Here we all sit in this city and we have been given little guidance about what next week brings for schools, or our community currently in lockdown.
Surely public health and our mayor/city have a responsibility to inform its citizens more than this. How can families be expected to plan adequately for the disruptions that remote learning creates? How can students be expected to constantly ride a rollercoaster of emotions as to when they may be able to see friends again and return to some normalcy?
How can teachers be expected to best plan their lessons when it is unclear what environment they will be delivered in? Are bus drivers now just in an on-call position and expected to show-up with mere days’ notice?
Small business owners are having to constantly juggle staffing, inventory, etc, which is nearly impossible when you don’t know when you may be able to open the doors next.
We certainly all understand that COVID is a “fluid” situation, and that these are “unprecedented” times, our leaders don’t let us forget that, but surely some transparency into the data, the thought processes, and the decision-making can only help people.
Case counts continue to reach record highs and aren’t showing any signs of slowing. Our citizens deserve better than this. We deserve more insight, better planning, and clearer and quicker decisions.
Give our people more time to plan, to cope, and to deal with the situations we are faced with -- not to do so is irresponsible, unfair, and frankly, unhealthy. These are tough times, and people are resilient, but we need timely information and decisions to be so.
Doug Rosener
Greater Sudbury