St-Ambrose’s Day

Tags

Bernini, covid19, life, PANDEMIC, PEI, Popes, Salisbury

St-Ambrose is the Patron Saint of the City of Milan and traditionally this is the Opera Season Opening Day at the famed Teatro alla Scala since 1778. This is a very important gala event with the President of the Italian Republic present with his guest of honour who is another Head of State in the Royal Box. The tickets for such an event are hard to get, many go to the glitterati of Italian aristocracy, captains of industry and le beau monde. This will not happen this year given the second wave of Covid19.

Well we all knew this was coming, that our luck had to run out at some point, as of this morning PEI is under lock down or as it is called here Circuit breaker lock down. All restaurants and bars, gyms, casinos, meeting halls, are closed. It is forbidden to have any private gatherings, this means that you cannot have more than 2 people in your house and they must be part of your family or household. Anyone breaking those rules and anyone present is fined $1000. no exceptions. Retail shops can stay open but there are severe restrictions on how many customers can come in, security guards at the door maintaining order. Church services can proceed with no more than 10 people, no weddings no funerals. These measures are in force until 21 December but I believe this means no Christmas this year. Will and I will simply stay quiet at home and have a nice Christmas meal together. Just a few minutes ago the Chief Medical Officer announced 4 more cases all in their 20’s all connected to the other cases. Now people are encouraged to shop online, work from home and seniors home and hospital will not allow any visitors. Any young person much show proof that they had the Covid test before going to the dentist or being admitted into a medical office.

The good news is that we could start receiving the vaccine by the end of next week, in the meantime everyone must wear a mask at all times.

The latest episode started with one 15 yr old student at a high school in Charlottetown, he had never travelled outside of the Island, so the cause of his infection was a total mystery. Over 3000 people were tested over one weekend, all from his school and contacts, all were negative, so it was an even bigger mystery. Finally the Wendy’s restaurant near the school was linked to him, itL had 3 cases, all employees in their 20’s and a further 4 persons also all in their 20’s were their contacts. So the Government of PEI has decree that anyone in the age group 20 to 29 MUST be tested for Covid19. In PEI the second wave is hitting the under 30 group, a group that did not follow health directives for the most part.

In other news, I was reading this morning that today is the Birthday of artist, sculptor and architect, the man responsible for many stunning monuments in Rome who invented the Baroque style of architecture, Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680). He worked for many Popes and left masterpieces for all of us to appreciate.

It is also the 800 Anniversary of the Salisbury Cathedral, built in 1220 as a Roman Catholic Cathedral, since the reformation it’s an Anglican Cathedral. The Prince of Wales and his wife the Duchess of Cornwall came for the thanksgiving service.

new rules

Tags

Canada, covid19, Health, life, mask, Nunavut, PANDEMIC, PEI

Yesterday the Premier of PEI announced at the recommendation of the Chief Medical Officer that everyone in PEI would have to wear a face mask in any indoor situation as of Thursday. We do not have any Covid 19 cases but the Medical authorities and the Government are worried that people have become complacent and are not really following simple guidelines like washing your hands, keeping 6 feet apart and wearing a face mask. Community spread is always a fear and Nunavut the far Northern Territory some 2200 Km north of us had no Covid 19 case in 2020 so far but in a matter of 72 hours suddenly they have 60 cases. The population of Nunavut which is a gigantic territory larger than all of Europe has a very small population of 38,000 people. If it can happen there it certainly can happen in PEI which is very small island with a population of 150k. Also yesterday one case of community spread happened in Darmouth, Nova Scotia. So the risk is there.

I have several masks and I always have one with me and so does Will and we wear them. I just feel more comfortable going inside a mall or shop wearing a mask. It is such a small thing. Yes it fogs up my glasses and I don’t like that but so what, health comes first.

The other problem is trying to make people understand that maybe they do not fell sick or have no symptoms but that does not mean they are not carrying the virus, many just don’t seem to understand that. I suspect they do understand but just can’t be bothered.

We have been lucky on PEI during this pandemic let’s keep it that way.

Another busy day

Tags

Bridge, car detailing, painting, PANDEMIC, puppies, Weather, winter

I cannot say that I stay home and eat Bonbons like another blogger friend of mine in AZ. My days are filled with incidents. Today I had the car detailed inside and out. The shop who did it are on Mount Edward near Sherwood Drive, South end of the city. I first saw their ad on Instagram, they are called SUDS. I wanted to have the car thoroughly cleaned for some time though as it was pointed out to me at the shop, your car is fairly clean, nonetheless they did a beautiful job, it looks brand new.

It was a heavy rain day today but it was all over by 4pm when I returned to pick up the car. Happy I did it.

I am still looking for someone to clean my oriental rugs, found a shop in Halifax who can do it, though this means I would have to travel to Halifax 3 hours away by car. It would take about 8 weeks to clean them and they send them to Toronto some 1500km away for the job. The pandemic is still on and the province next door, New Brunswick has seen many new cases in the last week. It is strongly advised NOT to go to Moncton and avoid anywhere near the Quebec border area. However if I drive to Nova Scotia once I am off the bridge I turn left and avoid all of it. I could technically drive back from Halifax same day though it is a lot of driving for one day.

Winter is coming and already we are starting to have wild storms with high winds, meaning that the bridge is closed during the storm, you really do not want to drive over to the mainland with winds howling at 80 + Km per hour, its white knuckle driving. The ferries stop their crossings in a storm and in Winter. So I will have to think about the logistics of it all.

Tomorrow I have a vernissage of a good friend of ours Don Andrus who has a new show on Grafton Street. Then I have to return to the printer to look at proofs for a printing job and then a meeting in the afternoon with the new Club President.

Every day seems to be loaded with stuff, some of it is mundane, like shopping or taking care of our puppies which demands a lot of time and commitment.

Instagram

Tags

Instagram, Lisbon, Music, PANDEMIC

A month or so ago I thought to leave Facebook and since I have not been much on it except to check up on some people. What I really like now is Instagram, I post lots of photos of food and places and read about other people and look at their pictures. The format I find is cleaner and simpler and focuses on what you are doing at the time and there is none of the other nonsense or worse these exchanges that descend into insults and all manners of crazy people. Instagram has the advantage of letting you select what you want to see easily without all those suggestions about other sites. You can turn it into a Blog if you want and do other things, but I am content with simply posting my photos and letting it be.

Now this weekend and for about 7 days we will be incommunicado, our little Island does not have a complete coverage of the internet and many areas have NO signal. This is a significant problem for many people who happen to live outside of the main towns. About 90,000 people are affected by this daily, meaning that e-learning and school via the internet does not work here. School have been closed since 11 March 2020 and many kids expect to return to school in September and our Provincial Government is still working on a plan. We are off only 30 minutes away by the sea on the North Coast Kensington/ French River area. Even if the weather is not the best I am looking forward to this little escapade.

PEI has been lucky in this Pandemic and we had a long period of 2.5 months with no cases. In the last 10 days we now have 7 more cases from 2 individuals who travelled by plane upon their return infected 5 people. There may be more we will know in the next 48 hours when testing of all contact tracing is done. The Premier did say today that all options are now possible and one can be a mandatory wearing of face masks, the others could be returning to a lockdown. So we are all holding our breath.

Needless to say we are all dealing with depression, anxiety, stress, this situation is so abnormal and has put a strain on our lives. I really don’t know how we will manage the coming months. HOWEVER tonight a friend of ours said, we have all travelled so much in our lives, so true! and lived abroad for 25 years in grand style, not being able to travel now is really not a big deal. So true, yes it would be nice to go back to Europe etc. but we lack for nothing and so we can explore the beaches of PEI which we have to ourselves and imagine that beyond the waves we are looking at Europe.

What I do is listen to music which has the effect of transporting you in time or to a place. I also read just to occupy my mind and there are lots of topics to cover. So in terms of music this piece came to mind when thinking of Portugal. Lisbon the capital of Portugal a beautiful city and so pleasant to visit. I could live in Lisbon it is a very elegant and liveable city and listening to this old tune from decades ago captures the moment. I can relive being in the city. Lisbon Antigua was written in 1937, with music by Raul Portela and Portuguese lyrics by José Galhardo and Amadeu do Vale. Have a listen.

 

Values

Tags

Canada., Covid 19, economy, humanity, life, PANDEMIC

During this pandemic which is unlike anything any one living today have ever experienced, there are many discussions on life and the world and our medical authorities have tried their best with what they have on hand to inform us on how to avoid infection. Some have listened others not so much, then as we in Canada are starting to emerge slowly from the worst of this crisis, some have advocated a quick return to a normal life and a re-opening of businesses others have advocated patience and careful approach to avoid a second wave of this virus. We have to accept that there are many viewpoints on this matter and it is shaped by individual beliefs and life experience.

Re-opening to quickly to satisfy those who wish to return to what is dubbed normalcy out of frustration will create another problem. Are we not all frustrated with this unusual and abnormal situation.

Someone will have to pay the price for re-opening too quickly. Would you be willing to sacrifice your family, your children, parents, friends? It is likely many will pay with their lives having no choice but to work in unsafe conditions to satisfy this requirement and others will be infected without knowing it.

I am fascinated and horrified with the many commenters who justify the death of others by saying that it is justified by the economic benefits it brings because those who die are elderly (over 60) so a natural process. Such false equivalence arguments are often used in journalism and in politics today. A logical fallacy in which an equivalence is drawn between human life and re-starting the economy in order to save businesses and jobs based on flawed or false reasoning. We have all read or heard the arguments.

There are many such voices in Canada in the media, in politics and in the public in general. A very sad comment on our society and the mentality of the callous present amongst us.

We should never have to choose between a human life and/or the economy, there is no equivalence. Those who would have us make a choice are clearly in the wrong. We all need a strong economy so that our society prospers but not at the expense of the people in that society.

 

This and That

Tags

Bronx, covid19, NYC, PANDEMIC, routine, theatre, World

So as part of my daily routine now, believe me you need an established routine when a pandemic is on because though we are not on lockdown there is nowhere to go outside of driving to the beach or around the island or doing grocery shopping and that is not pleasant right now with all the risks around.

In the morning I get up, we take care of the puppies, then have my coffee,  shower and shave every morning even if we are not going to see anyone obviously. We have been in the house now for 9 days simply because we are following the advice of our Chief Medical Officer for PEI, Dr. Heather Morrison, stay home, stay safe. I also take my temperature everyday, I am normal. We phone people or send Emails, SMS etc to keep in touch with them, just to say hello. Do chores around the house, washing clothes, cleaning etc. Keeping busy is important. Also only listen to the news 2 daily, I find there is too much hype, spin and useless drama. Listening to Susan Bonner on CBC readio News at 6 is panic inducing, her tone of voice is full of drama and alarm, she does not know how to simply read the news. You have to wonder if it’s the producers behind the scene, click and bait school of journalism.  Not to mention Carol Off or Rosie Barton and Vassy Kapelos the grade 10 teenagers on the CBC.

I have gone back to listening to Internet Radio from around the World for music etc.

Today is World Theatre Day and when I think back to the wonderful plays we have seen with great actors throughout the years, so many plays in so many cities. Good theatre is joy! Here are three which made an impression on me. While in Dublin we went to The Abbey and saw the powerful play Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching towards the Somme by Frank McGuinness. Another play was The Three Penny Opera by Berthold Brecht and Kurt Weill in French and stage in this production in Montreal in 1939 during the Royal Visit of King George VI. In London One man two Guvnors by Richard Beam based on Goldoni’s play The Servant of two masters. So yes good theatre is a treasure to enjoy.

We should think about this treasure because the Covid 19 pandemic is going to reap a terrible price on the arts in general.

Today one year ago we were in Halifax visiting the city.  At this time of the year Wisteria is in bloom. I remember walking on the Corso Trieste in our neighbourhood in Rome and giant Wisteria plants would hang down, some stretching several floors on buildings.

We are not out of the woods yet, only 11 cases in PEI all at home doing ok. Tonight the Premier announced that schools are not re-opening before mid-May if at all. What will happen to the kids school year? He has 3 kids and 2 of them will probably have to do work from home but it will not be easy. His oldest is at University and students are doing all courses online. Many parents are simply not equipped to teach their kids. We all know that the tourist Season is dead, the Lobster and seafood/fishing season will be in severe difficulties now, the export and local markets have vanished. The Prime Minister has announced a very generous financial support plan for companies and people affected.

On the family front, my sister and her husband both work in the Bronx at a big hospital as social workers and they have been told to prepare for a surge (50%) in patients next week. I am very worried for both of them. But one remains hopeful, we tell ourselves this will pass but there is so much uncertainty. It is really out of our hands.

Hoarding

Tags

Canada., Health, life, PANDEMIC, PEI

I do daily trips to the grocery store or superstore as we call them here for household / kitchen needs. Thursday I did my regular shopping and noted nothing in particular in the store despite mounting alarmist news by our Canadian Media, the bait and click gang.

However Friday 13 March was a very bad day with numerous news conferences from the Prime Minister who confirmed his wife Sophie was sick and he was self-isolating himself, to the Quebec Premier announcing draconian measures, at that time Quebec had 17 cases, no deaths, as of tonight they now have 24 cases, all related to people who travelled internationally. Quebec has a population of 8 million people. Ontario announced it was closing schools for 2 weeks and Quebec followed suit. Ontario had 101 cases, no deaths. Ontario has a population of 14 million. The National Capital Ottawa, a city of 1 million people has 5 cases. In total Canada has 195 cases now and one elderly person with pre-existing conditions died 8 days ago in Vancouver.

So far the Canadian Government has refused to close the borders, the Minister responsible explained that when you do that people are a lot less honest about telling you where they were or travelled to.  In PEI like other provinces anyone returning from abroad will have to self-isolate for 14 days. So far it is happening and people report to the Health authorities.

So given all this shower of bad news, Friday night was shopping at the zoo for most people. In PEI like elsewhere the coveted toilet paper has become a fetish, bottled water is also a very big thing. Aisles are cleared of such items.

So today, Saturday  at the grocery store, please note that all our supplies, food and otherwise come from the mainland by truck over the sea bridge, except for meat and potatoes. The grocery store was well stocked and re-stocked from Friday’s onslaught. I did notice that everything is available in meats, fruits or vegetables, milk, eggs etc. What I could not find was the Lysol towelettes with bleach, large bottles of bleach, 28 rolls or larger packages of toilet paper and large packages of paper towels, the 12 roll size. Otherwise everything else was stocked and appeared un-touched.

Available were smaller size toilet paper packages under 8 rolls, all liquid cleaning products, soap hard, gel or liquid. Kleenex in quantity, small bottles of bleach for regular house chores. So why are those products available but not the other. What kind of priority is that, bigger is better?  Now there was a couple in their 50’s man and wife discussing the value of buying the really big bottle of bleach. Wife was ambivalent, husband really wanted it, wife finally says; oh well we will try to find a use for it all, it does not go bad. So they bought it but obviously they would never buy it otherwise. Some old lady in her 80’s bought 40 rolls of toilet paper and nothing else. Watching her I wondered what was she thinking, especially if she lives alone.

We are told to wash our hands constantly, soap and water not hand sanitizers. The hand soap was plentiful and appeared to be ignored by the shopping public, how strange. Hand Sanitizers on the other hand are gone, supply exhausted and since this come by truck I can see it will take another 15 days before a new shipment arrives given the demand.

People appear to believe that sanitizer gels, because of the alcohol content is a superior magic cleaner. I also noted that many people despite the clear health instructions given to us by various medical professionals and the Health department is not really followed or understood. People prefer the pundits who predict the end of the world, that is more fun or sexy, despite the fact that journalists have been misunderstanding the information received, if one listens to the questions asked at press conferences with health professionals.

In the meantime here in Charlottetown and across the Island all public events big or small are cancelled. Everyone is hoping that in 6 weeks by the end of April the whole thing will have blown over, I am not so sure.

 

Panic time

Tags

Canada., Coronavirus, Covid 19, PANDEMIC, PEI

Canada which is the second largest landmass and has a population of 38 million has been so far fortunate, as of this writing some 150 cases only of Covid 19 and only one dead in Vancouver, an elderly man with other health problems. In PEI so far no cases of Coronavirus, though this could change with March Break given the number of people travelling South.

The spouse of Prime Minister Trudeau is sick with Covid 19, Sophie Grégoire had just returned from London, the PM is staying home also and Parliament has decided to take a break until 20 April, though not before they approved the NEW NAFTA known as the CUSMA Treaty.

Some Provinces like Ontario and Quebec the two most populous ones in Canada have closed all schools and Universities. Churches also suspended all religious services and many municipal services are also closed or suspended until end April.

Here in PEI we still have 0 cases but the Government has asked that anyone returning from an International trip self isolate themselves for 14 days. March Break is only days away and many wanted to travel South, I wonder now how many will actually travel. Also find disturbing hearing stories of people who have returned from International trips but did not bother to monitor their health situation, this could be a situation just under the surface waiting to explode which would be devastating for this small Island.

The real bad news for PEI is that Canada has closed all its Sea Ports to ALL cruise ships until July. This is a disaster for the Port Authority of Charlottetown which built a new $21 million dollar dock with Federal monies. Upwards of 100 + cruise ships were to come as of 1 May, it will be a lot less for sure with an impact on restaurants and bars and tourist sights.  The motor traffic was down last year by 25% after the big rush of 2017 for the 150th Anniversary of Confederation.

In the more populous province like Quebec and Ontario a wind of panic has taken over. In Quebec City at the COSTCO this Friday 13 March at noon time the police and the fire dept were called to calm a huge crowd of shoppers who had become aggressive and belligerent, a wild rumour circulating to the effect that grocery store would run out of food. The Premier of Quebec had to give a press briefing stating that this was false and no shortages would happen.

The problem with health care in the Maritime provinces is the aging population. Nova Scotia has a weak health sector and the largest population of over +65 years old in Canada. If Covid 19 strikes hard this province hospital and care givers would be quickly overtaken. Same for PEI which has a severe shortage of nursing staff and doctors. New Brunswick only has 1 Covid 19 case so far but it too would be unable to meet a high demand.

Will see where this takes us and how the situation develops in the coming days and weeks. Maybe we can avoid the worst of it. In general Canada is well prepared to meet this challenge.