Comox Valley resident Claire Patterson recently returned from Spain, where she has been teaching.

She says what she saw there should serve as a warning to Canadians.

“This is a personal video attached to the core message that it is your individual civic duty to practice social distancing, isolation and quarantine measures now. The point of the video was to show that less than a week ago the lack of concern present in Canada was the same as Spain,” she says on her Instagram account (claire_patty).

“We are in a unique position as a country of not having a high amount of cases at the moment and to keep it that way, we have to be preventative. It’s not an overreaction it’s simply science. It was my hope that sharing this video would forge an emotional connection between why you should be preventative now, with a hope that this was the connection missing from stats and news coverage that would wake people up to the severity of the issue.

“No, I do not think the world is ending. No, I am not being alarmist. No, I am not asking for attention. I’m asking that everyone check their privilege (including myself) and work together to flatten the curve.

“The sadness in this video is not about my situation but out of concern for my loved ones in Spain. I am extremely thankful for the support I had from friends and my homestay family in Catalonia.”

Black Press has reached out to Patterson for comment.

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