The Social Inequalities of Pandemic Rules

I realize that every country has different rules and regulations concerning the way they deal with the pandemic. We can't base one countries methods based on another. This story popped into my head when I noticed an innocent new rule taken place in my hometown.

Where I'm, we've just gotten out of the second wave lockdown. I guess people were sick and tired of the lockdown. When our citizens had the opportunity they all got together during the Christmas holidays and we had a huge influx of Covid. That's how the second wave lockdown came to be where I live.

Right before the lockdown there everyone was still free to go out and enjoy the winter. There's a famous hill here known for good tobogganing. The problem was that everyone knew about it and there was mob of people that clamored at the hill. The city had to put a stop to the sledding at once because there were that many people.

At the time I thought it was justified and it made sense. Why does everyone think it's safe to go to a busy sledding hill during the pandemic? The common thought amongst my city and I'm sure others as well is that Covid only affects the elderly the worst. We know this isn't true but it's a common ideology especially with fitness freaks out there. I don't blame them because when you're young you think you're invincible. That is until you experience the hardships up front. That's just the way people are.

So we went through the lockdown for a couple months and finally it ended, allowing us to sort of go back to the old "normal". We're able to open up shops again and go to malls. Of course everything has to be socially distanced and the proper precautions had to be taken.

One of the oddest things happened though. They opened ski hills, gyms and skating rinks as well. When I passed by that toboggan hill I noticed that it was still closed for sledding. To me it didn't make sense to me at all. Why would you have all of these ski hills and ice rinks open and still have a toboggan hill closed?

My first assumption was that the ski hills and skating rinks are business oriented and the government wants to boost the economy by having them open and keep the free sled hill closed. That already doesn't sit right with me because there are a number of families that can't afford to go to ski hills and skating rinks.

Then I started to think about it a little deeper and this could be the paranoia me thinking. Contrary to popular thought, low income families are hit the hardest during the pandemic. They're the groups of people that have to go work lower wage jobs that can't be done at home. They are the ones that have to go to work and risk getting the disease. If they do get sick they are less likely to take the time off because they can't afford to take the time off. In turn the virus spreads to others in their community and those all around them.

These lower income families don't have too many options when it comes to entertaining their kids considering the situation we're all in. This is when the sledding comes into play. My thought was that they kept the sled hill closed because lower income families may go there. They might think this is a way to thwart potential super spreader events whereas a ski hill should be safer. Only the well off would be able to have jobs that don't require them to work from home and afford to go to skiing. It's definitely a luxury to ski and not a lot of people have the means to do it.

Generally a lot of things to do in the cold winters are more expensive since they usually require a lot more equipment and facilities. This puts more disadvantaged people in a stickier situation. It really sucks and I don't think too many people think about it in my city.

I hate the thought of being disenfranchised multiple times just for the fact you're stuck in a certain social economic situation. The government doesn't help by giving them additional aid if they become sick. It's a crazy time because everyone's thinking about the people that have the means to go traveling and how it looks bad. They never focus on people of lower socio economic situations. These people are most likely the people you need to focus your attention on to help the disease. You help them and I believe you can help slow down the disease.