Is any part of Canada under the equivalent of stay-at-home orders?

I assume the virus has hopped over the international borders (probably both of them).

Is my assumption correct?

How is Canada doing?

We’ve had about 45,000 cases in total in Canada, with about 2550 deaths. Quebec and Ontario have the greatest number of cases, with Alberta, and then BC coming next. There have been cases everywhere except in Nunavet.

Things have been shut down pretty much everywhere, with public gatherings being curtailed quite strictly. It seems as if the only work that’s happening is in what have been deemed essential industries - which includes liquor stores and cannabis dispensaries along with grocery stores etc. Schools are unlikely to open until September.

Some provinces are at the point of beginning to open up the economy a little bit, place that have not had a huge number of cases. But it doesn’t look like they are jumping in with both feet. (Unlike Georgia!) they are taking small steps from what I can see.

I don’t know if the curve has been flattened anywhere in Canada yet, but I think over all it’s being handled reasonably well, although there have been pockets where it has spread somewhat wildly - notably in senior’s homes across the country and in meat processing plants in Alberta.

I’m retired, so my day to day hasn’t changed greatly, but I miss seeing my grandchildren, and I worry about my adult kids who are not working at the moment.

Those are my observations, but it’s a big country so someone else might have a different perspective!

Edited to add “yes” to the stay at home thing. It is reinforced frequently in daily Coronavirus updates, in the news, on Facebook and so on. All playgrounds, provincial campgrounds and day use areas and national parks are closed, as are dine in restaurants, theatres, pubs, gyms and rec centres, pools etc. In Alberta all summer festivals have been cancelled - you probably saw Ron’s post about the Calgary Stampede. Alberta traditionally has many summer festivals and it would easy to spend every weekend attending two or three different events. It will be a quiet summer this year!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/25/2020 07:25PM by looking in.

Thank you, looking in.

Down here, our news coverage of Canada is spotty at best, and I very much appreciate your post!

looking in Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> notably in senior’s homes
> across the country and in meat processing plants
> in Alberta.

Yes, it is the same in Ontario, with a high number of cases occurring in long-term care facilities. Sadly, the virus just runs rampant through those places.

A few local meat processing plants were hit here as well.

looking in: "I don’t know if the curve has been flattened anywhere in Canada yet"

I just heard that NB has reported no new cases for 8 days. What an achievement!

It's always nice to hear from you, looking in. Take care.

As a former Manitoba resident, I keep tabs on what's happening there. NYTimes has a Canada bureau and has a map of cases by province.

Ontario and Quebec are up in the ten thousand plus range. No surprise there. Nova Scotia was surprisingly high for a tiny province.

Manitoba and Saskatchewan only had a few hundred cases. Saskatchewan is planning to relax restrictions shortly.

BC had about 2000 cases, and Alberta had about 4,000. That surprised me, since I think BC has the larger population of the two.

https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection.html



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/25/2020 07:35PM by Brother Of Jerry.

Thank you, Brother of Jerry.

Muchly appreciated!

I think that one reason we’ve passed BC’s numbers is that in Alberta we’ve had large outbreaks in some meat packing plants in High River and in Brooks. Partly due to improper enforcement of social distancing at work and a lack of sufficient PPEs being provided to workers, and also due to many workers carpooling and sharing accommodation. Many of the workers are Filipino, and share homes in order to send money home to family.

There was also a sizeable outbreak at a large work camp at one of the oil plants near Fort McMurray. All of that probably accounts for maybe a thousand of our cases. I’m staying in my little bubble!

The Yahoo weather app shows the corona virus status on every place you look up. It just shows the amount of cases so far, by county, then by whole State, Province or country.
Some of the countries have low amounts though , like India, because it's hard testing all of their populations.
It has nice pictures of the places too.

My town in Southern Ontario has had 69 cases and 4 deaths as of this writing. I'm originally from Toronto, where they currently have had 4,628 cases and 253 deaths.

I have been working from home for 6 weeks. I'm very fortunate to work for a company that is internet-based. So although volume is down a bit, all 100+ of us have continued to work safely from home for the past month-and-a-half.

Yesterday, my Mom and I went out grocery shopping for probably only the second or third time since this all began. There was a long line-up of cars at the Home Depot, with people waiting to pick up their orders curbside. The pet stores were the same. The stores are closed. You order on-line, call the store when you arrive and they bring your order out and put it into the trunk of your car. It's the same with food take-out places. We have a large chain store named Canadian Tire. They have an auto-shop, but they also sell a very wide variety of items, with everything from housewares to camping gear. They were the same, with a long line-up of people in cars, waiting to pick up their orders.

We had to wait about ten feet apart from other people in a line-up, waiting to get into the grocery store. They only let in so many people at a time. Everyone wears a mask. The cashiers have plexiglas shields in front of them and you have to follow directional arrows on the floor while you're going down the aisles. They have employees watching people, waiting to guide anyone who is going down the wrong path, so to speak.

The walking paths around our neighbourhood are closed. Parks and beaches on Lake Ontario are closed. You're not allowed to go into the parks to see the cherry blossoms.

It's a very strange world that we live in right now.

Greyfort: I'm impressed that you've only had to shop twice since the outbreak. I think I'm doing well if I can keep it down to twice a week. I initially stocked up on a cupboard full of canned food but it's not our favourite and I keep ducking out to buy fresh stuff. I'm very conscious, though, of trying to do my part and I do make a big effort to think ahead and minimize trips. Fortunately, we're given leeway and are not mandated to stay home altogether. It's more of the honour system, which I do make an attempt to observe.

I get highly irritated when I come across people not following the basic advice of physical distancing though. I try to give them the benefit of the doubt that they get absorbed in their own activities and don't notice they're straying into my personal space. But a couple of times I've yelled at people to "get away from me", which is totally unlike me - I don't recognize myself. That is one way that my (unexpected) stress and apprehension have revealed themselves to me.

Greyfort: "You're not allowed to go into the parks to see the cherry blossoms. It's a very strange world that we live in right now."

That's poetic, Greyfort. And an excellent pithy summation of the current situation. I love the cherry blossoms too. Spring has sprung and we're not outside to enjoy it. I miss my annual lilac tree hunt. Rampant development has snuffed out most of the lilac trees I used to visit (they are my absolute favourite bloom - is there anything more heavenly on earth than the scent of a lilac blossom?) But others, of course, are wrestling with literal life and death. So I *really* put effort into not complaining. Much. And into squelching my snark at fellow shoppers. For the latter, I am embarrassed.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/26/2020 04:28PM by Nightingale.

I love lilacs as well.

I find myself mentally chastising people on TV shows (that were filmed well before the outbreak.) I tell them, no hugging! Don't touch that! etc. It makes me wonder how long it will take me to not be a germaphobe once normalcy returns.

Thanks for asking, Tevai.

Yes indeed, CV-19 has "hopped over" borders! Canada is sharing the global pain.

In my location - British Columbia's first known case was on January 26. The next two known cases occurred in mid-February. Those three were all in people who had recently returned to BC from overseas (different countries from each other).

The latest figures I've seen (the situation changes rapidly, as we've seen all over) reveal that there have been 45,354 confirmed cases in Canada with 2465 deaths.

BC, where I live, was in the top three for total cases until recently when Alberta overtook us (due to a big outbreak in a workplace) and now we're #4.

Of our 10 provinces:

Top 2 in numbers of cases are back East:

1. Quebec - 23,267, 1446 deaths
2. Ontario - 13,996, 811 "

3rd is a western province (the one just east of BC):

3. Alberta - 4233, 73 deaths

4th is the westernmost province, on the Pacific Coast:

4. British Columbia - 1948, 98 deaths

The 5 other provinces have total cases of between 118-865 with between 0-22 deaths in various locations.

More than half of all deaths have occurred in care homes (homes for elderly folks). For example, 80% of Quebec's deaths have occurred in various care homes. In BC, 78 cases have occurred in just a few care homes, with 20 deaths.

The situation in care homes is especially severe in Ontario and Quebec. The intensifying factors are listed as staff shortages, care aides working in more than one establishment (thus potentially being asymptomatic spreaders) and vulnerable residents due to age and co-morbidities. Appallingly, in some homes the residents have been found to be hungry, dehydrated, soiled and frankly deserted. Many have had to be transferred to hospitals. In one home only two orderlies remained, trying to care for nearly 200 residents. The military has been called in to assist in various locations. The obvious questions are how did this happen and why did staff members not alert authorities to the situation? Few answers are immediately apparent. I am going to guess that people were afraid to go to work as the contagion raged and little was known about CV at first and also that many care aides are new to Canada or are on work permits from other countries and could have been afraid to contact authorities (not because of being "illegal" but more likely due to fear of or caution regarding authority, or misplaced loyalty to employers or ???) - just my impression. I'm sure enquiries will be launched once things settle down. Can you imagine how heartbreaking it would be if it were your elderly parent in such circumstances? Relatives, of course, couldn't visit due to fear of spread.

Another big splash in BC has occurred recently in a poultry processing plant, due to some people going to work sick (a big huge loud no-no!) So far 28 people were infected due to a couple of co-workers with the virus, causing our numbers to shoot up in a short time. The BC health minister has declared that employers are forbidden from exhorting employees to work sick and from penalizing people for staying home if ill.

The two health regions in BC that contain the highest number of COVID cases surround the town in which I live. It reminds me daily to take the precautions seriously. It can seem that the area is so populous what are the chances of running into a spreader. But why take risks.

There are government-mandated shutdowns of most businesses, including certainly any personal service industries such as hair and nails, and all sit-down restaurants, cafes and coffee shops. As someone mentioned above, among the businesses listed as essential are liquor stores and marijuana outlets (legal in Canada) (whereas medical clinics are all shut down - lol). Takeout and delivery from restaurants are OK (although many have chosen just to shut down for the duration - there goes 50% of my current meal-planning).

One of the biggest challenges for me is grocery shopping. My closest supermarket is often out of even the basics and certainly it's difficult to find my usual favourite brands. I find I have to go to two supermarkets just to get one basic shop done. Surely the idea isn't to go to two places instead of the usual one but there are some items you just cannot do without. (In the case of my household it's HP Sauce and Diet Coke with a side order of TP). I'm OD'ing on A&W root beer and chubby chicken burgers lately too (thank goodness A&W drive-thru is still available). Although, with the news of the CV outbreak in the nearby poultry plant I am seriously rethinking my takeout of choice.

The government health system is now paying for "telehealth" where you can stay home and book an appointment and your physician calls you. I consulted my GP that way last week. Fabulous! No long drive, no extended wait in a crowded room full of sick people. I am loving it and hope it lasts long past our COVID days. (My GP thinks it will - yay! Why not? It's so very 21st Century - as in, about time).

Gatherings of over 50 people are banned (although that sounds high to me - it may have gone down to 10 - I might be seeing an outdated report).

People are discouraged from any leisure travel and from leaving their own communities but this is not mandated. For example, you can travel on a BC Ferry from the mainland across to Vancouver Island. You have to stay in your vehicle on the car deck though. No more crowds going upstairs on board to whale watch or eat in the ship's restaurants. But there are frequent reminders to only travel, either way across the water, "if necessary".

If you land in Canada by airplane there is a mandatory 14-day self-isolation period.

All schools across the country are shut down, more than likely for the rest of the year. The little Syrian kids in my neighbourhood are doing school online. It's better than nothing. The kids love any excuse to be online, of course.

Arrangements are currently being made to place all homeless and other high-risk people in vacant hotels around the province. This not only helps them, and is compassionate, but it's a good way to protect the wider population from unchecked spreads as well. If anyone is sick they will come to medical attention. They will have a safe place. They will not be hungry. Also, evictions from government subsidized housing (by the private landlords, for non-payment of rent, for instance) are mandated to be on hold.

I am giving both the provincial and the federal governments high marks for how they're handling it all. Every day there are briefings by the provincial health minister and the provincial health officer in BC and by the prime minister in Ontario, as well as by each provincial premier. They come across to me as intelligent, up to speed, academic, scientific, informative, available, honest, measured and compassionate. They model the distancing recommendations. They accept questions via phone for reporters from across the country. They give specific answers. :)

An unexpected star has emerged in BC from her daily briefings: Dr. Bonnie Henry, Provincial Health Officer. She is quiet, soft-spoken, unruffled, warm and informative, explaining the situation clearly and effectively. Even though our numbers aren't astronomical and we've had a dip lately, she cautions that "we're not out of the woods". She wants to see at least three days with zero new cases before she will recommend easing some restrictions. She viewed BC's risk as "high" at the start, defining "high" as causing significant impact on the health care system. Preventing that possibility is what much of the social distancing is about, trying to stave off enormous numbers of infected people all requiring urgent care at once.

Dr. Henry completes each day's briefing by saying "Be kind, be calm and be safe". Countless people say how reassuring that is to them. It kind of sums up (most) Canadians to me.

Dr. Henry has become known for the brand of shoes she favours: Fluevog, a local designer (expensive!). He has recently created a beautiful shoe in her honour, with all monies being donated to local food banks.

I don't go in much for expensive fancy footwear but even I love this shoe. Here is the Dr. Bonnie Henry:

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/q/wednesday-april-22-2020-vivek-shraya-john-fluevog-and-more-1.5540976/it-s-been-quite-staggering-john-fluevog-says-interest-in-dr-bonnie-henry-shoe-overwhelming-1.5541485


As for me, my favourite hole-in-the-wall bookshop is closed. Panic stations! Except for the 27 unread books I had piled up in the living room at the start of this thing. I fortunately still have enough left unread to get me through another few weeks. Then withdrawal will definitely start setting in. If all else fails I'll have to go for a re-read of the best of the best. I've been into more non-fiction and memoirs lately. They take longer to read so that's been a benefit. My medical work slammed shut back in March so suddenly and unexpectedly and out of the blue that I have time, time, time - most unusual for me.

Now I'm about to grab my latest memoir - kind of a theme I developed unawares - another one about a Jewish family in WWII ("The Librarian of Auschwitz" - such an intriguing title). I recently finished "Make-up Tips from Auschwitz" - (I know - amazingly amazing title - seems in bad taste but it works). I could never stand WW books before but maybe there's something about a pandemic...


Hey everybody:

*Be informed.

**Be kind, be calm and be safe.


I'm off to settle in with The Librarian and my A&W root beer.


Thanks again, Tevai.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/25/2020 11:18PM by Nightingale.

Thank YOU, Nightingale!

This is a marvelous, and much appreciated, account. (Have you ever thought about becoming a writer? :) )

Since Americans and Canadians share the same continent, I think American news ought to be covering Canada much better than is usually the case. In the times we are living through right now, that international border seems a whole lot more porous than we generally realize.

Very many thanks for writing this!

Tevai Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Have you ever thought about becoming a
> writer?

Thank you, Tevai, for the most kind comment.

Funny you should say.

The answer is yes! Forever!

As with so many others, regular day-to-day life is all-encompassing. Time whizzes by. More people want to write than actually end up doing it, much less getting themselves published (by traditional means). My work demands were such that I didn't have much energy left over to do the hard work of bum in chair, thoughts to paper. But in the past year things were coming together for a story inside my head that wanted desperately to get out. My dear mom was my research assistant, so to speak. It was her memories of times past that were an integral part of my tale. That plan came to a screeching halt last year when she unexpectedly left us. I haven't had the heart to get back to it since. But now my work has stopped, overnight, no warning (and I'm loving it!) and I've been gathering my notes once again.

That old silver lining peeks through, if you're fortunate, even in the midst of a global disaster I'm finding. For me, it's the gift of time. Now, though, I have to put action into plan. That's the tricky bit. But I'm going to try to get moving on it.

You are such a supportive person, Tevai, to so many on this board. I really appreciate you.

Thanks again. You made my day!

Tevai, your comment about writing tapped into a strong memory of mine.

My brother did me the great honour of asking me to give the eulogy at his wife's funeral. She had died young, and suddenly, and it was, of course, completely tragic.

Many family members were not religious at all and my brother asked me to choose the best officiant in that case, trusting me to ensure they weren't subjected to an unwanted sermon (not an easy ask, all too often). Fortunately, I knew a pastor who would understand and he did not disappoint in keeping things on the secular side of the divide.

My brother managed to hold it together ahead of the day, making all the arrangements and coordinating the entire event, which hosted hundreds. Then, a few minutes before the service was set to begin he fell apart. My pastor friend was of immense comfort in the moment, finding a private room and staying with my brother for as long as it took for him to settle, for which I was very grateful.

I had worked hard over my talk and a little apprehensively had included a few jokes (always a danger - things could go either way). The service had proceeded in a serious and orderly way, with a (non-religious) talk by the pastor, some music, a few memories shared. About halfway through my speech I spent quite a bit of time extolling the culinary talents of my SIL (she was a chef), giving detailed descriptions of the ethnic specialties from her heritage. Then I made a silly little joke about my brother's contributions from his heritage - the bottom line was that he made an amazing (English) cheese sandwich. The room erupted in prolonged laughter which surprised me greatly. I made a couple of false starts to finish my talk but had to keep stopping due to the ongoing laughter. I figured out later that it was finally a welcome break in the dam and helped to ease some of the palpable tension in the room from so much suppressed emotion.

It felt amazing to make a crowd laugh, especially at a funeral amidst so much sorrow. I've never forgotten how gratifying that was to me on a personal note and how it helped me to feel that I had assisted my brother on his hardest day. A lot of people I didn't know, from my SIL's side of the family, thanked me afterward for thoughts I'd expressed and for making them laugh.

It was kind of incredible.

And I've always wanted to do that again. Hopefully, not in similar circumstances.

I especially admire a writer who can please readers by creating sympathetic relatable characters and by evoking emotions with a few well-chosen words. I see that a lot here at RfM. People express their deepest feelings so poignantly and poetically. I am often in awe.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/26/2020 11:15PM by Nightingale.

The situation with the care homes sounds horrid.

From what I've read, several other provincial public health directors are getting very positive receptions similar to Dr Henry. Meanwhile, Dr Fauci has done an excellent job under trying circumstances, and has had to be assigned extra security.

I remember the good old days, when countries looked to the US for reassurance and leadership in a crisis. :-/

Brother Of Jerry Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The situation with the care homes sounds horrid.

Correct, BoJ. It's appallingly terrible. The examples I gave were the most egregious but there are many more with the same types of issues.

The govt has promised that, finally, there will be a full-scale investigation and prompt improvement in all the factors that have caused this dire situation, even long before CV-19. I hope they're right. What a nightmare for the poor residents and heartache for the families. I'm sure many of the negative circumstances existed long before COVID. Inspections and enforcement of basic standards, at a minimum, will have to be implemented.

I spare a thought too for the staff. In many cases they are paid minimum wage and end up working at multiple sites to earn enough money to support their families. That is wrong on many levels. If we value our elders their carers should be paid more than subsistence wages. Also, working overtime and/or longer work weeks shouldn't be necessary in order to earn a living. We have to acknowledge that the work they do is valuable and they should be fairly compensated.

Of course, these were the circumstances that allowed CV to run rampant through the care homes. Insufficient numbers of staff, cross-contamination from personnel going from one home with CV cases to another home with vulnerable people (elderly, co-morbidities), decreased level of cleanliness, etc. Those poor people.

NB: The cross-contamination occurred prior to a full understanding of the existence and nature of COVID, I believe (and would fervently hope).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/26/2020 04:13PM by Nightingale.

Thank you for this. it appears that the Canandian political and scientific leadership are handling this well. As an Irish citizen in the UK I wish I was anywhere but here at the moment.

Tara2: That is an intriguing comment. I haven't heard anything about Ireland. I should look it up. Can you share what's happening there?

I hope you are able to find a way to be safe.

Trudeau is busy using the situation to virtue signal, especially after his blackface scandal. He has apologized for having to let less people in, because Canada need more labor, and says it's not China's fault.

Our Premier's mother-in-law is one of those sick in a long-term care home. He has vowed to make sure that things change. He was quite choked up when he reported it.

I made the ground beef go far. I've made casseroles, spaghetti sauce, chili, hamburger patties, meat loaf, etc. We had a lot of chicken, so I managed to make some creative casseroles with that.

I threw together spaghetti, with the sauce made from a crumbled left-over cooked sausage that I found in the freezer, after we ran out of the ground beef. I made omelettes with shredded cheese, pepperoni and some cooked leftover cauliflower.

I dressed up some boring cream of celery soup with some cubed chicken and some frozen vegetables. However I can, I stretch out the food that we have.

Some of it has been a bit creative, but it has worked. When we finally run out completely, we head to the grocery store. We don't have a lot of storage space. Otherwise, I'd probably try to do a month's worth of shopping.

https://www.cbc.ca/

Go to Canadian Broadcasting and see for yourself what they are saying.

What has been frustrating for me is that they tell you to order your groceries on-line and have them delivered, or arrange for a pick up, but there hasn't been a delivery or pick-up timeslot available for over a month. You have no choice but to go out and shop.

I tried to order something from Instacart and it was a disaster. On the day of the order, we were just running out of food, and at the last minute, I got a message from them saying that they had cancelled my order.

They tried to say that the store was closed, which was a lie. Then they said I didn't respond to them when they warned me that they were going to cancel it, which was a lie.

Then they blocked my e-mail address, so I e-mailed them from another address, trying to get my refund. Nope. Not doing that again. We just go out as little as possible.

I did a pet store order today, which was much easier. I just ordered on-line, it was ready within a few hours, and I just went to pick it up. You pop your trunk, they come out and put it into your trunk, close the trunk and give you a thumbs up. Then you drive off with your order. Easy.

I'm not sure why the pet stores are so much more organized than the grocery stores.

That's awful, Greyfort. Especially since they didn't give you a refund. There should be someone you can report that to.

Also, perhaps there is a neighbour or helper or service that can do some shopping for you. We have that here in BC. I'm not sure who you phone but I know at least of a seniors' help line here that matches people who are housebound with volunteers who can perform services like picking up food and medications for them.

I got a sweet little note through my door from a neighbourhood blitz by a neighbour who has volunteered, with her children who are home from school, to do any tasks that others need help with. I don't need assistance myself, fortunately, but I thought that was a very nice gesture and a good lesson that mom is teaching her kids.

I am in southern Alberta. 20 miles from gas, groceries and everything else. We are calving and getting ready to get into the fields. I have to have fuel, seed, fertilizer, parts and food for the crews. We supply 3-4 dozen loafs of bread and meat to help people out. I check on probably 30 people each week and make sure they are ok. Being so isolated has helped tremendously. In our little community, we take care of and look after each other. No one asks anything in return. We are all friends, family and community.

I was just getting ready to file a fraud report with the bank when they finally refunded us. They'd withdrawn $780 from my Mom's bank account, for a $296 grocery order. That was my first and last experience with that company, I can tell ya.

It's all very scary, because I am over 60, have diabetes and high blood pressure, sleep apnea and asthma. And I live with my Mom who was diagnosed with congestive heart failure five years ago and she's 92.

We do not want to get this. We can only do our best to stay safe. We had to celebrate my sister's birthday over the phone and we live in the same neighbourhood. Sometimes it all feels very surreal.

Oh, that's great news, Greyfort, about the refund. But for them to take more than the amount for your grocery order was even more egregious.

I understand why you are leery of venturing out.

Reach out if you have to. There must be similar services available in your area to the ones they have implemented here for folks who can't get out much, or at all. Perhaps a grocery shop would deliver. Please don't be hungry.

I am kind of surprising myself at how little food I can get by on. I am channeling my inner hermit now. I was hesitant to go shopping for groceries even before this pandemic stay home scenario hit us so not going into town is not a burden for me. I could stand to skip a meal or 6...so I am. I am not quite as far away from "civilization" as Southbound...but I like the solitude of being out in the country. I'm 10 miles from groceries and gas (not burning much of that either...and it's cheaper than it's been in decades...such irony). I am in contact with my family and my girlfriend on video chat and everyone so far is healthy. My daughter in law is and RN working the front lines in a Covid 19 screening clinic so I worry about her most. 2020...a year like no other in my lifetime.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/27/2020 09:39AM by Lethbridge Reprobate.

Hey L.R.- You run short of wheat or meat let me know. We got your back.

Thanks bro...I need some ground beef..
2 lb chubbs....and maybe a sirloin tip roast or 2...

I love the smell of lilacs. It's my favourite scent in the world. If you see some chick just standing there with her head in a lilac bush, then that would be me.

I hope my lilacs survived the winter..my south hedge didn't look like it was alive when I was mowing last week.