After a large protest against COVID-19 measures at the Cowichan District Hospital on Wednesday, Sept. 1, another group rallied the following day to voice its support for beleaguered health care workers.
“We were really upset about what happened,” said a home care worker, who asked that her name not be used, and who said she knows several people who work in the hospital. “It was a bad day when the protesters were there.”
She recalled the early days of the pandemic, when people would go outside and bang pots and pans every night at 7 p.m. to show support for health care workers — a practice that has since faded in popularity. Her group arrived at the hospital in time for the 7 p.m. shift change on Thursday so their support could be heard by both day and night shift workers.
“I don’t think people are banging pots as much as they were last year, so we wanted to show thanks,” she said.
Together with about two dozen others, she reached out to several businesses in the Duncan area who offered their support, including Save-On-Foods, Thrifty Foods, the Duncan Garage Cafe & Bakery, Starbucks, McDonald’s and Dairy Queen.
“We called them up at the last minute and asked if they would do a donation to the hospital,” she said. “We were able to hand out Dilly Bars to the people at the hospital.”
READ MORE: Hundreds gather at Cowichan District Hospital to protest COVID-19 vaccine cards, measures