VANCOUVER—An 81-year-old mother, a partner awaiting a kidney transplant, a healthy and gregarious nine-year old. These are the loved ones Sylvia Fuller is determined to protect from the novel coronavirus.

She and her family have been hunkered down in their Burnaby home, just outside of Vancouver, for more than a week. Even in B.C., one of the provinces hit hardest by COVID-19 with more than 200 cases, Fuller and her family were one of the first to go into self-isolation — because for them it could be a matter of life or death.

For her son, Eamon, it means his usual one-hour limit on screen time has been thrown out the window. But it’s not all good news for Eamon. It also means not being able to see his friends, except for rare one-on-one play dates outside where his mother watches him and his friend “like a hawk” to ensure they practise social distancing — staying two-metres away from each other.

For her mother, Marianne, it means no more impromptu chats with strangers she bumps into out walking her dog. She’s hard of hearing and finds it difficult to have conversations without leaning in to hear.

Marianne lives in a separate suite, downstairs from the family, and Fuller said they all try to practise social distancing even with her.

“No hugs, which is hard,” Fuller said.

For her partner, Michael Coyle, it means nervously waiting to see if his kidney transplant surgery will still go ahead in June. The B.C. government cancelled all scheduled surgeries earlier this week to free up hospital resources for the COVID-19 response.

His kidneys are failing and soon he’ll need to start dialysis. But if dialysis machines are taken up by COVID-19 patients, he might not receive the treatment he needs.

Worse, Fuller fears what would happen if Canada is unable to “flatten the curve” and the COVID-19 pandemic overwhelms the health-care system.

“If we get to an Italy situation, he won’t be one of the people who get a respirator,” she said, referring to the tragic choices Italian doctors have had to make in recent weeks, turning people with complicated health needs away to save those more likely to survive.

“All of this is just super stressful,” she said.

On Wednesday — the day the B.C. government declared a state of emergency — Fuller said she felt “pretty panicky all day.”

In desperation, Fuller decided to try a session of online yoga to calm her nerves.

Fuller hates yoga.

“It’s the last thing I’d want to do,” she said. “Frankly, it didn’t help all that much.”

The University of British Columbia sociology professor, who never struggled with anxiety before, now finds herself short of breath or trying to calm her racing heart every day.

She says she is often “quite close to tears.”

Eamon has had a particularly difficult time adjusting, she said. The uncharacteristically sunny days in Vancouver of late mean the outdoor-loving, gregarious boy has had trouble being cooped up inside.

Last week, when most families’ routines were largely unchanged, Eamon felt singled out.

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“I’ve been imposing these restrictions ... it’s hard for him to not feel like the world is unfair and he’s hard done by,” she said. “Of course, he wants to protect his dad and his grandmother, but it feels a bit unfair to be in that position of not being able to play with his friends and so forth.”

She does acknowledge her family is fortunate in so many ways — they can afford to pay a premium for grocery delivery, Fuller’s job is safe, and they have a home to hunker down in until it is safe to go out.

Much of Fuller’s research focuses on the challenges precarious workers face, even sans pandemic. She is heartened by the provincial and federal governments’ recent announcements of aid packages directed to employees laid off due to the pandemic.

Other drastic changes in recent days — from the closing of Canada’s borders, to a shift by many restaurants to takeout only, have also given her hope.

It seems people have started to take health officials’ calls for self-isolation and social distancing seriously, she said. SkyTrain cars ran mostly empty Thursday, and residential neighbourhoods were quiet save for the odd jogger and dog walker.

And Fuller has found ways to help her family better cope with self-isolation in recent days.

A week into their family’s new routine, Fuller and Coyle sat their son down for a talk.

This was a sacrifice they were making not only for his father and his grandmother, they explained, but for everyone.

“We talked about how he can be a hero by making sure he won’t be spreading it to anybody in the community and how we all have opportunity to be heroes,” Fuller said.

“That really resonated with him. He’s felt a lot better about it.”

Fuller said if her nine-year old son can understand it, others can too.

She has a simple message for Canadians who aren’t grasping the seriousness of the situation.

“We’re relying on you,” she said.

“I know it’s difficult to curtail the things that you enjoy in life, whether that’s going out rock climbing or hanging out with your friends, but this — for some of us — it’s a matter of life or death.”

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