These blossoms were buzzing with bees, who were seemingly oblivious to COVID-19, in Richmond this week. (Tracy Sherlock photo).
It’s hard to believe it has been four weeks of self-isolating and social distancing. Time is warping – sometimes it flies, other times it feels like we’ve been living this way forever.
Week four was yet another week of massive change and major announcements.
Last week, B.C. had 1,121 confirmed cases, 31 people had died and 149 people were in hospital, including 68 in intensive care. This week, B.C. has 1,410 cases, 55 people have died and 128 people are in hospital, including 69 in intensive care. The number of people who have recovered rose from 641 last week to 879 this week.
B.C.’s numbers of active cases and people in ICU are both flat, while the number of hospitalizations is down by about 15 per cent. I’d say B.C. is holding its own, although apparently today, which is a Good Friday Easter holiday, the ferries are seeing a lot of business, which likely means people are travelling to see family, something health experts have been warning against.
Last week Canada had 11,747 cases and 152 deaths. This week, Canada has 21, 243 cases and 531 deaths. There are now more than 10,000 cases in Quebec and more than 6,000 cases in Ontario. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has warned that restrictions will likely be in place in some form or another until there is a vaccine, which could take a year or even longer.
Last week, the talk was all about masks and comparisons to the Second World War. This week, there’s a lot of talk about how the world might be able to relax some of the restrictions we’ve all been living under. Norway and Denmark are talking about reopening primary schools, while China is reopening Wuhan and Austria is opening some shops. Experts say we need to have enough capacity to greatly increase testing, do more contact tracing for people who test positive and start testing people for antibodies. Meanwhile, the changes keep on coming.
Here’s my list for this week:
- Health Canada released modelling showing that in a best-case scenario, between 11,000 and 22, 000 Canadians will die from COVID-19 and the first wave of the virus may end by the summer. With no physical distancing, as many as 300,000 could die.
- More than 16 million Americans have lost their jobs over the past three weeks.
- In the first morning open for applications, April 6, by 11 a.m. (Eastern time), 240,000 people applied for the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. 966,000 people applied on the first day, when only people with birthdays in January, February and March were allowed to apply.
- The Queen gave a rare speech, on the same day British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was taken into hospital for COVID-19. “I want to reassure you that if we remain united and resolute then we will overcome it. I hope in the years to come, everyone will be able to take pride in how they responded to this challenge,” she said.
- The Vancouver International Jazz Festival was cancelled.
- Several live theatre performances from the past are being streamed live online, including Fleabag and several of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musicals.
- New York’s Broadway theatres will remain closed until at least June 7.
- Bard on the Beach is cancelled for 2020
- Details about the 75% wage subsidies that were announced last week came out this week, although Parliament has not approved them. Now, businesses only need to show a 15-per-cent revenue reduction, rather than 30, and other requirements were made more flexible.
- The Canada Summer Jobs program will now pay 100 per cent of a student’s wages.
- Trudeau said Canadian Parliamentarians are looking into a “virtual” parliament, so all MPs can participate. (This is long overdue, I say.)
- All provincial parks in B.C. are now closed.
- Stanley Park is closed to vehicle traffic.
- Air Canada, which laid off 16,500 of its employees last week, is planning to use the government wage subsidy to bring back its employees.
- B.C. Ferries cut all ferries between Nanaimo and Horseshoe Bay for the next two months.
- Translink, which runs public transportation in Vancouver, reduced its services because fewer people are using the bus.
- There was a big brouhaha this week about Donald Trump trying to stop 3M from sending face masks to Canada, but in the end, that attempt failed and masks were sent to Canada.
- Six of Canada’s big banks said that 10 per cent of mortgages they hold have been deferred. This amounts to about half a million mortgages.
- Some banks have reduced credit card interest for people who can’t make payments. Vancity cut rates to 0 per cent and deferred payments for six months for people who qualify.
- Trudeau is urging banks to help Canadians. “We recognize they could do more. The government is also working on solutions to give people access to credit.”
- The federal government moved up a GST payment to low-income Canadians, paying it in April instead of May.
- In some American cities, drones have started telling people to maintain their social distancing.
- Many Canadian companies are now making personal protective equipment for health workers or ventilators to fight COVID-19.
After a month, staying home is starting to feel normal. Each day the same, our family members our only company. Since it’s likely to stay this way for several months, we’d better make the best of it. Stay healthy, everyone.
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