Quebec to tighten red zone restrictions
Everyone’s reporting that Quebec is going to be tightening red zone restrictions in response to growing numbers of Covid infections. CTV lists why Covid numbers may get much worse over the next while.
La Presse looks into studies of whether public transit is hazardous: the takeaway, not surprisingly, is that it depends how long you’re aboard, and whether you happen to sit near someone contagious.
Update: 1191 new cases in Quebec over the last 24 hours.
DeWolf 10:49 on 2020-10-05 Permalink
The most interesting thing in the La Presse article is the observation that the metro is extremely well ventilated because it forces a high volume of air through the train carriages, unlike air-conditioned trains that recirculate air. I seriously doubt that sitting on a metro train for 30 minutes is any more dangerous than grocery shopping for the same amount of time.
Kate 10:54 on 2020-10-05 Permalink
So theoretically, if I did want to go downtown from Villeray, better to take the metro than the 55 bus. Useful data, although I’m not planning to go there anytime soon.
This is, as I’ve said, the longest period of my life I’ve spent without setting foot on Ste‑Catherine Street. I also haven’t been in the metro since sometime in early March. It’s like I’ve moved somewhere else without going anywhere.
Blork 11:03 on 2020-10-05 Permalink
Yeah, I haven’t been on a bus or Metro since mid-March. I’ve been on Ste-Catherine West a handful of times and it’s just weird. Only one lane of traffic (and one lane of cars illegally parked in the temporary no-parking lane). Another car lane given over to pedestrians who largely don’t use it. Stores open but not many people in them when I was there last (2 weeks ago?). It feels so abnormal and at the same time it feels way more normal than you would expect, so it’s disorienting.
Kevin 11:20 on 2020-10-05 Permalink
I’ve come to the conclusion that you’re better off on the bus: fewer people and the windows are open. Non-compliance with mask-wearing seems to be a lot higher on the metro.
That said I haven’t taken any public transit since March. I relied on Communauto for a week or two until I got my motorcycle on the road. Last week I bought a pandemic car to get me through this winter.
I suspect that if we have more people using the Covid Alert app, we’ll find more transmission on public transit — we know that it’s in the community, after all.
EmilyG 12:01 on 2020-10-05 Permalink
I wonder if changing your seat on the metro during a trip is more, or less, hazardous.
I used to take public transit all the time, and get the opus card every month. Now, I don’t even know when was the last time I knew where my Opus card was. I’ve occasionally, umm, sneaked onto local buses when I couldn’t walk far. But yeah, these days I’m limited to going within walking distance of my home.
Max 13:08 on 2020-10-05 Permalink
@Kevin: Unfortunately the newest batch of buses don’t let you open the window. I don’t like that development at all.
GC 15:28 on 2020-10-05 Permalink
Kevin, if you haven’t been on public transit then how do you know what the compliance rate is? I haven’t been on a bus since March, so I can’t comment on that. In my sparse rides on the metro, however the compliance rate has been very good since the rule came into effect. There are a few exceptions, of course, and the usual nose exhibitionists. But the vast majority have been masking up.
It does feel like air circulates better in the newer trains versus the old ones. The air still feels so stagnant in most of the stations, however. I suppose there’s more space there, however, and one tends to mostly be on the move when in the station–other than maybe waiting on the platform for the next train.
Kevin 23:19 on 2020-10-05 Permalink
GC
I have colleagues, friends, and a daughter who take public transit.
They all mention that there are more people on the metro who have their nose hanging out—which means they aren’t wearing a mask and might as well be naked.
Raymond Lutz 07:18 on 2020-10-06 Permalink
@GC “have their nose hanging out —which means they aren’t wearing a mask and might as well be naked”
Non, expirer par le nez génère moins d’aérosols que par la bouche lorsqu’on parle, donc un nez découvert est moins pire que pas de masque du tout (et pour protéger le porteur, il faut un N95 de tout façon). Dans les bus, si les gens sont silencieux ça compense pour la plus faible ventilation. Dans les stations de métro, le passage régulier des wagons dans les tunnels aide probablement à une dilution bénéfique de la charge virale s’il y a.
“I wonder if changing your seat on the metro during a trip is more, or less, hazardous.” EmilyG, IIRC, aucun cas de transmission attribuable à de seuls fomites (surfaces infectées) n’a été recensé DANS LE MONDE ENTIER: covid-19 is airborn (and 2 m is useless indoor).
If you want to evaluate your exposure risk when sharing closed space with contaminated people, there’s an app for that™
https://rapidqmra.shinyapps.io/Rapid_QMRA/
GC 08:17 on 2020-10-06 Permalink
Thanks, Raymond. I am frustrated by people who don’t cover their noses, as it’s such a simple thing to do. BUT, it has to be better to have just the mouth covered than nothing covered, as you said.
I continue to be perplexed by the people who will wear a mask properly for their ride on the actual train and then yank the mask off once they are on the platform in the metro station. You’re still indoors. WTF.
Kevin, thanks for clarifying. As I said, I haven’t been on a bus. It’s also not like I’ve collected tons of data on the metro. It might depend on the time, day, etc.