By GILLIAN SLADE on July 18, 2020.

gslade@medicinehatnews.com

Five months into the COVID-19 pandemic it is clear that there are other health issues killing more Albertans annually and they did not require the extraordinary lockdown that has affected the economy.

Drew Barnes, MLA for Cypress-Medicine Hat says he understands the need for the lockdown to protect everyone in the early stages, but within a few weeks it was obvious that it was not as bad as anticipated.

At about the three-week mark it was clear that the models were wildly exaggerated with both the number of people that were going to catch the virus and how lethal the virus was, said Barnes.

At that point Alberta should have started opening up the economy to limit the impact, said Barnes. That would also have been the time to identify particularly vulnerable sectors, either because of their working conditions or higher density living conditions, and focus attention on protective measures there.

We hit this thing with a hammer and now we have no idea what the total family and mental health costs will be, said Barnes.

In 2016 there were 273 traffic fatalities in Alberta, 55 deaths from influenza, 1664 deaths from organic dementia, 1626 from ischemic heart disease and 1547 from certain malignancies. So far there have been about 165 deaths from COVID-19. (The year 2016 was used only because it is one where data was available across the board.)

Jim Groom, political science instructor at Medicine Hat College, says it will likely take 10 years for the economy to recover.

Groom added the modest COVID-19 death rate here, compared to Sweden where a lockdown was not in place, is an indication that Alberta took the appropriate course of action.

Personally I feel that weve been somewhat successful., said Groom.

If Alberta had not taken extraordinary precautions, the COVID-19 situation here would likely be very different, said Groom.

If we are not sure that the extreme measures were necessary we only have to look at the U.S. currently, he says.

It looks like its out of control and theyre not going to be able to bring it back under control, said Groom.

There is no doubt Albertas economy has suffered because of the measures we took.

As a society, because we have a social safety net, I think the federal government has filled that gap quite a bit.

One of the big factors in the recovery will be whether schools open in September and whether kids can return to classes five days a week. Groom says without this parents are still in a difficult position about returning to work.

Thats going to make it or break it economically, or a more delayed recovery, said Groom.

The provincial government is expected to make an announcement at the beginning of August about schools reopening and how that will be handled.

Even businesses that have now reopened are generally finding things slow and a walk through Medicine Hat Mall is an indication that not many people are interested in spending money even those who have not been impacted financially by COVID.

Barnes believes the government could help. Early in the lockdown Albertans listened to, believed and obeyed instructions from government officials. In some cases that instilled fear which is still lingering. The government now needs to lift some of that fear and encourage people to support the economy, said Barnes.

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Was lockdown the right call? - Medicine Hat News