In
our home province of Alberta, Canada, the government had declared a state of public
health emergency which gives sweeping powers to control gatherings of people,
operations of certain businesses and spending money. These new rules are meant to
slow the spread of the Covid-19 virus and protect public health in the wake of
several new cases having been confirmed this week. These are in line with what
other provinces and cities in Canada have done or are considering.
The
decisions are being guided by the recommendations of the province’s Chief
Medical Office of Health, who stated yesterday that “this is our new normal.”
Today
151 countries (up 4 in 24 hours) have reported 204,700 cases (up 16,903); 8,270
people have died (up 771); and 82,868 have recovered (up 2,020). Canada has 598
reported cases (up 157).
The
recent restrictions will be on top of the closure of schools, childcare facilities
and some public venues. Among the new rules are:
·
Groups
of 50 or more people are banned. Existing events where such gatherings are
expected are to be cancelled immediately.
·
Citizens
are also banned from public places like casinos, bingo halls, theatres,
children’s play centres, recreation centres and arenas, science centres,
museums and art galleries, community centres, fitness facilities, and
entertainment facilities like movie theatres.
·
Weddings
and funerals of more than 50 people should be cancelled, as should concerts and
religious gatherings.
·
Sit-down
restaurants, cafés, coffee shops, food courts and other food-serving
facilities, including those with a minors-allowed liquor license, are limited
to 50 per cent capacity to a maximum of 50 people.
·
The
ban does not apply to health care facilities, grocery stores, airports, the
Alberta legislature, and other essential services.
·
Elective
surgeries are being cancelled or postponed. Hospitals are gearing up for the
expected rise of cases over the next few weeks.
·
Dentists
are being told to restrict their treatments to emergencies only.
If
we want that pizza or burger from the local pub it will have to be ordered for
take-out. Mind you, that is what we have been thinking about doing anyway. For
the time being we are altering our lifestyle by arranging to shop for groceries
(and wine) early in the day and foregoing what had become part of our routine
of eating out a few times a week.
Today
we are still trying to follow our routine, although we are not out and about
much. It’s still snowy and cold and here we are past the middle of March.
Mother Nature is really testing us this year. At 5:00 in the morning, I am out
with my dogs on their first walk. They don’t seem to mind the cold, at least
for a few minutes. The streets are deserted at this time of day. We hope they
don’t stay this way for an extended time.
Reading
the newspaper in the morning (yes, I still have a print copy delivered) is not
as much fun. And it’s not quite a big as in past days and months. The sports
section did not take long to get through – it was only three pages this morning.
Report headers are noticeably similar these days, too, all reflecting the Covid-19
situation.
No comments:
Post a Comment