Covid: Where the city is now
Summaries of Wednesday’s Covid situation in Montreal show a slight uptick after gradually declining numbers of cases and deaths.
I was out Wednesday, doing a few hours’ work for the place where I was laid off mid-March, which is in a limbo state of being neither really shut nor really open. About half the people on the bus wear masks, if that. I haven’t a formal count, but there’s a strong impression more women are wearing them than men.
Only a few people were working. One guy had lost his father-in-law to Covid, and another told me about a couple she knew whose kids brought it home, then the parents caught it, and they were all sick and sluggish for weeks.
On the way in, I said hello to the janitor, who was mopping the floor while wearing a mask “chin hammock” style i.e. completely uselessly. On the way home, I noticed that the man sitting behind me in the bus was “wearing” a mask dangling off one ear. It’s not a good luck charm, people, you’ve got to have them over nose and mouth or don’t bother!
Brett 21:11 on 2020-06-03 Permalink
Sounds an awful lot like the symptoms discussed in this post! https://mtlcityweblog.com/2020/02/03/apologies-for-sluggishness/
Kate 21:34 on 2020-06-03 Permalink
Brett, I have wondered whether that was Covid I caught in early February, but if it was, I got off lightly – less than a week of feeling woozed out, then I was fine. If they come up with a general antibody test I’ll be in line.
Brett 22:06 on 2020-06-03 Permalink
Kate, did you lose your sense of smell or taste? Apparently that’s the clincher.
Kate 23:03 on 2020-06-03 Permalink
I didn’t notice that symptom, but I don’t think I would’ve done. I felt crappy for four solid days and don’t recall paying a lot of attention to what I was eating. I wasn’t nauseated, it wasn’t a digestive issue, but my head felt sort of muffled and I spent most of the time sleeping it off.
DeWolf 07:36 on 2020-06-04 Permalink
I was optimistic that people could be encouraged to wear masks voluntarily, but no level of government has been up to the task of aggressively promoting their use. So maybe it’s time to make them mandatory – at the very least for indoor spaces like public transit and shops. The number of active cases is finally on the decline but there’s no reason to be complacent now.
If there’s no requirement, then at the very least businesses need to step up and be more proactive in getting their customers to wear masks. I was at Costco recently and while it’s not a requirement, they make a point of handing out free masks to anyone who doesn’t have one, and while I was shopping about 95% of people had a face covering.
Margaret Black 07:48 on 2020-06-04 Permalink
I did a curbside pick up from the Atwater Library Tuesday afternoon. I noticed the same thing with the masks, both on public transport (RTL and metro) and on the street. About half were wearing them, but I’d say equal coverage for men and women and often not properly installed. STM personnel were handing out the masks at Atwater, but I noticed a lot of people taking them and putting them in their pockets or removing them once on the metro platform. What’s with that?
DeWolf 08:41 on 2020-06-04 Permalink
Radio-Canada has an article today that discusses the benefits and risks of wearing masks. I think part of the problem is we still have a number of doctors telling people they’re too stupid to wear masks properly, or that they’re useless unless you put one on the minute you step out of your house and don’t remove it until you get home however many hours later.
The idea is that, once you’ve worn a mask, it’s potentially contaminated and you should not touch it at all until you can safely wash or dispose of it and then thoroughly wash your hands. Of course this is entirely unpractical if you’re spending most of the day out of the house and you need to stop for food or drink. Maybe we need advice that is less infantilizing: wear a mask, and if remove it during the course of your day, wash/sanitize your hands before and after.
Ian 17:39 on 2020-06-04 Permalink
I went to a local park today, Clark Park – easily 50 kids from toddler to teen and their parents were there. My kid, her friend, me, and the friend’s Dad were the only people in the whole place wearing masks – and the vast majority were making no attempt to physically distance in any sense at all. Picnics and everything. Interestingly it seemed to be pretty cross-cultural, too – that park is frequented by Anglo, Québecois, European, & Hassidic families.
I did notice the city only hooked up every other swing, which seemed like a good idea, at least. I know being outside is low risk but until this blows over I think I’ll keep to my yard.
Brett 21:00 on 2020-06-04 Permalink
Let’s clear up a couple of things:
1) You’re very unlikely to catch Coronavirus while being outside, because the air is so diluted. So wearing a mask outside isn’t necessary unless you’re in very close proximity to a lot of people. High humidity and temperatures over 30 degrees C also reduce transmissibility .
2)Black people are four times as likely to die from Coronavirus disease than whites, even after controlling for socioeconomic status. So if you’re European, Anglo or Québécois, young, and with no co-morbidities, you’ll almost certainly survive.
3) Cuomo said most Coronavirus cases in New York after mid May came from people who were staying at home anyway. No one is sure why.
4) There are still signs posted on every apartment complex door that say masks aren’t an effective way to protect the population. They were posted way back in March and haven’t been updated…
Blork 21:35 on 2020-06-04 Permalink
There is also some evidence that COVID-19 is more of a blood disease than a respiratory one, which helps explain the strange blood symptoms being seen like strokes and whatnot. Today there are stories circulating that blood type might be an issue too, with type A people being at higher risk and type O people at lower risk.
https://www.news-medical.net/news/20200603/Blood-group-type-may-affect-susceptibility-to-COVID-19-respiratory-failure.aspx
GC 22:40 on 2020-06-04 Permalink
I’m curious how you’re defining “Québécois”, Brett, when you make it sound like one has to be either black OR Québécois.
Interesting, Blork. Not exactly what I want to hear, as an A-positive person, but interesting.
Michael Black 22:52 on 2020-06-05 Permalink
But months back they were saying people with existing conditions were more susceptible if they got The Virus. Diabetes I think was mentioned, and that seems common among black and native people. So environment may be an issue, or perhaps one might say poverty.
It’s easy to be dismissive of the old or black people or whatever, if you aren’t in one of those groups, but it matters a lot if you are in one of those groups.
But if there is a pattern, there’s always exceptions. So it may not be just about others.