Organized crime is pausing its activities around Montreal, according to La Presse’s Daniel Renaud, who notes that cocaine is getting more expensive because nobody is moving it.
Recycling firms are asking the public not to put used tissues, masks, gloves and so forth into the recycling (or compost) but straight into the garbage.
The NHL draft was supposed to take place in June at the Bell Centre, but it has been postponed.
Went outside for a walk in my Villeray neighbourhood, and to do a couple of brief but necessary errands. Lots of people were out cycling, running, walking dogs. In the street I wouldn’t have noticed much difference, although maybe more working-age adults were around than usual before 5 on a weekday.
I hope most of the little groups I saw were family or otherwise cohabiting groups, and not socializing. I saw a lot of baby carriages and a lot of young kids on small bicycles, but I guess families need to let their kids exercise a bit, even if it means possibly crossing paths with a kid’s friends and having them get too close.
At Jean-Coutu I had to not only sanitize my hands on the way in, but also answer some questions about whether I’d been travelling or had experienced any symptoms. There was plexiglas in front of the cash registers, but they were accepting cash payments.
At the butcher shop there was also hand sanitizer and a sign on the door limiting the number of people inside. Once inside, there wasn’t much policing going on, and no barriers. It was nice to say hi to the guys who are always there, and they said they hoped to stay open.
The florist at the corner was emptied of the plants that used to be in the window, and a sign on the door just said “Fermé. Merci.”
I saw one very old man shuffling along Jarry with a cane and was like OMG, but what can you do? You can’t force people to stay home just because of their age. Maybe he’s made a risk-benefit assessment and knows that a little exercise does him more good than staying inside. He’s safer than the ones living in old folks’ homes, for sure.
One of the neighbourhood fruiteries has closed up, but my usual place was open, with hand sanitizer inside the front door. A spaced-out woman was following the owner around, talking to him in a vague and druggy sort of way, and he was too polite to ask her to back off. I picked up the things I wanted and vamoosed.
La Presse has a brief video of a largely empty city. Not what I saw this afternoon.
Dystopian… sort of like what I think Winston Smith might see on a walk
Oh, which fruiterie do you go to? When my partner went to Tsikinis last week, it was super crowded and people weren’t keeping a distance.
I don’t know that I would say dystopian, I’m actually kind of encouraged by all the people doing something as low-key as taking a walk. The streets are busyish in my neighbourhood (eastern NDG/ western Westmount) but people are very careful to stand a distance a way when they meet friends. I was commenting to my wife that Canadians are well-suited for this crisis, it’s now a virtue to actively avoid the strangers around you.
I’m also amused to notice all the people walking in the middle of the street, who are more scared of the other pedestrians than of the few cars that are about.
vasi, the fruiterie closest to me is Lina, on Guizot, and it’s a good one. But it’s the nature of fruiteries to be small and crowded. Tsikinis is like that, as are Fruiterie Forcier, Lina and Fruiterie du Parc (the most recent one in this neighbourhood, which seems to have shut for the moment). They’re all crammed with products and with minimal space for clients to move around. If you have 3 people shopping at the same time, they’re all squeezing past each other or dancing around to make room.
I was just out for a run (keeping a good distance from others) and I would say the majority of people i saw on the sidewalks (and streets) were also out running. So anecdotally it does seem like people are outside mainly for exercise.
https://mobile.twitter.com/C4Dispatches
People should absolutely be more scared of other pedestrians..if not for yourself or your loved ones, for every vulnerable member of our society. Sorry that this has become a meaningless cliche at this point. I have a small business in NDG and have never been happier to hear Legault force me to close (at total risk of never again operating after over 20 years, with zero accumulated wealth, have always been content to just be able to work/live doing something I love). Why people refuse to drast change their behavior, even with the heartbreaking world news and very real support from our Federal/Provincial gov’ts makes me lose my sanity..how hard is it to stay home for 21 days unless you need food/medicine..
Anon1984, thanks for your thoughts. I am sorry you’re at risk of losing your business.
I’m running into conflicting ideas about whether simply going outside for a walk is risky. I didn’t walk a long way today, but going out for an hour’s walk did me good, both physically and mentally, after staying strictly inside for three days. Are you of the opinion people should not be out at all?
If walking was bad, they’d have put limits on it already.
Even if someone passes close, it’s minimal danger. It’s over in an instant. Go to a store, and you’re inside with endless surfaces that you have to touch, and waiting in line,or waiting for someone to move on so you can reach that item. You’ll be in c!oser contact with more people than you’ll pass outside. And the longer you wait in line, the itchier your nose gets, and the more likely the virus gets passed.
Everything is risky, at any time. But there’s no way to eliminate all the risk. If I stay home, it means someone else has to be out there. “I’ll order from amazon” but someone has to deliver it, and someone has to pack it.
The government has decided that we can go to some stores, and go outside. Density is low, so going to unneeded places (especially full of people) is going to limit things travel of the virus. It may be different later. You can cut out the easy stuff, and any more will have diminishing returns.
This virus is easy to pass, and no cure or protection yet. But look at the figures. People are recovering, and few have died yet. The virus in itself isn’t particularly dangerous, but for some people other issues kick in. And if too.many need hospitalization at the same time, the resources aren’t there. That’s the danger.
So there’s a balance between making it easy to pass the virus, and making it so hard that people ignore the rules, or suffer because of the rules. Going to a concert makes it easy for the virus to spread, locking people inside could mean starvation or mental breakdown.
Walking is better than going on the bus, and not everyone has a car to bubble themselves in when going to the store.
It’s a bit over a year since I’ve been out much. Sometime in March last year to the beginning of Dec, about 9 months inside. And in the past four months, short trips to the grocery store, and a few to the library. It took a long time to get back to.walking, indeed not being able to walk was far worse than being close to death at the end of March last year. That’s as important or more important to my health as the pills and chemotherapy. I had no choice about being in last year, now it’s really hard that there’s nowhere to go. I don’t know whether it’s easier or harder for me, but I hope it never gets to the point where people are mostly made to stay inside. It’s asking too much.
Thank you Kate, we’re all in the same situation and hopefully we all pull through together. And thank you for this website. Walking wouldn’t be a problem if everyone was social distancing which is not what I have been seeing. I don’t drive (so not in a bubble) and I have been walking to and from work until yesterday, taking side streets where there were not many people so could easily keep the 2 meter distance. (Especially when it’s pouring rain). What makes me so worried and really anxious is I was seeing far far too many people on the main commercial road not complying. I do understand that everyone, especially families with children, need fresh air and exercise for mental/physical health.
Michael Black, they’ve definitely put limits on walking in Europe. You can’t be out meandering around in France, Italy or Spain right now. Police can stop you and verify that you have legitimate cause to be outside – an essential job, medical needs, things like that. You’re not meant to stray more than 1 km from home in Paris – there’s even a website for working out where your perimeters are.
At my Provigo, there was a hand washing station at the entrance with a security guard, everyone had to wait in line to wash their hands before entering. The cashier sanitized the counter between each client. It’s nice to see they are taking this seriously.
Kate: Yup, definitely not blaming the fruiteries for anything, nobody knew anything like this would be happening. But right now we’re telling folks with symptoms or who travelled to self-isolate, without any good grocery options for them.
Quebec’s trying to expand food banks, which is good. And if we’re lucky, some grocery stores and fruiteries will move to a delivery model. Hopefully that will all help.
Apparently in Singapore anybody who tests positive can go live in a special quarantine hotel for two weeks, where food is placed outside their room doors.
The weather is turning warmish Wednesday and will stay warmer for days. I have a feeling it’s going to be a bit tricky keeping people locked down as spring comes.
People have officially caught COVID-19 from community transmission, which probably means there are a lot more that haven’t yet been tested. Hundreds are being turned away from the clinics who don’t meet the criteria for getting tested, which are listed in this item.
A homeless man was tested earlier this week then allowed to “go home” to wait, which for him meant walking around town since he had no home to go to. When the test came back positive, police had to look for him, and they did manage to find him – in a line outside the Old Brewery Mission – and bring him to hospital.
Five old people in a north-end CHSLD have tested positive for the virus.
People with Opus à l’année will be reimbursed for April.
Retailers are despairing at keeping their businesses viable over this obligatory closure. Radio‑Canada talked to florists, a trade considered nonessential, who have been throwing out the flowers they can no longer sell.
The Queen Elizabeth Hotel has lit up some rooms to make a heart over René-Lévesque. Speaking of royalty, Prince Charles has the rona.
Yes, very concerned about the warm weather, how we are going to be able to maintain our discipline when spring arrives.
Warm weather? This could be a good thing… As I wrote here P. Beckwith is the shit:
“I discuss a new scientific paper that examines the present coronavirus spread and shows correlations of the hardest hit regions to temperature and humidity changes with latitude. This is only one paper, but it seems to indicate that the hardest hit regions are within an average temperature band from 5C to 11C, with low specific humidity (3-6 g/kg) and absolute humidity (4-7 g/cm3). If this is confirmed in subsequent scientific studies then it could indicate that Covid-19 is a seasonal respiratory virus. Promising (since it would slow down in summer); but too early to tell for sure at the moment.”
As P. Beckwith is explaining here, covid-19 is presumably transmitted via WATER droplets and when the air is more humid, the droplets grow rapidly bigger and drop to the ground before being inhaled be someone else (not directly related to temperature, though).
Respiratory infectious diseases spread are mostly determined by aerosol dynamics (air flow dynamic, evaporation VS condensation, gravity fall, etc..). Google “Wells 1934 droplets”
the flower shops reminded me of something. Anyone know how pet shops are doing?
I don’t know how long they are able to stay open, and it makes me worry about the health of their stock.
Places selling cat and dog food are one thing, but aquarium shops? how long can they feed and maintain their stock before they got to let them die?
I don’t know the answer, but it worries me
@raymond Lutz – explain this to folk in Australia and NZ where it’s 30 degrees plus summers and people are ill with and dying from coronavirus
Also, doesn’t it make sense that transmission rates are higher in cooler climates because people are indoors more so they are in closer proximity and spending time in spaces where the air is recycled?
Tiny good note: QC has more than doubled the cumulative number of people tested in the last couple of days eg: from 12k total by March 23 to 28k as of today. Yes, I have been keeping a spreadsheet. Still positive rates are double the Cdn average – either we’re catching them early with better contract tracking or there are simply more people infected.
Side info: a sudden total loss of smell and taste even with no other symptoms is looking more and more like a marker of covid-19, especially in the young. Worth watching for since we’ve mostly heard about fever.
@Faiz imam
Most pet stores moved their animals to outside locations about 2 weeks ago, and if they’re stuck in a mall, owners are allowed to go feed the fish.
@Raymond Lutz
I’m sorry to say that the common cold is a form of coronavirus, and they still propagate in the summer.
@Kate
It’s only fitting that Charles got the Crown virus.
Geez, is this Boingboing forum? It’s not ONLY temperature… listen to the video I linked to and readTemperature, Humidity and Latitude Analysis to Predict Potential Spread and Seasonality for COVID-19“. |The authors distinguish between community spread and “extensive population interaction through travel” (like Australia?)
Thanks for the useful links, Raymond Lutz. Also, it’s worth looking into Farr’s Law and the founder of the use of medical statistics for predicting epidemics.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Farr
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468042718300101
Not sure why the police think it’s a good time to reinvestigate a murder from last September in Lasalle, but they’re putting out sketches of three men wanted in a fatal stabbing, and seeking information.
It’s currently considered a tossup whether the Grand Prix will be held here on June 14.
There’s evidence now of community transmission of COVID-19 in Montreal. This is specifically what we’re all trying to limit by staying home.
Regular reader Matthew Hollett is building a website called COVID-19 in Canada with clear graphics and numbers of the progression of the contagion here.
The city is putting funds into Centraide and sending workers to support Moisson Montréal in the absence of volunteers. Plateau borough has also put funds into community groups to help folks who need it.
The STM will no longer accept cash even in its ticket machines.
Some thoughts from Toula Drimonis on how art and creativity will support us through this time.
Kudos to Matthew Hollett, interesting graphics. It would be interesting to compare how many people have been tested in every province, as it has a direct impact on the number of cases. I don’t know about the other provinces, but in Quebec these numbers (negative testings and under investigation) are posted daily on Twitter.
As of Tuesday, these are the numbers on the Santé Québec feed:
➡️1013 cas confirmés
➡️4 décès
➡️1 personne guérie
➡️2548 personnes sous investigation
➡️12 202 analyses négatives
Radio-Canada also has a nice page where the data can be accessed:
Why does Quebec have so many more cases than the other provinces? Is it more testing? Is it because of the one-week-earlier spring break? Because we have so many snowbirds here?
Sorry, also forgot to say that is a lovely website, Matthew. Really nice and clean visualization. Thank you!
Is there easy to read info about how the provinces are measuring cases? There is detail that Quebec’s jump is because cases no longer need validation — but do other provinces require validation? Are we testing more or do we just have a lot more cases than BC and ON?
Very nice website, Matthew. Soothing except for the content. @Alex – Testing numbers can be found here: https://virihealth.com/ Not sure how meaningful those testing numbers are; the high positives for QC make me suspect our test criteria is different esp given the low death rate. Maybe Raymond Lutz has some insight on this?
walkerp, don’t forget that we have a large percentage of french (I mean from France) and italian people in Quebec. With the winter break week, a lot more people came back from these two countries compared to say, Manitoba.
Great looking graphic Matthew Hollett. It’s at the top of my daily visits now.
@JaneyB: (cue the StarTrek soundtrack) “I’m an engineer, not a doctor!” 😎
Most real world measurement outcomes (polls, meteorological surveys, etc… ) are sensitive to sampling bias. Who get to be tested, is there a one to one correspondence between ‘a test’ and ‘a case’ (multiple samples are taken for one person) , etc… all this may differ from one region to another. For more info see https://ourworldindata.org/covid-testing#covid-19-test-coverage-estimates-as-of-20-march
Thanks, all. I’ve been working on the site a lot so I’d glad people are using it.
@walkerp
The isolation and school closure order came 4 days after spring break ended here.
That was 1 day before spring break started in Ontario.
You can also donate to Centraide.
The outdoor COVID-19 testing clinic at the Place des Festivals has been busy. Ideally people are meant to pre-triage themselves into those with symptoms, just back from a trip abroad, or having been in contact with a presumed or confirmed case, before making their way to the clinic.
The Journal says Peter Sergakis wept as he laid off 1500 workers.
The 2020 Olympics are officially delayed till next year. I’m reading the BBC live newsfeed which also says the UK is shutting down, 514 people died in Spain in one day, Manu Dibango has died of COVID-19, and Donald Trump says the United States will soon be reopening for business.
CBC talked to several disappointed athletes one of whom makes the point that simply trying to keep training at this point would be risky.
Apparently walk-ins at the clinic absolutely have to have been travelling or be in contact with a known case to get tested. The description that’s on the website is unclear and sounds like symptoms are enough, but that’s not the case, (source: someone on FB who works there saying that she had to turn people away because of the poorly-worded description). It would be great if we could see some clarification on that.
Why is Sergakis even news? Plenty of people wept as they had to lay off their employees. At this point, it’s just his publicity machine… haven’t we learnt anything about people and publicity machines? That’s how you build populism.
People who had no exposure are getting tested because they are afraid. It’s a cure for their anxiety. We should have social workers there to help them deal with anxiety.
Let’s be clear. Sergakis was weeping because of the lost revenue, not because of his employees.
For all the bad, it would be great if Sergakis was wiped out by this. A fever ridding the body of a virus.
He is human garbage, verily. Hang in there, kids. Remember this: it’s gonna be alright.
Here are some lists of what kinds of business will be open or closed as of Tuesday night until April 13, Easter Monday, following the decree of François Legault Monday afternoon. The official Quebec page is clear.
Some are worried about people with alcohol dependency and where they will be able to go to isolate and yet not face withdrawal.
Two SPVM officers have tested positive for COVID-19. They had been on vacation and have been in self-isolation since returning.
It’s disturbing to read that nurses at the Montreal General who were exposed to a patient with the virus were sent an email telling them to keep quiet about it and keep working. Right now we need to trust the health services and this kind of shifty behaviour is exactly what we don’t need.
How many of the threats to homeless and substance-dependent individuals in that metro article are real problems?
They worry that deps will close (they won’t).
They worry that supervised injection sites will close — and as I read the list, yes, they will.
They worry that care at the Royal Vic for homeless people who are COVID-19+ won’t take dependence into account. If that’s realistic, I’m horrified. I know that doctors *can* prescribe alcohol for their hospitalized alcohol-dependent patients. Are they saying that it’s common practice here not to?
But what I want to know is.,, will my fridge be delivered tomorrow?
(Used, nice brand, delivered, $600 tax included, they’ll take the old fridge and fix it and resell it if they can… unless the delivery is not an essential service, in which case I am out both a fridge and $600 for another month.)
Delivery services should be OK:
https://twitter.com/ataillefer/status/1242205796194291716?s=21
Stone cold boozehounds and druggies can be dosed on lorazepam and barbiturates to deal with the withdrawal symptoms, and they’ll come off better.
The dep in my corner shut down, so I think that it might be up to the owners to decide whether to open or close. Pretty sure that the decree allows essential businesses to open, but doesn’t prevent them from closing.
Re: the nurses at the Gen- this is typical of some managers at the muhc and these “keep quiet” edict types of decisions resulted in the Elbaz brothers/Porter’s fraud and only reinforces the need for a unionized workforce
If you go to the gov’t link and click on ‘Commerces Prioritaires’ you’ll see that the SAQ, SQDC, deps, etc, are all considered essential. https://www.quebec.ca/sante/problemes-de-sante/a-z/coronavirus-2019/fermeture-endroits-publics-commerces-services-covid19/#c48424
Kate, it’s not that clear. (List below from Quebec website. Numbers added by me for ease of reference.)
Les services prioritaires de transport et logistique suivants :
1. Transports en commun et transport des personnes
2. Ports et aéroports
3. Services d’entretien de locomotives, d’aéronefs et opérations aéronautiques essentielles (transport aérien)
4. Approvisionnement et distribution des biens alimentaires, épiceries et dépanneurs
5. Transport, entreposage et distribution de marchandises essentielles
6. Déneigement et maintien des liens routiers fonctionnel
7. Stations-services et réparation mécanique de véhicules automobiles, camions et équipements spécialisés pour les industries considérées essentielles et assistance routière
8. Taxis et services de transport adapté
9. Services postaux, messageries et livraisons de colis
Reasonable people could disagree on whether my fridge is an essential good that may be delivered (item 5).
Pro: I think it’s essential (though if necessary I can learn otherwise).
Con: The store I bought it from is not on the list of essential stores that can remain open. It’s possible I would need to order my fridge from Home Depot (which can remain open as per item D below, so presumably everything in it is an essential good).
(Letters added by me for ease of reference.)
Les commerces prioritaires, incluant :
A. Épiceries et autres commerces d’alimentation
B. Pharmacies
C. Dépanneurs
D. Grandes surfaces hors centre commercial (offrant des services d’épicerie, pharmacie ou de quincaillerie)
E. Produits pour exploitations agricoles (mécanique, engrais, etc.)
F. Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ) et Société québécoise du cannabis (SQDC)
G. Salons funéraires, crémation et cimetières
F. Restaurants (comptoirs pour emporter ou livraison seulement)
G. Hôtels
H. Nettoyeurs et buanderie
I. Commerces d’articles médicaux et orthopédiques
J. Commerces d’aliments et fournitures pour les animaux de compagnie
K. Déménageurs
L. Équipements de travail (sécurité et protection)
david100,
Sure. But the folks quoted in Metro seem to think that substance-dependent people may be left untreated for withdrawal. Is that fear founded? Would COVID-19+ individuals not be under medical care of some level while distancing at the Vic? Do the substance-dependent find that when they are hospitalized their dependence is untreated? (Not just not treated the way they would like, but not treated at all — the people quoted emphasized the life-or-death nature of the problem.)
Alison, all you can do about the fridge is ask the people you bought it from. As J noted, because some kinds of business are permitted to stay open, it doesn’t mean they have to.
Kate, yes, I called. “All deliveries scheduled for Tuesday will go ahead as planned.” Which suggests that future deliveries may not???
So I’m fine, but there may be more kinks to work out.
I can tell you right now, lots of companies that aren’t essential are trying to stay open….putting their employees at risk (my parents companies are staying open….the employees have been told they have “government permission”). The owners get to stay at home, while the workers have to go in and put their lives at risk.
If Dollarama is staying open, I sure hope they’re limiting the number of people going in and creating safe conditions for their employees. I used to work at one during cegep, minimum wage is not worth the pressure and toxic work environment that I knew Dollarama to be.
The fridge-deliverers say this is their last day. Then no more deliveries for a month. They won’t be paid, will need to apply for EI and do whatever they need to do.
@Allison did they tell you that as they delivered your fridge yesterday (this is my hope), or on the phone as they let you know you wouldn’t be getting yours?
@Dhomas,
Yep, got my fridge! On the last possible day. If your fridge breaks you can probably get a new one from a stand-alone big box hardware store.
Glad to hear you got it! 🙂
You might notice that cases of COVID-19 in Quebec jumped to 628 on Monday, but I’m seeing explanations that this is because of a sudden rush in test results. No need to panic.
It’s the 5.3% positive test rating that’s scary, that’s twice any other province.
During Legault’s press conference today, he (or Horacio Arruda? I forget) explained that the percentage of positive results will be higher in Quebec because of who the province decided to test at first. At first they would only test people who traveled in the last 14 days AND exhibited COVID-19 symptoms. People with just one or the other of those conditions were not tested. Had they tested anyone with a cough or fever or anyone who traveled, then we’d have a much lower percentage of positive tests. Now anyone can get tested, so in the coming days we should see the numbers shift and give a clearer picture.
Apparently the reason is we’re now counting “probable” cases as as confirmed. Steve Faguy has a graph of the actual rate of increase, which is still pretty scary: https://twitter.com/fagstein/status/1242142973284044803
Apparently, some of the provinces have been including probable cases along with certain cases in their totals. (One positive test vs two positive tests). BC, AB, ON, QC, NS, PEI have *not* included probable cases. As of today, QC is joining SK, MB, NB, NFLD in adding probable with certain cases. Prepare to be alarmed as BC, AB and ON follow suit soon. The sooner people isolate, the sooner the infection will end. It will end.
Thanks JaneyB. So this explains why QC has surged ahead of other provinces with the highest number of cases?
Well said Matt. To add, even with testing the cases more likely to be positive (5.3%), the percentage that required hospitalization and/or intensive care has been reassuring compared to data in Europe/China. Our hospitals are ramping up # of beds that can be allocated for mild-moderate-severe Covid patients. May see mild positives (incl. non-hospitalized) sent to be quarantined in our hotels to minimize transmission at home (unless living alone with support for essentials).
Tooting my own horn here… but speaking of rate of increase, I now include in my plots the doubling period for each province, (ie the number of days it takes to observe an increase of cases by a factor 2) and the plots are semi-log which is more effective in comparing various grow rates. See https://twitter.com/lutzray
I plotted cases per million for each province and territory and for Canada, setting 0 to the day the number reached 5.
Québec’s curve is above Canada’s but BC’s is below. Not what I expected so maybe my plot isn’t valid.
^ When I say “the number” reached 5, I meant cases per M reached 5.
Silver lining to COVID-19 for me is I get to count lots of things!
Rate of increase by province, starting from the first reported case.
YT 100%
NT 100%
ON 111% (does not include probable cases)
BC 112% (does not include probable cases)
PE 113%
Total Canada 114%
MB 119%
NB 127%
QC 129%
AB 137% (does not include probable cases)
NS 139%
NL 142%
SK 146%
So Saskatchewan is increasing almost 50% daily whereas the Yukon has been holding steady at two cases for the last two days.
Ontario averages 11% more cases every day than the day before whereas Quebec averages 29% more cases every day.
Note that when provinces switch to reporting probables, it will increase the total number of cases but could theoretically *lower* the daily increase rates if it significantly backdates the first case.
In case your reader doesn’t support soft returns:
Rate of increase by province, starting from the first reported case.
YT 100%
NT 100%
ON 111% (does not include probable cases)
BC 112% (does not include probable cases)
PE 113%
Total Canada 114%
MB 119%
NB 127%
QC 129%
AB 137% (does not include probable cases)
NS 139%
NL 142%
SK 146%
I’ve updated the script generating my two covid-19 plots… not as nice as Matthew’s ones, but they’ll please old people like me who are disoriented by big screens and slick mouseovers, nice work Matthew! 😎
@Allison, I got 27% daily increase for Canada (not 14%). I average for the last 7 days to smooth out any slack in lab processing/reporting during weekends. From day to day I’ll flip between daily growth and doubling period (as both are used). I’m updating the plots daily around 20h00 DST when Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering pushes their stats.
Police can now break up gatherings and fine people refusing to comply.
Street parking changes that usually come into force on April 1 will be delayed till May 1 and parking stickers will not expire for now.
Donald Trump wants to reduce the social restrictions advised by public health authorities. I wonder how bad it’s going to get down there.
Parking meters still need to be paid. I’d go to donate blood but I’d still have to pay for parking or take the metro, and neither seems ideal at the moment. But I figure even that will end soon (meters, not the need for blood).
I was going to give blood last week until I saw that the nearest clinic was at the Eaton Centre. Public transit and then a mall? No thanks.
But that’s why they are asking people to give blood.
It’s not that there is an increased demand, it”s that they don’t want reserves to go low when people are less likely to donate. Maybe someone who lives nearby or doesn’t feel a hardship will donate for the first time.
They tend to set up a collection point for a few days and then move elsewhere (along with permanent collection points), but maybe those won’t be happening now.
I’ve never given blood, didn’t like the idea of a needle in my arm, but I’ve had so many blood tests in the past year it no longer matters. Except I suspect they don’t want my blood now.
Realized this morning I probably won’t be charging my Opus card for April. Feels wrong, but then so do most things at the moment.
Also realized that there hasn’t been a pedestrian killed in traffic in almost two weeks.
Let’s hope domestic murder-suicides don’t increase during this time of quarantine and self-isolation!
I doubt that they will. People seem to mellow somehow during these periods. Look at those on the cruise ships, some of them were locked in very tiny quarters with no natural light and survived without a murder/suicide.
For me, I would think the hard part is stopping my planning. I have a list in my head of things that I like to stock up on before the season, so I don’t have to run and get them when I’m at my busiest. Things that most people don’t even think of, like bandages, make-up removal wipes, garbage bags, towels, laundry soap, hand soap, etc. Things that I use in abundant quantities all summer long. On the other side, it means that I’m well stocked, three refills of hand soap. The washing soap that I use comes in a container of 1100 loads for $80… so plenty! I look for specials to fill in those supplies, so that I stock at the lowest price. And I have a freezer and pantry. Okay, I may be eating oatmeal for meals for a few months…
Been with Opus a l’annee for longer than I can remember… I doubt they’ll refund anything out of the goodness of their heart, but I wouldn’t say no to a rebate of any kind. Even if it’s for 2021.
The COVID-19 test clinic has opened on the Place des Festivals and will operate every day from 8 till 8. People are already lining up.
CTV headlines a piece Montreal closes parks, but as I understand it, while playgrounds are off limits now, because you can’t risk kids playing together, larger parks are still accessible to people wanting to walk or run. CBC’s Kristy Snell tweeted a couple of shots from a Radio‑Canada photographer showing playground equipment covered with danger tape. There are many pocket parks that are basically only small playgrounds, which I suppose are off-limits now generally – but those have pretty much been out of use anyway, because of winter.
From the video:
If you don’t drive and are unable to walk down and stand in the cold for whatever reason, you are invited to call the 1-877 number. Nobody who meets the criteria will be denied testing.
Canada will not be sending athletes to the Tokyo Olympics unless they’re postponed to a safer time.
So lame that Canada is the country to announce this.
Like, those Japanese have been prepping for this for years, and instead of doing the multi-lateral thing, some Canadian Olympic people with their own agenda are trying to make a play here.
I thought it was kind of badass and the right thing to do. IOC is super corrupt and clearly hoping to buy time. Insane to think that it is even a conversation at this point whether they will cancel it or not.
I agree with walkerp. Canada made the right move. Those Games will have to be cancelled, or postponed a year.
Everything I’ve understood from this story is that the IOC and Japan are both aware that the games need to be postponed, but they are playing a game a chicken to see who pulls the plug first….in terms of saving face, but mostly because of insurance and contracts. They are out-waiting each other to see who blinks first and is left with the bulk of expenses.
I have a family member who does a lot of the logistics for the Canadian team (arranging transportation and storage of athletic gear, team clothing, specialized nutritional needs etc etc etc, all the things the team needs to function). That job alone is a massive undertaking, he has already been to Japan twice for periods of about 10 days. If the games are to go ahead as scheduled his crew (and that of every other country) would need to be in Japan by the third week of June to set up. He would also need to make another week-long trip at the end of May.
There is no way one can reasonably expect all this to be blown over in time.
@David100, this isn’t about Japan. It’s about the clowns in the IOC. Cathal Kelly hits the nail on the head in the following (hopefully not paywalled) column: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/article-canadas-decision-to-pull-out-of-the-olympics-is-to-our-collective/
That’s just rah-rahism for Canada.
In reality, the Japanese should have been left to announce it in their own time, given the huge investment they’ve made – both financially and in terms of national pride.
The Canadians are doing their goofy thing to gain exactly the plaudits they’re gaining from the media, instead of being good soldiers and doing the right thing, which is to let the Japanese do their thing. And in case you’re thinking that the Japanese would be too invested or corrupt to cancel due to a public health crisis, you should learn more about Japan, whose people and government I trust the most out of any on earth to manage a pandemic like this.
Who will make the decision to cancel the Olympics? Japan or the IOC?
Spoke to my relative today, the sea cans with the bulk of Team Canada gear were supposed to be loaded on a freighter this morning to make the journey to Japan. There was barely time to prevent them being loaded. There are many many moving parts here and time is critical. There are many many repercussions if people go through the motions to appease the IOC and the JOC.
Aaaaand it’s official, they’re cancelled. If Canada hadn’t pulled the plug when it did all their stuff would be on a cargo ship right now bound for Tokyo, where it would then be put on another ship immediately and sent back.
@dwgs
Dick Pound says he expects they’ll be cancelled, but the IOC has not officially cancelled or postponed the games yet.
(People need to be much better at writing headlines)
I got alerts from two different sports sites I follow saying that they were cancelled. It seems that somebody jumped the gun.
As of midnight Sunday, the SPVM is declaring emergency over COVID-19. Daniel Renaud explains the ways this will change how the police operate.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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…
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.
CE. thats horrific. Maybe the city should appropriate all the buses no one is riding to use as mobile testing points.
@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.
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.)
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 🙂
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.
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.
Hundreds of people attended a wedding at a Westmount synagogue on March 12, and one of them, a Côte St-Luc resident, has since been rushed to hospital with COVID‑19. Now CSL has more cases of the virus and is asking for quarantine to be imposed.
Exo is reducing its train departures as of Monday because of lowered demand. Buses run by Exo will be rescheduled sometime next week.
(Remember when we all thought two weeks would do it?)
Justin Trudeau will be speaking at 11:15 Sunday, and François Legault at 1 p.m. – these are from the Journal’s latest developments page.
Bars are excluded from the federal support program and bar owners feel this is unfair. Is it fair to group bars with casinos, pawnshops, the sex industry and “businesses that incite any form of violence, hatred or discrimination”?
La Presse says a clinique sans rendez‑vous to test for the virus will be opening Monday under a heated marquee at St‑Urbain and de Maisonneuve. It’s to be drive-thru and walk-up and really be sans rendez-vous, unlike so many soi‑disant walk‑in clinics around town.
> (Remember when we all thought two weeks would do it?)
Nope. Not me. I started thinking in terms of months immediately. If we’re going to be holed up like Anne Frank for months, what do we need to put in place so that we can stay sane?
My thought was that groups of people who weren’t too popular could arrange to be social with eachother but not other people. But grownups have complicated lives and for most people I don’t think that works.
>Is it fair to group bars with casinos, pawnshops, the sex industry
Those are *all* legal businesses, i.e. operating with government permission already, and now it’s government forcing them closed. Outrageous.
>and “businesses that incite any form of violence, hatred or discrimination”?
“any form of violence”. ha! Says the federal government that sells weapons to Saudi Arabia.
Chris, the sex trade has to be in a legal gray area, and besides, by its very nature – unless it’s a booth with a partition (do those even exist any more in the internet era?) – brings people into dangerous proximity. I base this on a recent story about an erotic massage salon getting closed down in Rosemont, because it was “offering erotic services far beyond what its permit allows”. I don’t know what the terms of their permit were, but that little storefront was in and out of the news for awhile, because it’s in a mostly residential area and people were uncomfortable with it.
Kevin 22:42 on 2020-03-25 Permalink
That’s weird. The city of Montreal specifically says you can compost used tissues. https://ville.montreal.qc.ca/portal/page?_pageid=7418,142596054&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL
Michael Black 23:42 on 2020-03-25 Permalink
I don’t think tissues were ever supposed to go in recycling.
But this sounds like fear of germs, like fear of handling money, so the compost is an add on. And chanveof rules by the companies that collect it, rather than a decision further up the chain.
Blork 10:33 on 2020-03-26 Permalink
@Kevin, not weird. That page you link to is their general pre-Covid19 page. The current request is due to those tissues now being laden with coronaviruses, and the people handling the compost are understandably worried about that.
Kevin 11:04 on 2020-03-26 Permalink
Blork
Sorry, I wasn’t clear.
The weirdness was this line from the article directly contradicting the usual policy: <>
I’m thinking someone overreached and didn’t verify.
Blork 11:17 on 2020-03-26 Permalink
Oh right. I assume you mean this line: Même en temps normal, celles-ci ne devraient pas être jetées au recyclage ni au bac à compost.
I assume that’s the writer’s mistake.
Kevin 12:39 on 2020-03-26 Permalink
Blork
Yeah, that’s the line. I put it in, but it didn’t appear inside the brackets