Written by Alexander Lutchin

Covid-19 reminds me of an Iceberg – we only see 10 per cent above the water line – 90 per cent of the Iceberg is below the water line in the dark mysterious ocean – that is the dangerous part and the unknown of the true impact of Covid-19 that may take years to truly understand the gravity and massive damage this deadly stealth virus is having on our way of life globally.

Right now we are only seeing the visible ten per cent of the Covid-19 Iceberg – the obvious – community spread, deaths, lockdowns, pain and suffering and general disruption of our way of life. When the unsinkable Titanic hit an Iceberg in the North Atlantic off the Southeast coast of Newfoundland April 14-15, 1912 it was not the ten per cent of the Iceberg the crew saw at the last minute that did the damage – it was the damage underwater caused by the invisible section of the Iceberg that ripped a gaping gash in the hull that was so catastrophic she sank in under three hours taking 1500 people to their death.

The impact of Covid-19 will change us not only as a country but also worldwide. We do not yet see the real impact being done to our families, mental health, physical health, stress, anxiety, deep economic shifts, many businesses being wiped out or downsized including entire sectors such as hospitality and travel. The incredible impact on our health system is mind numbing. In essence our Canadian world class health system is now in a frozen state. Elective surgeries are being cancelled at an alarming rate and this will also no doubt have a serious impact on the long term health of  those needing surgery. And what about just simple preventive measures like getting an annual physical?  Kind-of-like the canary in the coal mine theory to get a heads up of trouble ahead that could be avoided. Most of our Doctors have moved to telehealth calls – sorry that doesn’t even remotely come close to an in-person physical where you and your Doctor can have a proper conversation and they can see your eyes – which always tell a story to the trained eye of a physician.

We have a tremendous amount to be thankful as well.  The wonderful heroes in our health care system and first responders – our teams of public health experts working 24-7 to snuff out this deadly virus, our leaders who are trying their very best to keep us safe and flatten the curve. If there was going to be a Pandemic this was the generation to deal with this massive human crisis. The brilliance of our scientists who developed a vaccine in supersonic time, our incredible technology to stay connected and move forward. Our amazing human resilience not to allow Covid-19 to define us as a society – but rather to push on with courage, intent and vision to move beyond this madness.

So friends, this is a long haul journey we are on – together we can get through this – we stay positive and flexible and power our way through this crisis. We need to be kind to each other like never before. Most of all we need to support each other. We will come through this stronger and the world will be a safer and better place to live. Our future remains bright – this too shall pass.

Let there be no doubt our lives have changed. Let’s embrace the change and move to the next chapter that we write together to ensure our outcomes are beneficial for all and create a future that is bright and promising.

Wishing everyone a wonderful and safe holiday season in your circle and a happy and healthy new year.