So much to process. I'm struggling to understand why this virus seems to be spreading well beyond SARS and a couple of the other near-pandemics of the recent past. I'm not sure it's true, but I saw some evidence that coronavirus actually is only half as infectious as SARS. It's possible that the difference was SARS manifested itself much sooner (and with more serious side effects) so that identifying the carriers was easier and thus containment was possible. It seems coronavirus has a much longer dormant phase where it doesn't manifest any symptoms but is still transmittable. Quite the super bug!
Anyway, I wouldn't say Toronto is precisely ground zero, as it was for SARS, but it's clearly spreading through the city. Given how it's already been spread on transit, and I work at Union Station, I assume I have a much higher than 70% chance of coming down with this. Fortunately, I have a solid immune system and I am well under 60, so I have a very good chance of coming through this with nothing more than a few days of (extreme) discomfort. Also, I am not around any family members above 60 nor do I interact with many seniors, so I won't have to feel too guilty about passing it along to anyone who will be severely impacted. I would feel quite differently if I had a senior living with us.
At any rate, it's been interesting watching the various governments flounder around for a response. Canada's response hasn't been too bad, aside from pussy-footing around and not doing more serious testing of Americans coming in at the borders. The US response has been completely pathetic, with virtually no wide-spread testing and now this weird and pointless over-reaction of closing off travel to Europe (except for the UK!). And the crybaby-in-chief is still trying to blame this on Obama. The truth is that no one really knows that much, but at least most non-US leaders (and the chief US Democrats) at least listen to expert opinion. Trump has actually driven away almost anyone competent from his administration and is decimating the federal workforce. Unfortunately, a lot of the seniors who will die are in urban areas (and basically not Trump supporters), but I frankly welcome the pain that is coming to Trump supporters. If there was any justice in the world (which sadly there is not), Trump will catch coronavirus and die, putting us all out of our misery. I certainly hope that this pandemic (and the markets tanking) will be a wake-up call that you simply cannot keep electing a party that doesn't actually believe in government and get good results, particularly in a crisis! Whether this is actually enough to swing things in November is an open question.
With the NBA deciding to suspend its season,* a lot of dominoes will start falling. I'm not sure if this will stretch into the summer, but a few of the summer concerts we were looking at involve bands coming from the UK, and I'd say those may well be cancelled or at least postponed. I don't even want to mention it to my wife, but I am wondering if they will cancel Hamilton (at least the audience there will skew younger). I'm definitely wondering about TSO concerts being cancelled, where not only must the average age of attendees be well above 65, but these past few visits there was a huge amount of coughing. If the concerts do go ahead, they will have to empower the ushers to kick out anyone with a persistent cough!
This is probably the week where the TTC and GO staff test their bosses to go to hell and start wearing masks, which they have been ordered not to use (to not upset the public...). Anyway, lots of things that we didn't think possible are about to happen, like schools and universities all closing down through the summer. It's definitely a scary time right now, though I am still moderately comforted that I probably won't be that affected if I actually do catch the coronavirus. The broader economic impacts and the shutting down of cultural and sporting events is more likely to cause me grief, though I certainly won't turn down the lower mortgage rate that is being offered, since I had to refinance my mortgage anyway this year.
* And the Raptors just played the Jazz, where their center has tested positive. So the Raptors will all be tested and probably quarantined, but again, this is probably too late, and there will be one more vector of transmission through the city. Drat.
Update: On the way home from work, I decided I probably ought to grab some milk. Probably a wise choice. The grocery store was absolutely packed! While people were staying calm, they were pretty serious about stocking up. In addition to toilet paper being gone from the shelves, canned goods and pasta (and flour!) were all very limited. Interestingly, there was no shortage of frozen stuff, as if people thought the electricity would be on the fritz in the next week or so... After this, I decided I couldn't quite face up to the gym, though I will see if it is open next week. It's far too early to tell about the summer concerts and festivals, though my suspicion is that most of them will be cancelled.
My workplace has bowed to the inevitable, and we are slowly migrating to teleworking, starting from next week. I may or may not still be going in most days, as I am fairly senior. Also, I can bike to work, which does cut down on the contagion. I may need to go in, as the kids will be home for two weeks after spring break, and it is going to be a real challenge working with them in the background. In one bit of shocking news, Sophie Trudeau has tested positive for the coronavirus, so she and the Prime Minister will be in isolation for 2+ weeks. What a contrast from Trump, who clearly has been in contact with infected people but who supposedly hasn't bothered to get tested. Well, hopefully he has caught it, and then we'll hear his tune change.
No comments:
Post a Comment