[Chronique d’Odile Tremblay] The revenge of the unmasked virus

Let’s talk about the COVID, a subject that no longer interested many people. From mid-April, it must have been in the pocket: lower the masks, even for Quebecers grouped in tight ranks. We moved on, that was enough, and enough ! The acting national director of public health, Luc Boileau, may have minimized the extent of the rebound, since Wednesday, it has officially started again. The sixth wave has arrived.

Damned virus mutant in BA.2 more contagious which stubbornly increases the number of contaminated. Even François Legault and Geneviève Guilbault were hit at the top of the pyramid. For the past two weeks, we have seen the undesirable afflict in particular a large number of artists, who pass it on by contact at work, between friends. I’m thinking of all those film shoots and shows, in resumption of life and hope, suddenly forced to pause because actors, musicians or essential members of the team were bedridden. Unfortunate spring blooms that those of the buds will not be able to make forget.

To believe that COVID, unmasked too soon, took revenge for feeling disdained. She picks up the spotlight. We didn’t even need eloquent daily statistics to get an idea, but many looked away: an upward curve in hospitals as well as on stage, and among our acquaintances we saw bedridden, even triple-vaccinated. Discouraging!

The culture community, emerging from its lair after the various confinements, will never have seen its community so affected by the peaked beast. That is to say…

In Montreal, performances had been canceled at Duceppe, at Espace libre, at La Licorne; in the capital, at the Grand Théâtre, at the Diamant at the Anti bar & spectacles; elsewhere too. Across Quebec, dozens of singer tours were taking a nosedive.

Before the deadline scheduled for April 15, several spectators were already removing the mask by contaminating their neighbors. Others were getting their tickets refunded, too sick to show up.

We were still a few to find this withdrawal of sanitary measures premature, decreed for strategic reasons above all, just to calm the overwhelmed spirits. It is certain, the population has the tongue on the ground and the gestures barriers have fallen almost everywhere on the planet. Quebec is participating in the global movement that aims for herd immunity. But when it starts again in fear, are we more advanced? The mask deserved to stay in place longer. We had understood it while being sorry. It quickly becomes contaminated, a concert hall, theater and cinema, shoulder to shoulder, when several spectators are not vaccinated. Performers and musicians on stage also become at high risk of catching the disease. Let’s help them to make us dream!

I know several people who no longer wanted to find themselves in crowded rooms, if the deadline of mid-April remained in force, hardly reassured on their two legs. Others kept smiling, all in their joy of a real recovery as it was before the plague, when we were able to recognize his seat neighbor and see his mouth move. Nevertheless…

Opinions have so far been divided among directors of entertainment establishments. Some wanted to bet on this early spring in optimism, even if it meant losing a few performances when an artist was infected, the time for his recovery. After all, vaccines minimize potential harm. We hardly die from it now, we stay in bed for less time, but many people catch it hard and the contagion is too strong. Today, doubt creeps in. We are used to wearing masks. A little more, a little less time… And the distance was good.

I will be told that the cultural community has seen others after two years of a pandemic. That it closed its doors, managed resumptions, reduced gauges, then new stops. That he has developed expertise in the art of reimbursement, in putting his flagship shows on hold and in supporting the afflicted. The fact remains that several artists have changed jobs in the face of the increased precariousness of their already difficult situation. The coronavirus has left gaping holes in the world of the arts, and changed consumer habits.

Yes, the new aid measures from the Minister of Culture Nathalie Roy, announced last week at the presentation of the budget, are timely. An additional investment of $147.6 million in 2022-23 will help the sector absorb Covid losses. He will need it. There remains this impression that the sixth wave has benefited too much from the relaxation of lighthouse precautions, and that there is still time, not just on the mask, to step back.

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