BioPharma’s CEO explains how social shaming is a bi-product of the pandemic

Written By JESSICA LAURENZA

Renzo DiCarlo is a C3 triathlete member, an avid runner on the Bruce Trail and the CEO of BioPharma, a global pharmaceutical company specializing in human clinical trials, including assisting with the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines. 

Rather than explain the scientific innovations of our healthcare system, he details the importance of showing compassion and having empathy during the pandemic. 

Having been on-site at his Toronto location since March, DiCarlo has seen the social and psychological ramifications of COVID-19 further impede on people's lives.

He notes that if you're asymptomatic, the rapid tests are 73 per cent accurate and if you do show symptoms, the test is 93 per cent accurate. “But even that 7 per cent margin of error is high,” DiCarlo explains. Infections are being passed through asymptomatic children to their parents and consequently, to their grandparents who are the ones showing up at the hospital. 

People with underlying health conditions or secondary issues stemming from the pandemic are suffering from the extensive measures applied to hospitals to combat COVID. DiCarlo lost his uncle this past summer to heart disease because he was too afraid to go to the hospital.

If you go to the ER, unless it's a critical issue, most doctors try to maintain physical distance from patients “which is sad because a lot of people are suffering from other diseases and issues besides COVID right now,” DiCarlo explains. 

He shared his discontent with the amount of social shaming and ignorance surrounding COVID-19. Have you ever thought about why people are driving alone in their car with their mask on? 

“Maybe the person is an Uber driver and they're constantly picking people up; maybe they're a courier and they're always in and out of their car; maybe they're wearing a mask as a reminder not to touch their face,” DiCarlo noted. 

It's important to be empathetic towards people you don't know. You have no idea what someone is dealing with, he said.

DiCarlo worries about the small, local businesses who are the backbone of our economy. 

“What's going to happen in a couple of years when these businesses don't exist anymore?” he asks. 

DiCarlo has done his best to play his part in the community by supporting local businesses and offering people advice. He has explained to local business owners and residents that it's okay if you're not worried about COVID but he questions why they aren't worried about others. 

He gives the example: “think about your 60-year-old mother or 80-year-old grandmother. Do they have underlying health issues? Do you care if they get COVID? How do you know you're not a carrier? How do you know you're not asymptomatic? How come you're not worried about me transmitting the virus to you?”

Although the virus has resulted in lockdowns and quarantines, it's important to think about the ones you love and how you would feel if they got sick. That's why masks are important, DiCarlo noted. 

Masks are ultimately to protect you from me. DiCarlo says that “if I'm infected and I have a mask on, I'm reducing my risk of infection towards you. If we're both wearing masks, the risk is reduced even more so.”

It's important that each citizen does their part in wearing a mask to protect others, showing compassion and non-judgement, and supporting the local community in any way possible.