Under the coronavirus cloud

The coronavirus pandemic is bad enough, but there’s another one following in its wake. Blatant, unapologetic ageism is going viral too.

It began early, when Canadian public health officials were downplaying the threat by assuring us that the virus affected mainly the sick and elderly. So there might be some losses, but they would be socially acceptable, and it would be business as usual for everyone else. Then the virus began rampaging through long term care homes, exposing all the weaknesses of a poorly regulated and poorly monitored industry. And as the cases ramp up and strain intensive care services beyond their limits around the world, medical staff are now posing out loud the question of who should get the ventilator: the 75-year-old pensioner, or the 30-year-old father of three. Will seniors get extra points if they provide a home for their adult children, or child care for their grandchildren? If we seniors do get turned away from intensive care, what sort of death will we be facing? I can’t imagine that there will be many palliative care beds available for coronavirus patients. Will we just be sent back home, then, to die on the bathroom floor?

Who lives and who dies? Doctors may well be facing that dilemma in Canada soon. I hope that the decisions will be guided by fair, value-neutral ethical principles, using a variety of factors, and not just age. I don’t envy them the task. And I fear for the suffering of those of us who get triaged out.

Stay home. Wash your hands. Keep yourself safe.