Was just standing out in the parking lot for some fresh air and a man and his wife were walking by. They waved and the man yelled to me ‘Do you work for the news?’ Not one to split hairs in a yelling conversation I told him I did.

He then said ‘Can you ask them to start reporting on the number of recoveries? All we see is how many people get sick and how many people are dying’. That kinda hit home, because of been hearing a lot of stories from our reporters about being yelled at and harassed.

It’s been a real ‘shoot the messenger’ situation. While I didn’t have the definitive answer for the man as to why it wasn’t common practise to report on recoveries, I told him it seems to me that right now the virus still has its foot on the gas.

Reporting on hundreds of recoveries, while comforting, isn’t the proper message to get out right now. This isn’t the time for people to let their guard down about COVID-19. It’s still here. Yes, there are people who have had it and recovered.

You can find those numbers at http://Canada.ca . I don’t think it’s especially responsible right now to focus on those people. There will be time, but our airwaves and resources are better served informing people of the real danger that is still out there.

If you’re social distancing, if you’re washing your hands...you’re doing your part. There are still people out there who are not taking this seriously, and it’s for those people we need to continue to report on infections and death.

It can be overwhelming to listen to day in and day out, but hopefully you’re doing so from the comfort of your own home. If it gets too much, you can turn the news off. There are people who are going into work on the front lines everyday who can’t get away from it.

So for them...I think it’s important for the rest of us to follow the realities of what is happening. For the nurses and drs who have seperated themselves from their families for fear of getting them sick, to the cashiers at the grocery store still handing your money.

I know this is a tough situation, and all many people want is an escape or some good news. The good news is that hopefully you’re in a position to do everything you can to help stop the spread. It hasn’t stopped yet. But that doesn’t mean it won’t.

People have recovered. But not all of them. And there are still some that won’t make it to May. We owe it to ourselves and to the people putting themselves in harms way to keep us safe, fed & in some cases intoxicated to be aware what the ugly truth is.

We’re not out of the woods yet.