Nice day brought people out
TVA reports on how a nice Saturday brought people out, and I can attest to how there were so many people in Jarry Park that after walking down through the park (and looking at the dry crater of the sad empty pond) I thought it wiser to walk home through the streets instead, and found a lot of people out socializing, some too close if talking to people with whom they’re not cohabiting.
I suspect the lockdown will gradually give way as people simply find themselves outdoors over time, interacting. Even if the adults maintain distance, it’s impossible to enforce it on all the little kids if they see their friends around outside. And then we’ll have to take the consequences.
There was no police presence in the park, by the way, no loudspeakers reminding us of the rules.
MarcG 11:17 on 2020-04-26 Permalink
Same thing along the water in Verdun yesterday. Nearly impossible to keep distance from others, and a lot of people don’t seem to know what 6 feet looks like. What I particularly don’t understand is bicycling: you are necessarily going to be almost face to face, breathing moistly, with those passing in the other direction.
jeather 12:12 on 2020-04-26 Permalink
I was picking up some bagels, and though the store is good about distancing (though still cash only) and the line was well-spaced, the people just wandering around, jogging in groups on crowded sidewalks without masks, people walking in groups on sidewalks not going single file when someone is coming towards them . . . one nice day and no one is careful.
I did drop some bagels off for a friend and one of the kids just started to barrel towards me before the parents stopped it. It’s so hard for them.
John B 12:13 on 2020-04-26 Permalink
Breathing moistly hehe.
I went on a long bike ride yesterday. On the roads. There were tons of people on the bike paths I saw, but I passed maybe 10 cyclists in 50km on the streets. Most streets are mostly empty and smoother than the bike paths, that’s where cyclists should be!
DeWolf 12:26 on 2020-04-26 Permalink
I think it’s worth repeating that there is a very low chance of getting Covid-19 simply by passing someone in the street, even if they are “breathing moistly.”
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2020/4/24/21233226/coronavirus-runners-cyclists-airborne-infectious-dose
CE 12:30 on 2020-04-26 Permalink
I was in Jarry Park yesterday. The police drove by in a van with loud speakers with a message in French and English. A cruiser drove by slowly a couple times. I was there for about 3 hours. Lots of people hanging out but most seemed to be in small groups of two or couples with kids. The only people I see consistently hanging out in large groups are teens. I guess they’re invincible so don’t really need to worry.
Kate 12:44 on 2020-04-26 Permalink
CE, we must’ve been there different times, then. I was out after about 4 p.m. and saw no cops. Lots and lots of little kids, many on those wobbly little bikes/trikes, scooting all over the place.
CE 16:03 on 2020-04-26 Permalink
I was there from about 1pm to 4 pm. The van playing the message passed just after I arrived.I also saw lots of kids, I guess normally they’d be at various playgrounds but since they’re all closed, everyone converged on the bigger parks.
MarcG 19:29 on 2020-04-26 Permalink
@DeWolf: The third paragraph of that article says “[Don’t worry] as long as you’re maintaining at least 6 feet of distance from other people and you’re not in a high-risk group, you’re engaged in a very low-risk activity, particularly if you and others are wearing masks.”
Max 21:15 on 2020-04-26 Permalink
I visited the Old Port on Saturday afternoon. The crowd was out pretty good along the promenade, what with the nice weather. The kids weren’t doing much of the social-distancing thing. Spotted about a dozen police out among the crowd, but no warnings nor dissuasion was observed. Smarten the fuck up, kids. Lives are at stake.
Phil M 03:36 on 2020-04-27 Permalink
“I saw all these other people flouting the lockdown while I was out walking in the park, and at the Old Port…”
This is the “you are not stuck in traffic, you are traffic” of the pandemic.
Max 07:58 on 2020-04-27 Permalink
Not really. Most people were walking on the road or the sidewalk. I stuck to the grass and the piers. No way am I infecting my mom.
Michael Black 08:15 on 2020-04-27 Permalink
Phil has a point.
Thhere was a letter in the Gazette from a woman, she”d done her “mandatory 2 week isolation” after returning home and went to the park. And then felt obliged to complain about how crowded it was.
If it seems too crowded, likely best to go somewhere else.
The letter writer seemed dependant on rules, two weeks and she was out of isolation, and then probably carrying a tape measure to make sure everyone was 2M apart, rather than understanding it all. She felt entitled ecause she’d fulfilled her obligation, but maybe it takes 15 days, and then magically she seemed worried about others rather than seeing herself as the potential problem.
Kate 09:22 on 2020-04-27 Permalink
Phil M: fair enough. Jarry Park is a block from me and is the only green space of any size nearby, but I won’t be visiting it again anytime soon.
dwgs 10:13 on 2020-04-27 Permalink
I have two dogs and I need to lose 20 lbs so we go out on a very long walk every day. Early on I walked up to the mountain one day and down to the canal another. I won’t do that again unless the weather is inclement enough to keep normal people away. I now choose routes where there are unlikely to be people or if it looks like it’s going to be a nice spring day I make sure to go early before others are up and about. Not because I’m a model citizen, just because it’s way less complicated and I’m free to get lost in my thoughts rather than constantly mentally mapping out a route between other people, traffic, etc.
Tim S. 14:10 on 2020-04-27 Permalink
“I’m free to get lost in my thoughts rather than constantly mentally mapping out a route between other people, traffic, etc.”
Yeah, I miss this. I go out for a walk most days, but sometimes I really have to on alert and constantly zig-zagging from one side of the street to the other. Rainy/cold days are my friend.