Virus Chronicles : Stay home eh!

The coronavirus is now spreading faster everywhere but China. Canada's various "suggestions" from national, provincial and even cities are changing daily. Since the skipper and I are in two high risk groups, we have been physical-distancing for 11 days. Actually, he hasn't been out at all; I walk every few days for sanity, steering clear of people. I've been buying online from companies that deliver to my door (I arranged other delivery with amazon.ca and well.ca after Canada Post quit delivering here). We've stocked the freezer with meals from www.hearttohomemeals.ca to give us more choices (first meal was good). We were finally forced to order online from our grocery store, but the earliest "pickup" time was 6 days away! All good.

NYS and Washington state infection rates are growing particularly fast - the reason why Canada worked to close the border with the USA. In the newspaper, interesting stats from the CDC - nearly 40% of US "hospitalizations" for covid-19 were 20 to 44 years old. The nasty nickname for coronavirus is "boomer remover", which refers to early death rates being higher for older people. Wow, that's just mean. Wake up - the NYTimes said half of "infections" are now under 50 in the USA.Meanwhile... in Canada, 36% of Canadian do not feel threatened by the virus; 50% of Canadians under 25 do not feel threatened. Wow.

I hope there is a vaccine before we get infected. If everyone stays home that may be possible, but I think the Canadian government will need to declare the War Measures Act so they can charge people for ignoring the current self-isolation request from Canada's health department.

Most people we know who came back from south have ignored the instructions given to them at the border for a 14-day isolation before going shopping or returning to work. During March Break, I saw a group of parents with a group of kids playing together in a driveway. A few nights later, we could hear people having a party.

Good news - my yoga teacher is going to try an online class in  few days - I'm so excited!

More good news - Citymapper.com Mobility Index shows a sharp reduction in Toronto movements between week of March 15 and March 22 from 84% (of usual trips) to 34%. Yesterday it was 23%. NY City was 8% - they got the memo.  Maybe flattening the curve will work.