HEALTH
CONTENTS
Candidate pledges to restore universal masking in schools
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THEATRE
The romance of Mirza and Sahiban is a staple of Punjabi folk stories, but playwrights Paneet Singh and Andy Kalirai have given it a modern twist. By Charlie Smith
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MUSIC
Rather than sit around and obsess during the Covid-19 lockdowns, Mother Mother’s Ryan Guldemond used the time to create Inside. By Mike Usinger
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e Start Here Dr. Karina Zeidler says trustees must protect the most vulnerable. Photo by Yvonne Hanson.
a first booster, though some remain at risk. In the interview, he also cautioned people about the health and well-being impacts of limiting social interactions. “He’s actually promoting not wearing masks and going out and socializing with people,” Zeidler maintained. “It’s the opposite of what kind of education we should be putting out there.” Zeidler argued that dropping indoor mask mandates “completely abandons” certain people in society. That includes those with disabilities and of low-income, as well as racialized and Indigenous people who have a higher rate of comorbidities, leaving them more susceptible to severe cases of COVID. “We really need to decide what it is that we believe in,” Zeidler said. “And right now, people have decided that the most important thing is to maintain the status quo—maintain our current societal hierarchy and colonial capitalism—and we don’t care if that means there is a whole bunch of people who are going to suffer death and disability because of that.” g
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COVER
Vancouver keyboardist Jason de Couto brings his in-demand musical talents to the Powell Street Festival.
by Charlie Smith
he only Vote Socialist candidate for Vancouver school board has promised what no existing trustee is prepared to do. Dr. Karina Zeidler says that if she’s elected on October 15, she will try to bring universal masking back to Vancouver public schools to reduce the spread of COVID-19. “I’m already seeing so many people infected by COVID in all kinds of different ways,” Zeidler, a family physician, told the Straight by phone. “So, by doing this, I’m hoping to improve the health of my community in general.” Zeidler said that as part of her campaign, she plans to ask every other candidate what their position is on mask mandates in public schools. “They are going to have to answer me— whether they favour the mask mandate or whether they favour disease and discrimination,” she stated. “Those are the two options.” Zeidler is cofounder and a member of the steering committee of Protect Our Province B.C., which is a volunteer group of physicians, nurses, health scientists, health-policy specialists, and community advocates. It advocates for evidence-based policies in response to COVID-19, with the ultimate aim of ending the pandemic. “We are either going to decide as a society that we want the community together to protect everybody, including our most vulnerable, or if we’re going to go ‘survival of the fittest’,” Zeidler said. In B.C., public health officials have shifted the onus of responsibility from society as a whole to individuals by making it a personal responsibility to decide whether to wear a mask in indoor spaces. Vancouver Coastal Health deputy medical health officer Dr. Mark Lysyshyn articulated this philosophy in a recent interview on CTV. According to Lysyshyn, most are protected from severe COVID with vaccination and
July 28 - August 4 / 2022
JULY 28 – AUGUST 4 / 2022
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Here’s what people are reading this week on Straight.com.
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Heavily armed Vancouver police close two streets in the East End. Magical West Van lot with 250-square-foot home sells below assessed value. Suspect dead in connection with multiple shooting scenes in Langley. Why Filipino community organizer Lina Vargas is running for city council. Martyn Brown: I’m not missing the mostly invisible Dr. B. Henry. You?
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