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BONOKOSKI: What doesn’t kill you can supposedly make you stronger

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For those still too nervous to buy green bananas, the notion that we won’t be getting the COVID-19 vaccine until the end of 2021 is not exactly reassuring.

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What it does do, however, is reflect that this pandemic is not something to be toyed with.

It’s serious, it’s dangerous, it’s a killer.

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And it’s not over.

As I write, there are still over 50,000 active cases in Canada, for a total of 300,000-plus. And a little over 11,000 of us have died.

Toronto, and its feeder troughs of York and Peel Regions, are “staring down the barrel of another lockdown,” Premier Doug Ford said last week.

Those 11,000 deaths, by the way, represent slightly less than the entire population of the picturesque Muskoka town Gravenhurst.

Picture it empty.

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Now, the media tries its best to cover most if not all of the angles, but what do you do when a bogus Facebook post has been shared many thousands of times warning that wearing a mask is more dangerous to your health than contracting the virus itself?

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The post claimed that a mask would eventually cause the wearer’s immune system to “shut down.”

Are people really that stupid?

If that is the case, our hospitals and morgues should be overwhelmed with hundreds of thousands of bodies of dead doctors and nurses.

In Toronto, several roughly-hewn posters recently spotted on park signs and bridges in the outgrown suburb of Don Mills claiming, again, that wearing a face mask is “a bigger threat to your health than COVID-19.”

The signs said covering the mouth increases levels of carbon dioxide in the body and promotes hypoxia, which can impair brain activity.

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Those who believe this can seek the truth on their own and save me wasting my time on the frighteningly dumb.

As Toronto’s Dr. Iris Gorfinkel told CTV, the mask may cause a difference in humidity but it ain’t gonna kill you.

“These are loose-fitting masks. The air in front of them, and the air within the mask, is no different in terms of oxygen or carbon dioxide levels,” said Gorfinkel.

“Doctors wear masks that are much heavier, N95s, and I’m included in that group,” she said. “When I’m seeing patients, I’ve worn them for hours on end with absolutely no change.”

Don’t believe her? Then go elsewhere.

I want this pandemic over as soon as possible, too, but rushing it will not get us there. Like the rest of Canada, I’ve essentially been locked up since March, and it’s driving me nuts.

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Not wearing a mask will not help. Not being cautious won’t help.

Sick of washing you hands. Tough. Get with the protocols.

Toronto’s medical officer of health urged the province to nix indoor dining last month after 44% of the outbreaks over a one-week period could be traced to bars and restaurants.

Toronto Mayor John Tory said the city needs to find the right strategy that will not erode public confidence.

“I think public confidence will erode if people think the rules are being applied unfairly or don’t have any sense to them, but it will erode even more quickly if people think the rules that are put in place are leading to an increase in the spread of the virus,” said Tory.

“That’s the one thing people don’t want us to do is to open things up too fast, which we saw in the United States.”

markbonokoski@gmail.com

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