Hoarders of rapid COVID tests should face punishment
By Brian Hancock - Herald publisher on January 5, 2022.
If we’ve learned one thing through the COVID craziness it’s this: the worst of times will bring out the true character of people – and it’s not always good.
The vast majority of us have accepted there will be ups and downs. This type of pandemic has never happened in our lifetimes; our leaders were forced to make up the rules and plans on the fly, knowing more and more each day.
Should we lock down? Not lock down? Government paying people who lost their jobs as a result of lockdowns, tax dollars paying for the development and distribution of vaccines, people who chose not to vaccinate being shunned and ostracized by others, fake social media-based theories from fake doctors that others chose to believe and follow to their graves … the list of absurdity goes on and on … and now we have to add hoarding of rapid tests to the list of “how low can we go”.
No doubt the news of free rapid tests came as a relief. The overwhelmed testing facilities (not to mention days of delays for results) needed some sort of help … the idea of free rapid tests for each person was a needed filler for a strained medical system.
Shortage of supply resulted in lack of availability in the short term. Allocations and availability in all markets were not enough to reach the ultimate goal of one kit per person.
More are coming as quickly as they can be produced which is why the limited number available right now are so precious and it’s what makes the latest hoarding fiasco disgusting.
Could the distribution system have been set up better? Absolutely. It was left to the honour system for people to say how many residents are in their household.
Health care numbers were not recorded so the same people could go back again and get more tests. The problem with the honour system is that there is no honour among thieves.
If you’re lucky enough to have been at the right place at the right time then you could have picked up a kit, one per person in the household.
And that’s where the door was left open for the toilet paper hoarding mentality to once again panic the system. There are numerous stories of people claiming to have four, five or even six people in the household when in fact there are only one or two. They walk out the doors with multiple test kits in hand telling themselves “I’m safe now” when in fact, all they have done is assure the spread of COVID to others who don’t have rapid tests and are forced to leave their homes to test or, worse yet, think they only have a cold and mingle with others when a rapid test would have told them to isolate.
It is the ultimate in immaturity and idiocy; the word selfish doesn’t even come close to describing their lack of awareness or ability to think outside their own doors.
This pandemic would be on its last legs if it wasn’t for people like these “me first” hoarders.
We are told by our elected leaders to treat people who have made the choice not to vaccinate with respect, but this is a whole different story – this is blatant abuse, if not theft, from a health care system that is beaten up on a daily basis. These people deserve to be held accountable for their lack of morals and empathy.
How about house arrest as punishment so they know the feeling of being locked down?
They’ll be OK, they still have enough toilet paper to get them through their time at home no matter how long the sentence. How about a month for each extra kit they stole?
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it would be nice to be able to wipe away such a people the way we wipe away human waste, with toilet paper; only; such people as those will prevent that option by hoarding all the toilet paper.
And now it is suspected that the kits are somewhat unreliable, so what’s your point.
I ,um, don’t even care to have a rapid test .50/50 chance of accuracy or so.
I feel a little under the weather so I take normal steps ,rest ,lots of fluids,chicken soup, sorta like flu in the old days.
”Hoarding” them is part of consumerism.
Walmart will get you a test if you Need/want one.
140 million rapids test kits bought up by the feds – at what more cost to the public purse. as noted already, they are hardly reliable. but, they do continue to line the usual pockets that have been obscenely well lined already throughout the shamdemic.
quebec now leading the way further into big brother – grande frere? qr codes will be updated to 3 vaxes, and now vaxes required to shop liquor and cannabis there. how long before the fascist and racist distinct society forces the last of the pro choice folks into submission with 3 vaxes or do not get to shop for food? how soon until the public cough and public sniffles will result in arrests and prosecution?