Should I keep wearing my mask or should I fling it in the closet? Should I balloon my bubble or keep it tight? Should I leave it all on the nightclub dance floor or stay busting moves in the kitchen?
With the recent lifting of most of B.C.B次元官网网址檚 COVID-19 safety measures, you may have been asking yourself these questions. EverybodyB次元官网网址檚 answer will be a little different depending on their circumstances.
Steven Taylor, a professor with the UBC department of psychiatry, told me in a phone interview this week that when restrictions are lifted, most people B次元官网网址渂ounce backB次元官网网址� rapidly to their old behaviours.
B次元官网网址淏ut that doesnB次元官网网址檛 apply to everyone,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淪ome people are very anxious or theyB次元官网网址檙e slow to warm up and some people are highly anxious and are in need of treatment for their anxiety.B次元官网网址�
If you have a friend whoB次元官网网址檚 anxious about re-opening, Taylor recommends asking them what they need and what would help them feel more comfortable.
B次元官网网址淒onB次元官网网址檛 go telling them B次元官网网址榦h you should take off your mask B次元官网网址� let me take that off for youB次元官网网址�. You want to enable their sense of control and let them do whatever opening up they want to do at their own pace.B次元官网网址�
When youB次元官网网址檙e indoors, consider wearing your mask to keep yourself and others safe. If someone doesnB次元官网网址檛 want to stand next to you, give them space. When you go in for the handshake or a hug, ask if someone is comfortable with that first. Essentially: use your COVID common sense and donB次元官网网址檛 be rude.
When April 8 comes around the B.C. Vaccine Card will be lifted and unvaccinated people will be once again allowed in all the spaces where the card is currently required. In those spaces, the topic of vaccination might be best relegated to the social realm of politics and religion B次元官网网址� itB次元官网网址檚 not worth starting a bar fight over someoneB次元官网网址檚 vaccination status.
As restrictions lift, your friends and family members who are disabled, immunocompromised or elderly will likely feel left behind. For them, itB次元官网网址檚 not a matter of comfort B次元官网网址� COVID is a matter of life and death. Find ways to continue spending time with them in a way that they feel is safe. DonB次元官网网址檛 make assumptions about what they need. Ask them what they need and respect their boundaries.
Whatever you choose to do, enjoy this period of relatively reduced COVID transmission because it wonB次元官网网址檛 last forever. We are very much still in a pandemic and cases are rising globally. The actions that we take today will have an impact on COVID infections B次元官网网址� and restrictions B次元官网网址� in the future.
Cole Schisler is a provincial reporter with Black Press Media.
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cole.schisler@bpdigital.ca
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