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Canada Is Really Putting On The Brakes !!


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2 hours ago, crisgold52 said:

You can cross the border... by air. That's the loophole. Hop an airline. Just cannot drive. 

Yes, I’m aware of that. The “loophole” is actually not a bad policy decision - it adds a layer of intent and commitment to travel. It also provides the means for the authorities to better vet, as well as more closely monitor the mandatory 14-day quarantine on arrival.

This means that if the reason to travel is important enough, you can still travel across the border, but subject to strict conditions.

We really don’t want U.S. citizens to show up in cars at our border for a “cheap & safe” vacation, or for a sort-of longer “getting out of Dodge” stay. Montreal did end up with a couple of NYC residents show up at one of our ERs early on... 

It also prevents me from doing a short hop across the border, into a hot zone, and possibly bringing it back to my home community... sure I can fly, but I’d have to seriously consider the cost and quarantine conditions on the return.

There will always be people who will think that masking, safe distancing, and travel restrictions should not apply to them... at least we’re keeping most of those from coming up here right now. We’ve got plenty of our own covidiots to deal with anyway.

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49 minutes ago, monctonguy said:

They are now suggesting it could be 2-3 years in Canada before they allow us to be normal again..insane!

 

Now, not even a vaccine is good enough for the Canadian government to allow its citizens to move about and live freely......something has got to give at some point..its beyond ridiculous

Yikes.  I wonder if the Blue Jays will look to relocate on a more permanent basis, assuming MLB doesn't shut down completely.  Maybe next year they'll try the NHL bubble approach.

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1 hour ago, monctonguy said:

They are now suggesting it could be 2-3 years in Canada before they allow us to be normal again..insane!

 

Now, not even a vaccine is good enough for the Canadian government to allow its citizens to move about and live freely......something has got to give at some point..its beyond ridiculous

I am scared of this approach being used in the US.  The cost of the pandemic on people with special needs, learning differences, and a myriad other issues has been staggering.  I am desperately trying to keep my son with learning differences going, but we lost so much in terms of help , resources, church events, and even preschool (cannot find enough staff now to help him) when this shutdown started.  But...if I mention this, I am told we are looking out for the greater good.  Hate to break it people, but the greater good is a pretty loose term.  Rant over.  Sorry.

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26 minutes ago, twangster said:

Yikes.  I wonder if the Blue Jays will look to relocate on a more permanent basis, assuming MLB doesn't shut down completely.  Maybe next year they'll try the NHL bubble approach.

Not sure how that will work..the NHL system seems to work well for them so far...although a whole season would not be reasonable to be played like that.

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Here’s what a slow return to normal looks like where I live, in Ontario (Canada):

We went to a cinema to see a movie yesterday — Bought our tickets online, picked our seats in a much reduced capacity theatre, with bookable seats in pairs within acceptable social distancing requirements, wore our masks from the car to our seats, bought popcorn by snaking though the revised concession stand set-up & paid by tapping our CC on the pad, removed our masks at our seat & ate our popcorn, masks went back on with the closing credits.

Went to a restaurant for dinner — Wore our masks from the car to our table, kept masks on while ordering our food & dealing with our masked waiter, removed our masks only after our plates were placed in front of us and the waiter had moved away, remasked when we finished our plates, paid the bill at our table.

Everyone around us followed the same sanitary protocols, and we felt comfortable with our outing. As a matter of fact, I could tell that we weren’t the only ones happy to enjoy these small pleasures.

I’m hoping to visit my son and his family in Manitoba next month. That province has a mandatory 14-day quarantine for arrivals from where I live. I’m OK with that, since I really wouldn’t them or anyone else inadvertently exposed by me - especially since I will be flying in. This is what I’m prepared to do to make this happen: I will not leave my house for a week before I’m due to leave, I’ll get tested 3 days before (turn-around time for results is 24-48 hours), I will strictly self-isolate from the time of the test to leaving for the airport, I will arrange a safe pick-up from the airport to where I’ll stay quarantined for 14 days, *then* I’ll visit with my family. I’ll be self-isolating when I go home too & get re-tested a week after my return (don’t have to do that part, but I will - I value my friends & neighbours enough to do that.) I’m putting more than a month aside to make this visit happen, and it shall basically be my only in-person visit with them this year. I last saw them over the last Holidays, had to cancel my May and summer trips, and need to also cancel next Christmas’ visit (flu season in full swing each previous Holidays visits - so don’t want to deal with that too this year.)

My own family doctor also estimates a couple of years of this new normal of masking and maintaining social distancing. I’ve also resigned myself to having all sorts of risk mitigation measures interfere with domestic & int’l travel from “hot” zones to “cold” zones, as authorities play whack-a-mole with flare-ups of community transmissions and move up & down the opening phases.

I’ll be much happier when a reassuring set of treatments would be available to us, in the eventuality that a friend or family member gets sick because of being inadvertently infected. They are who I am most worried about right now.

I’d like to be able to eventually think of COVID-19 in the same way that I look at malaria or dengue when I travel - avoid getting infected in the first place (prophylactic drugs, barrier nets and bug spray), know the symptoms, get tested & seek medical help, take the treatment (malaria) and deal with the symptoms (dengue), and hope that one day that there is an effective vaccine available (not yet, for either.)

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1 hour ago, jaredhamburg said:

I am scared of this approach being used in the US.  The cost of the pandemic on people with special needs, learning differences, and a myriad other issues has been staggering.  I am desperately trying to keep my son with learning differences going, but we lost so much in terms of help , resources, church events, and even preschool (cannot find enough staff now to help him) when this shutdown started.  But...if I mention this, I am told we are looking out for the greater good.  Hate to break it people, but the greater good is a pretty loose term.  Rant over.  Sorry.

I feel for you.  I know a teacher who has taught special needs classes.  We've talked about the special needs students and their parents several times as various approaches to reopening have been tabled.  

Some special needs students can't understand the concept of personal space or maintaining distance.  Remote learning isn't ideal for any student but for some special need students it just doesn't work at all.    It can be more difficult applying pandemic protocols to special needs students for in person learning, the same protocols that have many challenges in general terms in public schools before considering special needs.   

Some teachers are at risk or have at risk family members at home and are seriously concerned what they might bring home.  It's one thing to reopen schools, should at risk teachers or those with at risk family members be forced to work in school during a pandemic or be terminated?

Teachers in the U.S. already face a shortage of school supplies.  Will school boards supplying PPE?  Not going to happen, at least not here.  One proposal a month or so ago would have given a teacher one new mask every week, that was the best they could do. 

There is no good solution with a highly spreadable and potentially deadly virus in play.

The current situation is extra hard on the parents of some special needs students.   

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On 8/5/2020 at 1:55 PM, twangster said:

Yikes.  I wonder if the Blue Jays will look to relocate on a more permanent basis, assuming MLB doesn't shut down completely.  Maybe next year they'll try the NHL bubble approach.

Interesting you say that as the Rays have been considering playing half a season in Montreal and half in Tampa Bay some time in the next few seasons. Can't see that happening now, especially with the covid problems MLB already has had with the Cards and Marlins!

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