File Photo (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By James Peters

Two & Out

PETERS: Will this pandemic pull us all together or wedge us apart?

Mar 19, 2021 | 12:14 PM

LAST WEEK, I referred to COVID-19 as a virus that has destroyed our ability to trust each other.

Its devastating health impacts have made it the fourth-leading cause of death in the world since the beginning of 2020. Those who don’t get the virus, however, still seem to be infected with a nagging sense of suspicion.

Many of us no longer trust government officials and politicians — if we ever did.

Some no longer trust scientists, likely because we don’t understand the depth and consequence of their work.

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And a few no longer trust medical professionals who have sworn an oath to help and do no harm.

Perhaps saddest of all, it seems difficult for many of us to trust each other.

COVID-19 has split up friendships and families along lines drawn based on how we believe we — both authorities and average folks — should be reacting to it.

Going out in public involves encountering other people, many of whom we either see or suspect are not responding as we would.

Some see a person wearing a mask below their nose and automatically lose respect for that person, not knowing anything else about them.

Still others see a person simply wearing a mask in certain settings and lose respect.

Don’t get the wrong impression.

This isn’t to say everyone’s opinion on COVID-19 holds equal validity.

Those who downplay the impacts of the virus and scoff at restrictions are simply wrong.

When it comes to epidemiology, all opinions are not created equal.

It is important to trust the consensus of actual epidemiologists and not some local blowhard who careened down a YouTube rabbit hole, finding it more in tune with their particular strain of delusion.

But when this is all over, we need to have some form of mutual societal trust restored.

It is so important that when we have made it through this pandemic, we don’t have permanent wedges driven between people and groups, but rather we have pulled together as a society, ready to fight the next challenge that comes along.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.