Interim B.C. Green Party leader Adam Olsen is reiterating the importance of social distancing after his mother and her husband received a positive COVID-19 test.
Sylvia Olsen and her husband, Tex, began noticing symptoms after attending a conference in Toronto just over two weeks ago. When they got home they self-imposed a quarantine, with Tex developing pneumonia and receiving a positive test to the coronavirus last week, and Sylvia having a presumptive case of the virus.
“It’s an interesting time because when two of your parents are stricken with an awful disease that’s threatening people’s lives,” Adam said. “The first thing you want to do is visit them and we just can’t do that.”
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His mother has been exhausted, unable to even journal some thoughts on her experience, and Tex was very close to needing hospitalization. However, this week the pair is improving.
It was because the two took the initiative to stay home, Adam said, that other members of the family and the public weren’t affected.
“It gives me an opportunity to reiterate the messages from Dr. Bonnie Henry and the province that distancing saves lives and stops it from spreading,” he said. “My mom and Tex decided to self isolate and quarantine, and this is an example of how following those orders has prevented them from becoming vectors and spreading it to others.”
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Adam is reminding people that the virus can affect everyone differently, from a mild case to needing hospitalization, which is why social distancing and proper hygiene techniques are so important.
Adam and his family have also been practising social isolation, with the MLA only heading to the Legislature a couple of times and otherwise staying at home.
“I’m not unique, a lot of families are impacted by this,” he said. “This is about 100 per cent participation from people — every outing has the potential of a bad outcome.”
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