Sussex teens to keep rural ERs alive by bringing COVID-19 from Italy

Sussex — With the recent health reform efforts still fresh in the minds of rural New Brunswickers, a group of Sussex students have taken it upon themselves to sort out the health-care system.

In an effort to increase demand for their local emergency room, the group of students from Sussex Regional High School have just departed their hometown for the rolling hills of Italy, a country currently experiencing an outbreak of the Covid-19 virus.

“Well we just saw this as an opportunity that is too good to pass up,” said student David Walsh. “I mean, we’ve just been hearing so much about how our local emergency room is not seeing enough cases, but we need it to stay open and we knew that this was one of our best options.”

The students had originally planned to travel to Milan and Venice, but both regions are under quarantine by the Italian government. Instead, they will travel to Florence and Vatican City.

“We want to get as close to the epicenter as possible so Florence is the best we can do. We’d also heard that the Pope was sick so we added Vatican City to the itinerary, but it turns out he just has the cold,” Walsh added.

“They’re taking a chance, they’ve looked at the odds and they’ve decided to take the trip — and it was their decision to make,” said Sussex Mayor Marc Thorne. “Yes, it’s an expensive trip, but it’s worth it for a shot to support our local health centre.”

Thorne said he’s also hopeful the group of students will self-monitor once they return home, and will visit a doctor as soon as possible if they need to.

“I’m sure their parents will be watching it quite closely. It’s important that anyone showing symptoms gets rushed to the hospital before Ted Flemming can close it.”