wie X opinions // no. 12 ¢ Rant Corner: Ugh, we must ban this food immediately! ¢ What's next for the COVID-19 pandemic? ..and that's everything! What's next for the COVID-19 pandemic? > Is it finally going to end? Jerrison Oracion Senior Columnist his time last year, the province was still going through the second wave of the Coronavirus Pandemic. A vaccine was not yet found, many places were still closed, there were no public gatherings, and classes were online. People were wary of the impending increase in weekly cases. Today, there is now a weekly average of 500 cases, many in-person settings are open almost at full capacity, and almost the entire province is fully vaccinated. At this point, it might bea sign that the pandemic is about to end. But | fear there might be a surge of cases again if there is another variant of the virus and the reopening of travel is too quick. Canada is currently in the fourth wave of the pandemic while other countries including Australia went through a fifth wave and had to do lockdowns again. Even countries that had early success in the pandemic are now experiencing a surge of cases including New Zealand. If Canada does not lift all the safety precautions that are in place, keeping social distancing and masking policies in effect, it could prevent a fifth wave and the situation would be under control. When there is a surge of cases outside of the country or a new variant, the government could put travel restrictions on those affected countries. The surge of cases right now is mainly from the delta variant though there is news that there might be a new variant that is more transmissible. There might be a variant that the vaccine may not have protection for and would require a booster shot to increase the effectiveness against it. About booster shots, the government of British Columbia announced that by the summer of next year, everyone 12 years and older can get a booster shot which is optional but can increase the protection from getting the virus. The FDA in the United States currently approved them but there still needs to be more research from other countries to find out if the booster shot will help. The capacity limits of public gatherings in the province are now at full capacity and require a BC Vaccine Card to get inside them. However, these places are not obligated to increase the capacity limits and can do them slowly depending on comfort levels and what happens with the pandemic. For example, The Cinematheque is currently operating at 50 percent capacity and beginning November 12, they will operate at 75 percent capacity. Ontario has plans to fully reopen the province and lift all safety measures by this spring. As we learned in Alberta and Saskatchewan, opening too early will lead to a surge of cases and hospitals overflowing. If more people get vaccinated, cases remain stable, and everything is opened safely, the pandemic could end officially in the province but still happen in the rest of the world. But if there is another variant we can prepare for a continuation of the pandemic world. Photo by Billy Bui >» Ihate all onions! Craig Allan Business Manager A couple of years ago | let out what I elieve to be my biggest food hot take: poutine without gravy, or replaced with a cheese sauce is still poutine, and in fact is even better poutine. I have expressed this before and have been attacked for it, saying that this stance is sacrilegious and even anti- Canadian. I still hold this take and stand by it strongly, but I have another food hot take that may insight displeasure. My hatred for this other food though is stronger, and unlike the poutine where | am just substituting one thing for another, this food is one that no matter what or how it is done, I hate it every way. This is a food that needs to be stricken from the Earth. The food I speak of is the dreaded, the horrible onion! I saw a video where someone pranked a person by giving them a candy apple that was actually an onion covered in caramel. For someone to not only drench a disgusting onion in sweet, delicious caramel but also give it to someone as a prank is a crime against humanity! When I say I hate onions, I mean that I hate all onions. Red, white, yellow, and green. Chopped and sautéed. In fried onion ring form, chip, and Funyuns. I hate them all! I hate the taste, the texture, the Photo by Billy Bui ma flavour they add to the food. | hate them in all forms. The problem with hating onions is that it seems like there is no way to get around them. Onions are everywhere. I feel like they are on every burger, in every salsa, in so many soups. Even at a place like Chronic Tacos where | think I can get away from the onion menace, I can’t stand to eat either the ground beef or the steak, as both have onions in them. No other vegetables, just onions. They are inescapable! I always said that if ] ever opened my own restaurant, I would call it ‘No Onions’ so that people know what they were walking into. I’m sure that would illicit people bringing in onions or throwing onions at the store to annoy me, but I would still stand by the name. To me, onions are not just terrible. They are a crime against the world. The 2003 Shia LaBeouf movie Holes is horrible because, by the end of that movie, the thing that saves the father’s business is figuring out that onions cure bad smells. The villains win in that movie! And by villains, I mean the onions, not the actual villains played by the great Sigourney Weaver and Jon Voight. I hope that one day we can rid ourselves of this cursed weed, or at least stop putting it in everything. It’s time we stop the tears and the sour tastes and send the onion back where it belongs. The compost bin!