For those of you who feel helpless, here are ways of protecting yourself:
washing your hands
self-isolating
self-distancing (two meters: six to seven feet)
keeping the kitchen counters disinfected
keeping the toilet lid down
no travelling
I hope the military, or related force, will be deployed to keep people at a distance when they shop for the necessities. They must wear protective gear. There have been nasty incidents that have led to stiff fines and may lead to imprisonment. If you do not have money, you should not be expected to pay, but be honest. Governments can deal with this problem. You will probably get money soon. It starts today in Canada.
The military or related force could make sure these measures are enforced immediately. The nice thing about the military or related force is that they can also be your go-to persons.
The angel of death striking a door during the plague of Rome; engraving by Levasseur after Jules-Elie Delaunay (Wikipedia)
Denial
Denial is our worst enemy. I saw the people of my building flaunting so many rules (consignes) that they should have been penalized. I wrote emails to the Committee managing this building to report dangerous interaction.
However, I did not write that the dangerous interaction I witnessed was in violation of rules put into place by authorities. But, my star fell. I was no longer the quiet person who had purchased an apartment in the building, but someone who would not let her neighbours huddle by the mailboxes, in violation of the rules put into place to protect the citizens of Quebec.
It’s quite simple. The only outings that are allowed are trips to the grocery store and the pharmacy. One cannot touch the money one gives to the pharmacy’s delivery man. Mail is delivered, but parcels are not signed by recipients. Distancing has its rules. One cannot go out to walk the dog.
But what about leaders elsewhere? We know that it took a long time for President Trump to realize that the danger was real and imminent. Not in the United States! Yet, I wonder to what extent he would have been believed had he mobilized the authorities at the end of January. The highways remain busy. I hope these people are driving home. It took a long time for President Trump to suggest self-isolation. He may have thought that the United States was a “free” country and that as President, he had to comfort Americans.
People are now throwing stones at Mr Trump for looking upon the coronavirus as no more than the yearly flu. However, had he closed the country down, would citizens of a “free” country have taken him seriously? I don’t think so. There are exceptionally dutiful Americans. They died on both fronts, the Atlantic and the Pacific, during World War II. Had the President closed the country, he may well have been deemed “un-American” by the very persons who elected him to the Presidency of their country?
Yes, President Trump reassured everyone. This will go come April. His attitude did not differ much from the attitude of my neighbours who didn’t “believe in” the coronavirus and would have agreed with Mr Trump that come April, etc… But I jumped like a lioness. Yet, I don’t think I would point a guilty finger at “sinners.” Nor would I pronounce the President of the United States guilty of a genocide. It’s a pandemic.
The government of China reprimanded the whistle-blower, Dr Li Wenliang. Many Quebecers went to Florida and other sunny destinations several days after I had gone into self-isolation.
Is now the time to throw stones? Not quite. Now is the time when one does not leave one’s house or apartment, except to get food and medication, wearing protective gear. Now is the time when industries produce whatever doctors, nurses require as rapidly as they produce weapons.
I live in the most defiant province of Canada, but the management of this building has now issued consignes, rules, that could prevent hundreds of death were they respected everywhere. I said to a member of the managing committee of this building that I understood my neighbours. They are asked to live upside down. A few weeks ago, they could greet one another and hug when they picked up their mail. They could also exercise in the pool, but all these rooms are closed. My star rose.
Denial is strange. It is as though one believed, yet did not believe at the same time. It’s a defense mechanism. Yet, would that Mr Trump had seen what was going in Wuhan!
One of my nieces so wanted to go to Cuba with her husband and two children. She postponed the trip by a year. Another niece cancelled a trip to Disneyland. Is anything real?
President Trump did take a long time to understand what to him was incomprehensible. Capt. Brett Crozier was dismissed because he disclosed the manner in which coronavirus was managed aboard his ship.
Saint Matthew and the Angel by Guido Reni (Google)
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” (Matthew, 7.3)
I went into quarantine on 10 March. One person came to my apartment when the kitchen faucet exploded. It was a danger to my neighbours. I kept at a distance from the plumber and I chose a faucet that looks industrial. The kitchen no longer looks the same. I also disinfected the kitchen counters. Kitchen counters are the preferred home of germs and nasty relatives. Our colleague, Colltales, wrote about the many virtues of plain rubbing alcohol. It disinfects.
I could have lost money to Internet fraud. Fortunately, I pay a fee so my credit card is protected. For my loved-ones, believing I had to renew McAfee was rather reckless. But many Quebecers did not start self-isolating before 23 March, the day the government locked down the province. Was I such a fool?
On 17 March, I phoned the clinic where my doctor works. I had an appointment that day, but I said that, in my opinion, getting into a cab to go to a public clinic did not seem prudent. I then learned that doctors had been asked, on that very day, to phone patients. My doctor phoned and also announced that he would be retiring in December 2020, which is a long time from now. Would the crisis last until then? He had found a doctor who would look after me. which reassured me, but he regretted that he could not refer all of his patients to a doctor. They would see supervised interns. My doctor supervises interns. One often knocked at the door, so I had to wait, but I had a doctor. In Quebec, it takes three years to find a family doctor. That is very disconcerting.
However, being told in March that my doctor will retire in December suggests that it might be a long time before doctors can see patients, except victims of the corona virus. I will attempt to make sure my medication can be renewed for at least two years.
Mistakes were made, but this pandemic was a surprise. Although blaming others may make some people feel better, it could be very wrong. I’m now ageing, but pain is still pain. COVID-19 is a terrible affliction. People could not tell what an evil it would be, but solidarity is our finest weapon. We must have one another to turn to.
Love to everyone 💕
Saint Matthew and the Angel by Rembrandt (WikiArt)
Last night, I read that there were 3,977 confirmed and presumptive cases of coronavirus in Canada. Quebec leads Canada at 1,629 cases (MSN).
In the meantime, I am having difficulty renewing my PC fees of approximately $50. My credit card (Mastercard) will not pay. Yet, there is money to pay.
Allow me to say that, unfortunately, Quebec is not the best of environments. I have noted considerable defiance. Leaders should seek stability and security. For instance, in 1982, the Premier of Quebec, René Lévesque, refused to sign the Constitution. Yet, no referendum had given the Quebec government a mandate to secede. We must act in an orderly fashion.
I don’t know what is going on, but I live carefully, I have good neighbours, my nephew, François, and my dear friend Paulina. We phone and send emails. I also have my fine colleagues at WordPress.
My posts are delayed because of essential business. Quebec is closed.
My main meal comes from meals-on-wheels. As I was going to pick it up, wearing protective gear, I bumped into an assembly of people who doubted we should take authorities seriously. They were not standing at a distance from one another and I saw a person coming out of the swimming pool room.
I didn’t think I had it in me to transform myself into the manager of the building. It was an incredible moment. What I said and wrote in emails was, basically,
disperse immediately and do not let anyone into the building. If something is delivered, it stays in the lobby and someone rings your apartment. Three apartments are for sale. Real Estate is not an essential service. No one comes to visit apartments. If a rule is broken, I’ll call the police, the RCMP (Mounted Police), la GRC (Gendarmerie royale canadienne) …
This morning I saw a sign asking people not to use the swimming pool.
Our worst enemies are the people who are too arrogant to obey the law. They don’t know that their freedom ends where the freedom of others begin. Only food, medication and the mail can be delivered.
I then had a conversation with a friend who is a postmaster. Mailmen will not ask you to sign if there is a delivery. That is contact. Covid rests on surfaces, which may include the mail.
One must also realize that there is very little medical help. I often tell people that if they wish to be well treated, they should go to the vet’s office. They have to learn medicine carefully as animals do not speak, except “en son langage.”
I am embedding music played by Hank Knox, a member, by marriage, of Sir Ernest MacMillan‘s family. My dear friend Andrea, whom I lost to cancer recently, was Sir Ernest’s niece. I knew the family but not closely, except for Andrea. We became friends when David and I rented the lower floor of her house.
David had found employment in Toronto. We were in a hotel looking for a home. David drove through streets he knew I would like. He saw a sign on a big tree and Andrea standing outside. He learned that she loved music and cats. So David said he would pick me up because he was certain I wanted to live in that house and that a friendship would grow. I must phone Betsy. She sent me harpsichord music.
Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson, his wife, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s wife, Sophie Grégoire, have tested positive for Covid-19. Therefore, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in self-isolation, but he can work. Wherever it is possible, people are working from home. Moreover, in certain countries, employees whose benefits do not include paid sick leaves are being supported by their government. I hope that movement will spread because avoiding exposure to the virus is our best weapon. Covid-19 is extremely dangerous, but if we work together, we may defeat it.
Worse than a bomb … a tsunami
The BBC interviewed Italian Dr Giacomo Grasselli who stated that Covid-19 arrived in his country in a manner that was worst than a bomb. Covid-19 spreads quickly, it is agressive, and it is new. It’s a tsunami, says Dr Grasselli (CBC).
Italy was not given sufficient time to prepare. But many countries had time to prepare, at least minimally. They were able to enlarge medical facilities and purchase the materials they require. As well, people are being sent home, so they do not catch the disease and transmit it.
Pandemics are horrible and Covid-19 is a new threat, but I am seeing people working together to save themselves and to save their neighbours. Doctors alone cannot defeat Covid-19. It’s a community project.
Italy had little time to prepare, but the first order of business was containment, which is what Dr Grasselli is advising and which many of us have been given the time to do. However, Covid-19 is nevertheless a surprise and many of us are in denial.
I heard people trivialise the situation, which we can’t. We must keep at a distance from one another, which, in the days of coronavirus, is working together. Covid-19 is real and it is happening.
Two weeks before the bomb fell and multiplied, Dr Grasselli would not have expected the calimity that is unfolding.
I embedded a BBC (British) interview with Italian Dr Giacomo Grasselli (publications) as well as a CBC (Canada) interview.
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