assume that they have it.
This is not paranoia 鈥� but rather prudence.
Act accordingly, listen to the health authorities鈥� and wash your hands!
Mark Cunningham
Victoria
Children in Rwanda need your help
We returned from Rwanda 10 days ago. We are now quarantined, cozy at home, counting our blessings.
The people in the impoverished village that we left behind aren鈥檛 so fortunate.
For children in this village their only regular meal was a cup of porridge provided at the local school.
Rwanda鈥檚 government was the first in Africa to impose a national lockdown, a proactive and seemingly progressive response to the COVID-19 threat. The schools are closed and the children are at home starving. The cure for these kids is worse than the virus.
These children already suffer from the effects of deficiency in their diet, stunting, impaired cognitive development. Further malnourishment will render them even more susceptible to illness and less able to survive COVID-19 when it reaches them. They will be the collateral damage in this battle.
There are no magic solutions to these problems, but we can support the institutions that are trying to help聽the needy. The UN is raising a $2-billion global human response fund. In comparison, the U.S. is spending $2聽trillion on stimulus.
April 7 marks the 26th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, 10,000 people murdered every day, a killing spree that lasted 100 days. We watched while a million people died. We say 鈥渘ever again,鈥� but do we mean it?
Give.
Neil Matheson
Victoria
Climate disaster will make virus seem minor
I am thankful that we in Canada have responded swiftly to mitigate the worst of this global pandemic.
While we have much left to do to battle this virus, we have a bigger problem.
I am terrified that environmental considerations will be shelved in favour of economic stimulus packages, such as large oil and gas industry bailouts.
Even the worst-case projections for COVID-19 are nothing compared to what鈥檚 coming. If the global community refuses to fully and immediately tackle the climate crisis, the disaster that awaits will make this pandemic seem utterly forgettable.
Daryl Elving-Klassen
Victoria
Help health-care workers pay for rooms
Re: 鈥淎ccent Inns rolls out special 鈥榠solation鈥� rate for essential services workers,鈥� March 26.
Accent Inns are offering a special rate for health-care workers coming off shift. How about donating some of the money from the Rapid Relief Fund to help cover the costs further?
Exhausted medical staff who want to avoid bringing home the virus to their families should not have to pay for the privilege.
Cathy Stephenson
Victoria
Christmas lights a great idea
Re: 鈥淪witch on this bright idea to support our health-care workers,鈥� March 31.
Two weeks ago while in bed, I recalled the Second World War in England. Everyone had to pull together to survive, while bombs dropped nightly around us.
There is one thing I still remember, even though I was young. The pilots returning from missions across the channel, said they looked for the White Cliffs of Dover, and when they came into sight they knew they were home safe.
Hence Vera Lynn鈥檚, famous song, The White Cliffs of Dover.
White lights are now strung along my front fence, with a sign, White Lights For Hope.
Friends in Sidney and in Crofton have joined in with lights on bushes and trees.
This is a show of gratitude and support for the wonderful people on the front lines who are trying to keep us safe while placing their own lives at risk
Margaret J. Jestico
Saanichton
Winston Churchill said it best
An excerpt from Winston Churchill鈥檚 鈥淲e will fight on the Beaches鈥� speech, June 4, 1940:
鈥淚 have full confidence that if all do their duty, if nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, we shall prove ourselves once again able to defend our Island home, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace.鈥�
鈥淲e shall fight to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence 鈥� we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost shall be. ... We shall never surrender.鈥�
Doug Lee
Victoria
People the world over mourn the lone wolf
Re: 鈥淭akaya, lone wolf of Discovery Island, killed by hunter: conservation service,鈥� March 27.
Since Thursday, when I learned that Takaya the famous lone wolf had been killed, I have been grief-stricken. Thousands like me are in mourning 鈥� and we are angry.
Takaya was relocated by conservation officers and he was searching for a home and sheltering in the forest. He posed no threat to people, pets or livestock.
With malice, someone deliberately hunted and killed this much-loved wolf, whose daily life had been chronicled for eight years and followed by admirers the world over.
An act of such cruelty perpetrated against a defenceless animal is so abhorrent that surely it cannot be tolerated in a civilized society.
Perversely, B.C. provincial law permits the killing of wolves by aerial shooting, trapping, poisoning and hunting from September to May. To my knowledge, any wolf, for any reason, may be killed by a licensed hunter or trapper using these practices.
How can British Columbians condone state-sanctioned extermination of a keystone species and apex predator? Under the guise of sustainable wildlife management and聽conservation, B.C.鈥檚 policy is ecologically reckless, irresponsible and ruinous.
The wildlife photographer and conservationist Cheryl Alexander, with whom Takaya formed a relationship, illuminated the infinite possibilities and unimaginable rewards of natural connection.
Through Alexander鈥檚 lens, Takaya taught humans about co-existence and the virtues of trust, tolerance, gentleness, honesty and honour. What have humans taught him?
Doug Pazienza
Whitley Bay, England
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