COVID-19 Roundup: Changing attitudes, Olympic dreams delayed, battling brain injury
Yesterday, April 16, Nova Scotia confirmed 30 new cases of COVID-19, raising the provincial total to 579.
By the numbers
Some 175 Nova Scotians have recovered from the disease and three have died. Currently there are 11 cases in hospital, including four in ICU. There have been 18,453 negative tests. “It is now more important than ever for Nova Scotians to strictly adhere to the public health orders and directives,” says a government press release. “Practise good hygiene, maintain a physical distance of two metres or six feet from others, limit essential gatherings to no more than five people, and stay at home as much as possible.”
How are you doing?
Market-research group Decision Partners has been doing an ongoing series of web polls exploring how people are coping with the pandemic. While the polls aren’t scientific, they provide an interesting snapshot of evolving attitudes. Some highlights from the latest instalment:
—Respondents expect we’re going to be dealing with COVID-19 for a long time.
—Several are reporting that they are “tired,” with more people struggling to stay positive than in previous weeks.
—People continue to be concerned about the seriousness of COVID-19, its spread, and staying healthy.
—For the third week in a row, people are most grateful for “family,” “health,” “friends,” and “home.”
—The top questions respondents would like to ask public-health officials in Canada and the U.S. are related to policies and decision making about pandemic preparedness, current actions and how and when we’ll get people back to work
—For respondents from both Canada and the U.S., government health officials were most frequently mentioned as the most-trusted sources for pandemic information. Canadian respondents mentioned elected officials the next-most frequently.
Door-to-door
While staying home, people in urban areas can have almost anything they need delivered to their homes. People in smaller towns and rural areas have fewer (if any) delivery options. That’s why Cole Mundle, a 14-year-old in Pugwash, started a local delivery service using his 1977 Honda Moped. For $5–10 per trip, and as schoolwork allows, he’s fetching groceries, take-out orders, and prescriptions. He tells reporter Raissa Tetanish about it in this story for The Light.
Battling brain injury
If you know someone recovering from a concussion or other brain injury, this is a good time to check in. As author Elizabeth Peirce explains in her book Lost and Found, brain-injury victims often wrestle with doubt, depression, anxiety, and fatigue, all of which combine to make situations like a pandemic even more difficult. Peirce tells Tammy Fancy about her own recovery journey in this new Halifax Magazine report.
Olympic dreams postponed
Athletes across the country, who have been training for four years with their eye on the podium, are new seeing their Olympic dreams delayed for at least a year, perhaps much longer. In the latest edition of Lighthouse Now, Queens County shot-putter Sarah Mitton talks with reporter Keith Corcoran about her deferred Olympic hopes. “Everything going on in the world right now is bigger than sports, and bigger than the Olympic Games,” she says.
Need to know
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This story was originally published in Halifax Magazine.
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