A new study conducted at McGill University shows that 75 per cent of Canadians had been infected by the COVID-19 virus, of whatever variant, by spring of this year. According to Dr. David Buckeridge, professor of global health at the Montreal university, infection-acquired immunity increased faster among younger people and in the western provinces during Omicron. Does this surprise you? I’m not sure if it does me. I remain annoyed at the COVID deniers and vaccine pooh-poohers, by the way. I know too many people who have been pretty sick with this rotten virus, and have had long-term and unpleasantly strange effects. Anyway, this 75 per cent revelation had me wondering if (when?) I’ve had COVID. I have never tested positive, but I’ve been pretty sick a couple, maybe three times in the last year or so. These events were well postvaccination, and I’ve had five pokes by now.

One of those illnesses was the WORST stomach thing in history. It was very weird and even kind of scary. Was it COVID? It’s rare, but you can get stomach symptoms and nothing else, or so I’ve heard. Gah, I had an upset tum for months. Later, I had the cold from hell. A little while into it, I said to my husband, “I guess I’ve been pretty sick.” And he said, “Welcome back. You haven’t made any sense in five days.” (To be clear, he said that kindly, lol.) So what about that cold? I tested twice and nope. I wrote it down, at the time, to a lack of immune-system workout after being locked down and then super careful for, like, two-plus years. Similarly, a close loved one had the weirdest throat thing for a few days and again, not COVID. But this person has suspicions.

If you’ve been previously infected, say, or you’ve had multiple vaxes, could you potentially have such a mild COVID attack that tests won’t pick it up because your viral load is low? interesting, though, that such a large percentage of the population has by now been infected. I hope, at least, that’s good news from an immunity standpoint going into the fall. ***

By the time you read this, I will have gone and returned from holidays (and therefore had to write my columns early), so I hope this discussion is not moot by now. Regardless, though, I am glad there has been a recent discussion at city hall about fireworks permits. At present, you — anyone over 18, anyway — can get a permit to pop off fireworks, but you can also go permitfree on certain special occasions, specifically New Year’s Eve, Labour Day, Victoria Day and Canada Day. This has long made me nervous. I recall a New Year’s Eve at a friends’ home (I refused to go outside) when one of the crackers sent a large flowerpot shooting across the yard, banging into my husband’s leg. And that friend was an intelligent and careful human.

Now, there are some calls to extend those permit-free days to other celebrations, such as at Diwali. Valid argument. We should make such bylaws fair for everyone. Except that city staff have identified 150 celebrations that might warrant fireworks (whoa) and they have advised council to scrap the exemptions altogether. Notable, too, is that the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs has called for a federal ban on consumer fireworks due to injury (see above; it could have been worse) and fire risks. May I add noise to that list? I’ve just come off The Ex week, forced to endure 11 p.m. fireworks each night, not to mention deafening concerts — and we are 2.5 kilometres away — so I’m a little crankier about this than usual.

I just listened to a CBC callin show on the subject, and two heartbreaking stories were told: one about a Second World War veteran who had a post-traumatic event at a fireworks display, and one of a child from a war-torn country who was also terrified by the noise. I’m not sure it’s fair to set off something so loud without warning to your neighbourhood. The big displays are bad enough, but usually at least come with forewarning. Then there’s this bloody drought. Should anyone besides professionals really be setting these things off when a spark can cause a grassfire . . . or worse? Even in normal years, grasses can be so dry by August, and trees in the spring, that I’m not sure they are ever really safe fire-wise

Full disclosure: I have something wrong with my right ear, which makes loud and sudden noises excruciating. Born with it. Hate it. Makes me more sensitive to these things. Ugh. Reading this over, I realize I have shared far too much about my infirmities and illnesses. But it makes me think perhaps we should be mindful of the comfort of everyone in society, even when we are celebrating a joyful event.

-Joanne Paulson