These blossoms cling to the Richmond Dyke on the Fraser River. Their resilience inspires me.
The changes are still coming, fast and furious. Two trends I really noticed this week were a shift in thinking among Canadian and American medical leaders about masks and a lot of people making comparisons of COVID-19 to the Second World War.
There is a shortage of medical masks, so ordinary people definitely should not be wearing those. Give them to the doctors and nurses who really need them. However, the medical experts have also always been clear that people who are sick should wear masks to protect others. The novel coronavirus appears to be contagious even before a person knows they’re sick. So, the thinking goes, a face mask can stop them from spreading the disease.
If we are all to assume we have it, for social distancing purposes, it seems to me we should all then preventatively wear masks if we’re going to the grocery store or somewhere else we’re likely to be less than six feet from someone else. Governments around the world are considering this, right now.
The United Nations Secretary General António Guterres and many others have started saying the novel coronavirus is the biggest challenge faced by the world since the Second World War. I think they’re right. How we act now will determine whether it ultimately lives up to that comparison or becomes an even bigger challenge.
Not to be too dire, it should also be noted that scientists around the world are collaborating like never before to develop treatments or a vaccine. They’re making progress and I believe in the coming weeks there will be something super positive to report. That’ll be the day, hey?
Last Friday, B.C. had 725 confirmed cases and 14 people had died, while Canada had 4,018 cases and 39 people have died. As of April 2, 2020, B.C. has 1,121 confirmed cases, 31 people have died, 149 people are in hospital and 68 of those are in intensive care. B.C. has started reporting the numbers of people who have recovered, which is 641 as of April 2. Canada has 11,747 cases – the massive rise in numbers since last week is because the numbers are growing very fast in Quebec. One hundred and fifty-two Canadians have died.
Here’s my list of changes this week. There are not so many as last week, but many of them cut deeper.
- The world passed one million COVID-19 cases
- The Bank of Canada cut interest rates to 0.25 per cent, essentially the lowest it can go. This was the third rate cut in March 2020.
- The B.C. Green Party suspended its leadership race.
- Service Canada shuttered its offices across the country, because employees were concerned they could get COVID-19.
- More than half of the 26,500 employees at Vancouver International Airport were laid off.
- Air Canada laid off 16,500 people.
- Ottawa waived rents for airports throughout the country.
- The province of B.C. waived privacy rules to allow health care and educational settings to use technologies (like Zoom, for example) that might otherwise violate privacy laws.
- Parking at hospitals is now free.
- Metered and time-limited parking in Vancouver will not be enforced throughout the pandemic.
- B.C. announced they might use the Vancouver Convention Centre as a temporary hospital, if necessary. People who are sick with other ailments, not COVID-19, might be treated there.
- The Tokyo Olympics are rescheduled for July 2021.
- Austria is requiring everyone to wear masks while in grocery stores.
- The B.C. government put a moratorium on foster children aging out of care during the pandemic.
- Experts said as many as 25 per cent of people infected with the novel coronavirus have no symptoms.
- More than two million Canadians have applied for Employment Insurance in the past two weeks. In the U.S. that count is 6.6 million.
- Wimbledon is cancelled.
- The United Nations COP26 Climate Summit, which had been planned for November in Edinburgh, Scotland is postponed to 2021.
- The Vancouver Courier newspaper is shut down and its parent company Glacier Media has laid off several Metro Vancouver journalists
- Health authorities are letting us know that social distancing measures will be with us for months, not weeks. "This is going to be a challenge for a long time. Zero chance before the end of April. Little to none in May and immediate weeks after," said B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix.
- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a $2-billion plan for Canadian companies to manufacture COVID-19 tests and ventilators.
- More than 100,000 restaurant workers in B.C. have been laid off.
- People who are on income assistance or disability will get an extra $300 per month in B.C. for at least the next three months. That’s about a 20-per-cent increase over what a single person would normally receive.
If your head is spinning, you’re not alone. We are all in this together, but apart. We will get through it. We must. Stay healthy, everyone.
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