Women of the Pandemic

by Lauren McKeon

  In March, she was midway through a one-year fellowship sponsored by the Medical Psychiatry Alliance: Hospital for Sick Children, “Psychiatry,” http://www.sickkids.ca/psychiatry/CL-psychiatry-program/MPA/index.html.

  Talk of a repeat of the SARS outbreak, during which 43 per cent of those who caught the virus in Canada were healthcare workers, was already in the air: Rima Styra, Laura Hawryluck, Susan Robinson, Sonja Kasapinovic, Calvin Fones, and Wayne L. Gold, “Impact on health care workers employed in high-risk areas during the Toronto SARS outbreak,” January 24, 2008, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7094601/.

  They called themselves the Ontario COVID-19 Mental Health Network: “About us,” Ontario COVID-19 Mental Health Network, https://covid19therapists.com/about/; Rodolfo Rossi, et al., “Mental health outcomes among frontline and second-line health care workers during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Italy,” JAMA Network Open, May 28, 2020, https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2766378.

  Four: Virus on the Front Line

  The nursing station itself sat in the blue, or “super clean” zone, which nobody could enter without washing their hands: David W. Frost, et al., “Principles for clinical care of patients with COVID-19 on medical units,” CMAJ 192, no. 26 (June 29, 2020), https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.200855.

  “Do you have a will?” she asked her staff, encouraging them to have an honest, compassionate conversation with their loved ones. “Powers of attorney for finance and personal care? Are all your insurance policies and financial documents organized and easy to find?”: Robyn Doolittle, Erin Anderssen, and Les Perreaux, “In Canada’s coronavirus fight, front-line workers miss their families, fear the worst and hope they’re ready,” Globe and Mail, April 4, 2020, https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-in-canadas-coronavirus-fight-front-line-workers-miss-their-families.

  In fact, across the system, immigrants play a vital role in Canadian health care, accounting for one out of four workers: Ranjit Bhaskar, “Looking Ahead: What Immigrant Health Workers on the Frontlines Mean for Canada,” New Canadian Media, September 4, 2020, https://newcanadianmedia.ca/looking-ahead-what-immigrant-health-workers-on-the-front-lines-mean-for-canada.

  The vast majority of them were workers like Mojica: non-medical staff who showed up every day for their shifts, many of them because they couldn’t afford not to: Lauren Pelley, “Nurses, lab workers, physicians, among ‘alarming’ number of health-care workers with COVID-19,” CBC News, May 15, 2020, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/health-care-workers-covid-19-alarming-rate-1.5568711.

  The first healthcare worker who died in the province was a hospital cleaner: Chris Herhalt and Bryann Aguilar, “Brampton hospital cleaner becomes first Ontario health-care worker to die of COVID-19,” CTV News, April 16, 2020, https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/brampton-hospital-cleaner-becomes-first-ont-health-care-worker-to-die-of-covid-19-1.4890298?cache=%2F5-things-to-know-for-friday-november-15-2019-1.4687011.

  More alarmingly, it also showed that: Long H. Nguyen, et al., “Risk of COVID-19 among front-line health-care workers and the general community: A prospective cohort study,” Lancet Public Health 5 (July 31, 2020): e475–83, https://www.thelancet.com/action/showPdf?pii=S2468-2667%2820%2930164-X.

  In August, it estimated 62 percent of the healthcare workers it catalogued were people of colour: Christina Jewett, “Health care workers of color nearly twice as likely as whites to get COVID-19,” The Guardian, August 6, 2020, https://khn.org/news/health-care-workers-of-color-nearly-twice-as-likely-as-whites-to-get-covid-19.

  Another 43 per cent said they had faced threats or intimidation: Maryam Shah, “Canadians of Chinese ethnicity report widespread racism over coronavirus: Survey,” Global News, June 22, 2020, https://globalnews.ca/news/7091118/coronavirus-racism-chinese-canadians; Ryan Flanagan, “StatCan survey shows new evidence of increase in anti-Asian sentiment, attacks,” CTV News, July 9, 2020, https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/statcan-survey-shows-new-evidence-of-increase-in-anti-asian-sentiment-attacks-1.5016027.

  The WHO reported that the share of true asymptomatic cases ranged anywhere from 6 to 41 per cent: “Transmissions of SARS-CoV-2: Implications for infection prevention precautions,” World Health Organization, July 9, 2020, https://www.who.int/news-room/commentaries/detail/transmission-of-sars-cov-2-implications-for-infection-prevention-precautions.

  The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has estimated that 40 per cent of SARS-CoV-2 transmission has happened before people even feel ill: Jacqueline Howard, “WHO clarifies comments on asymptomatic spread of coronavirus: ‘There is much unknown,’ ” CTV News, June 9, 2020, https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/who-clarifies-comments-on-asymptomatic-spread-of-coronavirus-there-s-much-unknown-1.4976424.

  “It can attack almost anything in the body with devastating consequences,” said one U.S.-based doctor that month. “Its ferocity is breathtaking and humbling”: Meredith Wadman, “A rampage through the body,” Science 368, no. 6489 (April 24, 2020): 356–360, https://science.sciencemag.org/content/368/6489/356?fbclid=IwAR2WoMUA4nImPFU5YNqkEibIj5QMFeWoxYdGuOxheLN1aUEZzXfqBncqSQc.

  A subsequent research paper published in the Lancet termed the stages of infection as “the four horsemen of a viral apocalypse”: Pere Domingo, et al., “The four horsemen of a viral Apocalypse: The pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19),” EBioMedicine 58 (July 29, 2020), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2020.102887.

  An estimated 80 per cent of those infected with the virus remain asymptomatic, or only develop minor or moderate illness: Ibid.

  At its deadliest, the virus seems insatiable, overtaking every part of the body it can: Ross W. Paterson, et al., “The emerging spectrum of COVID-19 neurology: Clinical, radiological and laboratory findings,” Brain 143, no. 10 (October 2020): 3104–3120, https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awaa240; Apoorva Mandavilli, “How the coronavirus attacks the brain,” New York Times, September 9, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/09/health/coronavirus-brain.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage§ion=Health.

  Some studies have suggested that pre-existing conditions, like asthma and diabetes: Lei Fang, George Karakiulakis, and Michael Roth, “Are patents with hypertension and diabetes mellitus at increased risk for COVID-19 infection?” The Lancet 8 (March 11, 2020), https://www.thelancet.com/action/showPdf?pii=S2213-2600%2820%2930116-8.

  the size of the initial viral load: Elisabet Pujadas, “SARS-CoV-2 viral load predicts COVID-19 mortality,” The Lancet 8 (August 6, 2020), https://doi.org/10.1016/S2213-2600(20)30354-4.

  Considered to be the next level of therapy for COVID-19 when everything, even a ventilator, has failed, an ECMO machine: Melissa Bailey, “Miracle machine makes heroic rescues—and leaves patients in limbo,” Kaiser Health Network, June 18, 2020, https://khn.org/news/miracle-machine-makes-heroic-rescues-and-leaves-patients-in-limbo; Chris Herhalt, “Toronto hospital employs tool of last resort to save sickest COVID-19 patients,” CP24, May 12, 2020, https://www.cp24.com/news/toronto-hospital-employs-tool-of-last-resort-to-save-sickest-covid-19-patients-1.4936197.

  “I went on autopilot”: May Warren, “Toronto Western hospital temporarily closes Covid ward to new patients as it tries to contain outbreak,” Toronto Star, October 26, 2020, https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2020/10/26/toronto-western-hospital-temporarily-closes-covid-ward-to-new-patients-as-it-tries-to-contain-outbreak.html.

  “COVID-19 is not a terrorist or intergalactic villain,” wrote one healthcare worker. “Heroes are not necessary to kill a virus. Heroes are a symptom that our system has failed”: Daniel Barron, “Health care workers don’t want to be heroes,” Scientific American, June 21, 2020, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/health-care-workers-dont-want-to-be-heroes.

  Five: Crisis at Home

  Mothers also, perhaps unsurprisingly, did about two hours more housework every day: Alison Andrew, et al., “Parents, especially mo
thers, paying heavy price for lockdown,” Institute for Fiscal Studies, May 27, 2020, https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/14861.

  “The average length of an uninterrupted stretch of work time was three minutes, 24 seconds. The longest uninterrupted period was 19 minutes, 35 seconds. The shortest was mere seconds”: “Yes, balancing work and parenting is impossible. Here’s the data,” Washington Post, https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/interruptions-parenting-pandemic-work-home/2020/07/09/599032e6-b4ca-11ea-aca5-ebb63d27e1ff_story.html?utm_campaign=wp_todays_headlines&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_headlines&fbclid=IwAR3IExImHNhy2aWOtnf-gbGgg1_Z3cG7B3F0c8eJC0wUzl9506-6_sjge7w.

  It was the first time she’d left her house since the lockdown had begun weeks earlier: Andrea O’Reilly, “ ‘Trying to function in the unfunctionable’: Mothers and COVID-19,” Journal of the Motherhood Initiative 11, no. 1 (2020), https://jarm.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/jarm/article/view/40588.

  “Why is nobody talking about how unsustainable this is for working parents?”: Claire Gagne, “Why is no one talking about how unsustainable this is for working parents?” Today’s Parent, April 24, 2020, https://www.todaysparent.com/blogs/opinion/why-is-no-one-talking-about-how-unsustainable-this-is-for-working-parents.

  Some media cautioned of a “patriarchal pandemic”: Soraya Chemaly, “Coronavirus could hurt women the most. Here’s how to prevent a patriarchal pandemic,” NBC News, April 20, 2020, https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/coronavirus-could-hurt-women-most-here-s-how-prevent-patriarchal-ncna1186581.

  The Atlantic got it right when it stated: Helen Lewis, “The coronavirus is a disaster for feminism,” The Atlantic, March 19, 2020, https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2020/03/feminism-womens-rights-coronavirus-covid19/608302.

  In June, the New York Times warned again that: Patricia Cohen and Tiffany Hsu, “Pandemic could scar a generation of working mothers,” New York Times, June 3, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/03/business/economy/coronavirus-working-women.html.

  “The consensus is that everyone agrees this is a catastrophe, but we are too bone-tired to raise our voices above a groan, let alone scream through a megaphone,” she wrote: Deb Perelman, “In the Covid-19 economy, you can have a kid or a job. You can’t have both,” New York Times, July 2, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/02/business/covid-economy-parents-kids-career-homeschooling.html.

  San Diego woman who’d been fired from her job because her boss could hear her young kids in the background on video calls: Nicole Pelletiere, “Mom alleges in lawsuit she was fired for not keeping kids quiet while working from home,” Good Morning America, July 2, 2020, https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/family/story/mom-alleges-lawsuit-fired-keeping-kids-quiet-working-71574603.

  In the U.K., suspected domestic homicides tripled during the first month of lockdown: Amanda Taub and Jane Bradley, “As domestic abuse rises, U.K. failings leave victims in peril,” New York Times, July 2, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/07/02/world/europe/uk-coronavirus-domestic-abuse.html.

  “Since then, calls to our crisis line have increased by up to 300 per cent”: Meera Bains, “Battered Women Support Services asks for more volunteers amid COVID-19 pandemic,” CBC News, August 29, 2020, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/battered-women-support-services-asks-for-more-volunteers-amid-covid-19-pandemic-1.5704691.

  If that damage did occur, the baby could develop congenital Zika syndrome, which has five key markers, including brain damage: “Zika virus: Pregnant or planning a pregnancy,” Government of Canada, https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/zika-virus/pregnant-planning-pregnancy.html.

  It’s worth noting that, six months into the pandemic: Meredith Wadman, “Why pregnant women face special risks from COVID-19,” Science, August 4, 2020, https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/08/why-pregnant-women-face-special-risks-covid-19; Christina Caron, “Why we still don’t know enough about COVID-19 and pregnancy,” New York Times, July 10, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/10/parenting/pregnancy/pregnancy-coronavirus-data.html.

  Six: The She-cession

  On average, each business added $135,000 to its debt, with business owners relying on personal savings, credit cards, bank loans, and retirement savings (in that order): “Debt knell: Small business COVID-19 debt totals $117 billion,” Canadian Federation of Independent Business, July 15, 2020, https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/debt-knell-small-business-covid-19-debt-totals-117-billion-827855593.html.

  By mid-September, only 18 per cent of businesses in Alberta were at or above normal revenues, though 65 per cent of them had reopened: “Small business recovery dashboard,” Canadian Federation of Independent Business, November 3, 2020, https://www.smallbusinesseveryday.ca/dashboard.

  In fact, in recognition of this, Justin Trudeau announced a $221 million funding program in September 2020: “Prime Minister announces support for Black entrepreneurs and business owners,” Cision, September 9, 2020, https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/prime-minister-announces-support-for-black-entrepreneurs-and-business-owners-869166674.html.

  Their province hadn’t yet announced a state of emergency: John Paul Tasker, “The ‘measure of last resort’: What is the Emergencies Act and what does it do?” CBC News, March 23, 2020, https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-emergencies-act-premier-1.5507205.

  By October, more than 750,000 businesses had received CEBA loans, totalling $30.24 billion: “Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA),” Government of Canada, https://ceba-cuec.ca.

  The 2016 census shows that visible minorities comprise less than 10 per cent of Fredericton’s population: “Census profile, 2016 census,” Statistics Canada, https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=POPC&Code1=0305&Geo2=PR&Code2=13&SearchText=Fredericton&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&GeoLevel=PR&GeoCode=0305&TABID=1&type=0.

  And more than one-third modified their products or services—compared to just over one-quarter of all businesses in Canada: Jessica Bossé, Shivani Sood, and Chris Johnston, “Impact of COVID-19 on businesses majority-owned by women,” Statistics Canada, July 17, 2020, https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/45-28-0001/2020001/article/00056-eng.htm.

  The closure curtailed several decades’ worth of plans to sell the restaurant: Alexsandra Sagan, “Pandemic-related restaurant closures take an emotional and financial toll,” CBC News, June 1, 2020, https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/restaurant-closures-covid-19-1.5592946.

  By the end of June, about 40 per cent of women-owned businesses were forced to lay off employees: “Staffing actions taken by businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, by business characteristics,” Statistics Canada, https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3310023101.

  What’s more, nearly two-thirds of those who did lay off workers sent pink slips to 80 per cent of their staff: Wendy Cukier, “COVID-19 may turn back the clock on women’s entrepreneurship,” The Conversation, June 29, 2020, https://theconversation.com/covid-19-may-turn-back-the-clock-on-womens-entrepreneurship-139961.

  On top of that, small and medium-sized enterprises with under twenty employees—the type of business women are more likely to own—suffered disproportionately more revenue loss than larger companies with over one hundred employees: Jessica Bossé, Shivani Sood, and Chris Johnston, “Impact of COVID-19 on businesses majority-owned by women,” Statistics Canada, July 17, 2020, https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/45-28-0001/2020001/article/00056-eng.htm.

  More women business owners reported being unable to pay their rent or mortgage payments: Ibid.

  A full 80 per cent of racialized founders of all genders reported lost contracts, customers, or clients: “Falling through the cracks,” Canadian Women’s Chamber of Commerce, May 2020, https://canwcc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Falling-through-the-Cracks_CanWCC_May2020v19.pdf.

  All told, the pandemic plummeted women’s participation in the labou
r force to 55 per cent, its lowest point in three decades: “Pandemic threatens decades of women’s labour force gains,” RBC Economics, July 16, 2020, https://thoughtleadership.rbc.com/pandemic-threatens-decades-of-womens-labour-force-gains.

  In the first two months alone, 1.5 million women lost their jobs, sparking the term “she-cession”: Erica Alini, “Welcome to the ‘she-session.’ Why this recession is different,” Global News, May 9, 2020, https://globalnews.ca/news/6907589/canada-coronavirus-she-session.

  Women in the core working ages, between twenty-five and fifty-four, lost more than twice the number of jobs lost by men in the same age range: Matt Lundy, “Women, younger workers bear brunt of one million job losses in March,” Globe and Mail, April 9, 2020, https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/economy/article-canada-loses-record-1-million-jobs-as-coronavirus-fallout-slams.

  By the end of March, the government had 2.2 million EI claims on its virtual desk: Jordan Press, “Behind the scenes: How CERB went from an idea to a reality,” CTV News, May 3, 2020, https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/behind-the-scenes-how-cerb-went-from-an-idea-to-a-reality-1.4922682.

  One man reported making 1,700 phone calls before he got through, while others enlisted friends’ and partners’ phones to call from multiple numbers at once: Karina Roman, “EI claimants are going weeks without income as federal call system slows to a crawl,” CBC News, May 1, 2020, https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/employment-insurance-ei-cerb-covid-coronavirus-pandemic-1.5549617.

  In the end, about 7,000 people raised their hands to step outside their regular jobs and help answer calls: Samantha Beattie, “CERB call centre volunteer applauds kindness of Canadians during pandemic,” Huffington Post, April 9, 2020, https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/cerb-call-centre-canadian-kindness_ca_5e8f7ffdc5b6d641a6bbf0f7.