STM: Don’t take transit if you think you’re sick
The STM is asking people who suspect they’ve caught the virus not to take public transit, although that leaves open the question how they’re meant to get to a testing clinic if they have no car. If I were feeling woozy I don’t think I’d want to walk to the Place des Festivals from Villeray, but it wouldn’t be fair to expose a taxi driver either.
I’ve just seen a tweet saying the city is closing playgrounds.
Everything I heard on the 1 p.m. Legault talk suggests we’ll be on general isolation at least till the end of April. He announced that schools and malls are closed till May, as well as restaurant dining rooms. Grocery stores, pharmacies and SAQ stores remain open.
Hydro-Quebec is suspending late paying fees, but Quebec could cancel all domestic (and maybe some commercial) Hydro bills for March, April and May, if it really wanted to give us a break.
The number of COVID-19 deaths in Quebec actually went down from 5 to 4, as a postmortem apparently revealed that one of the people who died didn’t have the virus.
The mayor of New York says that city’s situation’s going to get worse throughout April and May. He’s blaming Trump for his inaction, but you can bet Trump is repositioning himself to be the hero of this story, and half the voters in America are already most of the way to believing it. (Trump’s also figuring out how to delay the November election, bet on it.)
I wish there were other news to report. We haven’t even had any police blotter stories this weekend.
dmdiem 15:53 on 2020-03-22 Permalink
The election question has come up often. From what i understand, delaying the election doesn’t extend the presidential term. Once the term ends, the president steps down and the speaker of the house assumes presidential duties until an election can be called.
jeather 16:09 on 2020-03-22 Permalink
Police tape around the apparatuses in parks in St Henri. A number of people walking, but I didn’t walk along commercial stores so who knows.
My mother’s going to be distraught that I can’t just have dinner with her (from 6′ away) at her house anymore.
JP 16:09 on 2020-03-22 Permalink
The “don’t go to the clinic by STM” thing sounds complicated. I feel like the density and crowding of buses and metros being what they are (i.e., not crowded at all), makes it actually better to go by STM and keep your distance, rather than be in a car, in very close proximity to a taxi/uber driver or family member or friend. You can probably even have a whole wagon of the metro to yourself at this point.
Also, lots of workplaces are still running as usual. I know people who work in the St. Laurent St. garment area, and companies refuse to close, and keep running. The people i know wouldn’t qualify for the $573, but they don’t want to go to work. What do you do then? I think the government really really needs to mandate that everything shut down. There are still places refusing to take public health directives seriously in order to profit…I’m not sure what it will take to get them to comply.
Kevin 16:42 on 2020-03-22 Permalink
There isn’t really a federal election in the US—not like we know it.
There are 50 states holding elections, and then it gets complicated.
There is a reason no country has imitated the US electoral system…
CE 16:47 on 2020-03-22 Permalink
A friend of mine had to get tested (came back negative) and had to walk (in the rain) from Parc-Ex to Hôtel-Dieu. She doesn’t have a car and they told her she couldn’t take transit or a taxi. I walked with her, it took about an hour. I don’t know what a really sick or older person in her situation would do.
dmdiem 17:01 on 2020-03-22 Permalink
CE. thats horrific. Maybe the city should appropriate all the buses no one is riding to use as mobile testing points.
Ephraim 19:21 on 2020-03-22 Permalink
@jeather – I can’t even see my mother anymore. The apartment building won’t let anyone in, by government order. They were having dinner, one per table, but they switched to delivering dinner to each room.
Maybe we should start doing what they do in China, SKorea, Hong Kong and Taiwan and check everyone’s temperature to enter transit.
jeather 19:38 on 2020-03-22 Permalink
My grandmother’s in one of those homes. I visited last Saturday, the place had planned to close to visitors, but while I was there the new announcement came out. I know she’s worried she’s going to die there alone. It’s horrible. (I’m not saying the rule is wrong. But it’s horrible.)
Ephraim 20:24 on 2020-03-22 Permalink
I talk to my mother each night. She tells us what she needs, so we can look at getting it shipped to her.
I was wondering about the change from 5 to 4… we assumed reanimation 🙂
JaneyB 09:38 on 2020-03-23 Permalink
Don’t most taxis have a plexiglass panel between them and the ride? Maybe a pickup truck could offer transit eg: sick person in the back. There’s hardly any traffic now and off-highways that seems workable. Similarly some kind of bike-powered trailer could be helpful.
The simplest thing would be a mobile testing unit that goes to peoples’ houses. I agree with @Ephraim, there should be/should have been temperature testing everywhere. It will catch everything but it’s better than not knowing.
Alison Cummins 12:28 on 2020-03-23 Permalink
JaneyB,
Not that I’m aware of. I don’t remember ever seeing plexiglas barriers in Montreal.
When you call to confirm that you meet criteria for testing you can make arrangements to be tested if you can’t go to where they are.