Thankfully, my fears that we were heading for a blowup and that we'd soon have numbers like Rhode Island have proven false. Actually, and quite surprisingly, we seem to have the coronavirus licked. Case numbers in the province crawled their way into the 200s and then basically stopped...we're at 290 now (out of a population around a million) and have seen one or two new cases in the last week. I can't fathom what we did differently that smothered things before the virus became widespread in the community, but I suppose sometimes it pays to live in a place that no one wants to visit!
Right now my main worry is that we'll get hit hard with a second wave in the fall, if the US border (or even the Ontario border) get opened up. But for now at least, the nightmare scenario I was imagining (the virus getting into remote northern communities with no medical care to speak of and decimating them) seems to have been avoided.
Denyer wrote: ↑Tue May 19, 2020 5:33 pm
One way supermarket aisles haven't really worked in the stores I've been to, but at the times I've gone and with the number of people they've let in it hasn't felt particularly unsafe. Very few masks in evidence, so I haven't bothered with the one I was carrying
The one-way aisles have been a disaster here. The main thing they serve to accomplish is to make people spend twice as much time in the store, because it's a nightmare to loop back to grab something when you realize you missed it. Most people here seem to be respecting them, but I think that's also because the local grocery stores in my neighbourhood seem to be relatively low-traffic to begin with. When I ducked into a nearby big-box hardware store recently (I needed to make emergency repairs on my air conditioning after we realized it wasn't working when the temps jumped from around 15°C to around 30°C in four days...), though, it was another story. First of all everyone seems to have brought their kids and spouses for some reason. No one was following the arrows and no one could be bothered to observe social distancing. I had thought that was a function of the disease being in remission here, but it sounds like you folks are seeing it in harder-hit places too?
Honestly, and sadly, it actually seems like the biggest jerks of the bunch are folks who are masked up. You'd THINK that anyone worried enough to wear a mask would be extra careful about keeping their distance, but what actually seems to happen is that it makes a lot of people feel invincible so they'll happily shove past you while going the wrong way down the one-way aisle.
Also, if you're worried enough about getting sick that you're wearing a mask, maybe you shouldn't be leaving home to stand in line for half an hour to get into a garden centre to buy flowers? I mean, really, I like to pretty up my yard in the summer too but I wouldn't risk my life for it...
Denyer wrote: ↑Tue May 19, 2020 5:33 pm
Work's gradually trying to sidle towards shift people back onto normal (though still remote) duties, which could get a bit messy for whoever's taking over from me as I know the systems/software, already have access to everything, etc.
The company I work for is apparently opening most of their offices on June 8th, but it really doesn't feel like they'll have many people taking them up on it and heading back into work. I'm probably going to use the "I have a kid at home and no child care" card myself, not so much because I don't want to be in the office, but because I don't want to GO to the office. Don't really think public transit is a place I'd like to be right now, even with the case numbers seemingly under control.
Tantrum wrote: ↑Thu May 21, 2020 2:07 am
So, Trump said he's taking an anti-malaria drug as a preventative measure against coronavirus.
But...why? It only actually helps if you're infected and seriously ill (and maybe not even then?) It doesn't prevent anything. What quack prescribed it?
Tantrum wrote: ↑Thu May 21, 2020 2:07 am
Then, Speaker Pelosi said that's a bad idea, because Trump's morbidly obese, which increases risks of that drug.
...good?
She probably shouldn't have warned him, though.