EDITORMANAV ARORA |

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2021 |

THE VOICE

Campusnews

New variant dashes plans for holidays

International students stuck in Canada

= ByGRAHAM ABRAHAM

nternational students have

been put on hold after travel

restrictions were imposed in

Canada with the discovery of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in southern Africa.

Patricia Gaza, who moved from Zimbabwe to attend Langara four months ago, said the new restric- tions will prevent her from seeing her husband who lives in Zimbabwe.

The restrictions prevent anyone in Zimbabwe from travelling to Canada and will stop Gaza from going home for Christmas, as she could not return to Canada to attend Langara in the new year.

“We had applied for a visa for my husband to join, but he’s definitely not going to come anytime soon,” Gaza said. “I’m here alone, I need family, I miss my husband, ] literally know no one.

“It’s going to be the worst Christ- mas ever.”

Due to uncertainty about the Omicron variant, Langara interna- tional students could get stranded in their home countries if Canada

introduces travel restrictions while they are abroad.

Currently, any traveller who is not a Canadian citizen or permanent resident and has visited at least one of seven southern African countries after Nov. 12 will be barred from entry to Canada.

Former Langara journalism student Mathilda de Villiers lives in South Africa. She said many South Africans feel scapegoated by the international community.

“T’ve seen from a lot of my friends on social media and stuff, there’s a huge public outcry just because it’s getting blamed on us,” said de Villiers. “Our medical professionals in this country are extremely good, so the fact it was found in this coun- try doesn’t mean it originated here.”

People visiting South Africa rushed to leave the country after word of the variant, she said.

“A friend of mine, she landed from Dubai two days ago and then she had to leave the country again yesterday,” said de Villiers. “So yeah, people are not happy.”

The South African government has not yet imposed any strict travel restrictions or lockdowns on the people of South Africa, added de Villiers. “Our president did announce last night that we're not going back into lockdown, every- thing is staying the same and he’s actually urging the countries that

International students Harpreet Kaur and Patricia Gaza (L-R)

oa

go back home for Christmas. /ANAv ARORA PHOTO

have put us on the red list to open their borders again.”

Alym Bhanji, owner of East Africa Wild Adventures, said that while none of his customers were in the affected areas when the variant was announced, his travel agency and its employees will suffer as a result of the travel restrictions.

The company’s ground operators in Southern Africa rely on the tour- ism industry and their livelihoods will be threatened by the lockdown, said Bhanji.

“Over here, we don’t realize how lucky we have it. Over there, they can't feed themselves when stuff like this happens, it’s hard to see.”

Bhanji said that South Afri- cans are being punished due to the sequencing of the new variant by scientists at Stellenbosch University.

“The most beautiful continent in the world still stands to get the worst of the world’s wrath,” added Bhanji.

arrived in Canada a couple months ago and are unable to

Omicron World Map

wy ,

XU

Countries where Omicron has not been detected

0 2 4

Countries where Omicron has been detected

Countries Canada has barred travelers from

6 8 10

Infographic showing where the new varient has been detected in the world and countries Canada has barred travellers from.

Tanja Jancic-Turner disposing her mask into the recycling bin in building C

CLARISSA KURNIAWAN PHOTO

C Building

Virus mutates, mask habits stay

Safely disposing of masks remains an issue

= By CLARISSA KURNIAWAN

new COVID -19 variant

isn't changing old habits for

Theresa Yee about how she wears protective masks.

Yee, a first year early childhood education student, said she’s been wearing masks for the last two years since the start of the pandemic and it’s more important than ever to continue wearing hers.

“Tt’s still important because there’s a new variant and people still can get it even after the vaccine.”

Yee said she wears a reusable mask, but for her volunteer work at a child- care centre, she’s required to wear a disposable mask. She throws away

the disposable mask when she’s done her shift.

Roughly thousands of masks are thrown away daily. Students like Yee have become used to wearing them and discarding the disposable ones while washing their reusable masks. Langara College has set up mask recycling bins around the campus to help prevent masks from going to landfills.

Tanja Jancic-Turner, student sustainability ambassadors coordi- nator at Langara College, said she continues to see discarded masks all over campus and across town.

“They basically will end up in the ocean which really bothers me,” she said. “Masks should be treated like biomedical waste and they shouldn't be put in a regular garbage. Having separate container for them isa great idea.”

Jancic-Turner said masks are crucial and should be worn all the time.

“T believe that between me trying to be healthy and improve my immu- nity, having the mask on that day is what helped me not catch the virus. I definitely believe in the protective power in wearing masks.”

Before she was vaccinated, she was sitting next to a person who was coughing.

“And I said oh, you're coughing and he said no, this is just my allergy and the same evening he tested posi- tive.”

Jancic-Turner said she hopes more mask users find out how to recycle their disposable masks. She is aware

of the recycling bins in Building C

on campus and has been using them regularly.

“I think social media, flyers and sign around the bin would be helpful to let everyone know about the mask recycling bin,” she said.

Andy Straisfeld, vice-president business development and partner of Lifecycle Revive in Brantford, Ont. said his company is trying to prevent masks from going to landfills.

“The loops are removed, then the plastic are put in the machine and became plastic pallets and they are returned back to Canadian plastic industry for them to make all kinds of plastic for PPE or for general consumption,” Straisfeld said in an interview Monday.

Lifecycle Revive sells boxes across the country including campuses like Langara to encourage more recycling of disposable masks.

“We were created when Canada was hurting and didn’t have a supply, and now we're keeping the supply and reclaiming plastics for Canada while we're also keeping stuff out of landfills,” he said.

Jessica Azarcon, a second year psychology student at Langara, said wearing masks is a selfless act that anyone can do for someone else.

But she worries about the effects on the environment.

Azarcon said she tries not to use disposable masks because she worries it will end up in the ocean. She makes sure to cut the ear lops off before disposing of her masks so it doesn’t affect sea creatures.

“There should be a better way to dispose our masks,” she said.

IT'S JUSTA LITTLE PRICK’ continues from page 7

“Parents are just like, forget it. Like, we've been waiting,” said Candace Flannigan after her two children were vaccinated. “Other provinces were vaccinated days ago. We'll call until we get our kids the shots,” Flannigan said.

Michael and Stephanie Wong also called to book appointments for their three kids. Immediately after they called, they received a text notification. Two hours later, they got an email notifi- cation.

“Tt was a bit of a mess. But that's public health in this prov- ince,” said Michael Wong.

Despite the booking delays, Flannigan said she was relieved to get her children vaccinated. Her 11-year-old daughter Daphne said there was little pain involved. “It didn’t hurt that much actually, it hurt less than a flu shot.”

While his parents were doing everything they could to book their children’s appointment, their son Alex said the shot was all over before he knew it.

“It was just a prick,” he said. The family’s only debate was whether the jab took one second, or one and a quarter seconds.

Their sister Juliette admitted that even though she knew it was a good thing, she was scared just before getting the vaccine.

“My braveness won over my scaredness,” Juliette said.