POLL: Are health officials over-reacting to the COVID-19 pandemic?

The COVID-19 pandemic got real this week as across North America, major sports leagues have been cancelled, education officials are considering closing schools and cancelling student trips, the stock market has crashed, the Americans are closing borders and of course there's the toilet-paper crisis. Even Disney theme parks have closed.

You can catch up on that news here, but it's breaking fast. 

Only some of this is due to actual health concerns from the virus, which has the most risk for the elderly or people with underlying health conditions. Limiting 'social distance', which is why so many public events are being cancelled, is more about ensuring our health care systems don't collapse under the weight.

There's no reason to panic, but there's great reason to follow a few simple rules to help everyone get through this. 

We're wondering about your thoughts. Do you think health officials over-reacting or are they being prudent? If you want to expand on your answer, please use the comments section below. 


To contact a reporter for this story, email Marshall Jones or call 250-718-2724 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. 

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Marshall Jones

News is best when it's local, relevant, timely and interesting. That's our focus every day.

We are on the ground in Penticton, Vernon, Kelowna and Kamloops to bring you the stories that matter most.

Marshall may call West Kelowna home, but after 16 years in local news and 14 in the Okanagan, he knows better than to tell readers in other communities what is "news' to them. He relies on resident reporters to reflect their own community priorities and needs. As the newsroom leader, his job is making those reporters better, ensuring accuracy, fairness and meeting the highest standards of journalism.