Dispatches from self-quarantine

What a weird time to be alive. Like so many others, the staff here at The Uniter is working from home in response to the arrival of COVID-19 in Manitoba. We’re still committed to bringing you a new issue of the paper every Thursday until the end of our publishing year. The University of Winnipeg has suspended in-person classes, so there won’t be physical editions of the paper on campus. But you can still find us at uniter.ca and all of our off-campus pickup locations.

It is, of course, scary to be in a time of so much uncertainty, danger and social unease. But it’s also sort of a marvel of modern technology and innovation that it’s possible for 20 or so people working from home to make a newspaper. Of course, we couldn’t make it happen without the help of our printers, delivery and distribution folks, who don’t have the ability to work from home. If you see someone on a bike filling Uniter paper boxes, give them a round of applause.

After today, we only have two issues left, including our annual special Urban Issue. What the future will look like after that is a bit of a mystery. April and May typically bring our AGM and our annual summer festival guide. But with public gatherings being an obvious no-no, who knows if we’ll even have a summer festival season?

With so much uncertainty, though, there are at least a few things we can all remain constant on: stay home and wash your hands frequently!

—Thomas Pashko

Published in Volume 74, Number 22 of The Uniter (March 19, 2020)

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