In January 2020, when the first case of COVID-19 was spotted in Germany – someone who had been in contact with asymptomatic people – the virus was a topic that was only discussed in Canada and Quebec for denounce the drastic measures imposed on Wuhan.
A federal site on COVID-19 had been set up in early February: it was not indicated at that time that the virus could be transmitted by asymptomatic people – we even publicly denied this – even if we knew knowingly that abroad it was. The circus on this subject continued well beyond the month of March, when the usefulness of the masks was questioned which, it was quickly understood, did not correspond to scientific observations, but rather to the shortage. masks.
Better not to go back on the battery of measures, from March 2020 until the end of spring 2021. The Quebec population was, in general, very wise and docile, so that it did not put back in question the relevance of the measures, even those of confinement and curfew (a word which, to the native South American that I am, recalls the dictatorial measures of another era). This means that the restriction of freedoms and, then, the consent to provide medical data to access restaurants, theaters, etc., have been generally accepted.
For the record, in order to avoid being accused of a negationist, I would like to mention that I had voluntarily reduced my contacts from the beginning of February 2020 when I saw the chaos that the virus was generating in Europe. . I also called on my supervisor at work to suggest distributing disinfectant wipes and reducing the number of employees working on site. Obviously, my supervisor couldn’t do anything about it. All this in February 2020. Visionary? No, simply an informed citizen who is not limited to the local media, too focused on Quebec.
Let’s go back to the year 2021. The hope of vaccine effectiveness was such that, by announcing the introduction of the vaccine passport, François Legault reassured the population: there would be no more confinement or restrictions for double vaccinated people. . The same François Legault who, in the fall, decided that it was not a priority to start distributing rapid tests, a formidable means of prevention, despite its limitations. Why ? We believed that the citizens would not make good use of it, thus infantilizing us. The same who did not see fit to put the emphasis on protection, for example by making easily accessible the N95 masks, the same ones that we know to be the most effective against the virus (mandatory inside in Germany from spring 2021). The same one who did not provide for an increased capacity in intensive care, even if we know that, in the winter, we are more prone to catch the virus. The same one which, today, confines us again, going against what it promised just a few months ago.
The importance of individual responsibility alone was understandable in early 2020, when too little was known about COVID-19 and had no means to prevent the worst (even if a serious investigation into it). absence of preventive scenarios in the event of a pandemic at the federal level would have been beneficial): caution above all. Almost two years later, the current crisis can no longer be explained only by the virus itself, but also, and above all, by the incompetence of our elected officials. Let us be clear: that more and more contagious but less serious variants exist and necessarily cause more cases is indisputable. However, that the health network is submerged, two years after the start of the pandemic, is a matter of government incompetence.
The state of emergency and the measures that are put in place in the name of public health must have limits, otherwise democracy itself suffers. And to justify the limitation of freedoms indefinitely until the umpteenth wave, would it not be necessary, first, for the State itself to demonstrate responsibility? What is the use of lecturing citizens when the State is no longer up to the task, unable to prevent and foresee what was foreseeable?