Today is official Day 376 since I first began working from my home for my university library system on March 16th, 2020. Today, and every Monday (at least until the government announces a third lockdown which I feel is inevitable), I am working in my office, weeding the reference collection of the agriculture library, which remains closed to faculty, staff, and students until further notice. I am making slow but steady progress in determining what to keep in reference, what to move to the circulating collection, what to upgrade to a full-text electronic version, and what to throw away.
Yesterday, hundreds of Manitobans gathered to protest the current COVID-19 restrictions at the Forks in Winnipeg, next to the Canadian Museum of Human Rights. Global News reported:
Hundreds of Manitobans gathered around The Forks on Sunday, rallying against COVID-19 restrictions.
Most protesters could be seen without masks and not social distancing while dozens of signs were posted in the ground surrounding a podium for speakers.
…
Clare MacKay, vice president of strategic initiatives and executive director of The Forks Foundation, told Global News on Friday the group was not granted access to the space.
“We have not been asked for, nor would we be in a position to grant, permission for this group to be on site,” MacKay said.
The Forks closed its doors Sunday afternoon due to safety concerns surrounding the rally.
You can’t fix stupid, people. And this pandemic has certainly shown us all just how many stupid people there are here. I have zero sympathy for these idiots, who are putting themselves and their contacts at risk. Here’s video of the event:
These protesters will soon have even more to complain about. This afternoon, the Manitoba government announced a new series of public health orders. The new restrictions, starting April 28th, 2021, and in effect for at least the next four weeks, include the following:
- Zero visitors to private residences, either indoors or outdoors (except for one designated visitor for those people who live alone);
- Indoor gatherings are prohibited, and outdoor gatherings are limited to a maximum of 10 people in public spaces;
- Outdoor restaurant patio dining is restricted to a maximum of 4 people;
- Food courts in shopping malls must close;
- Retail stores will be restricted to 25% capacity or 250 people, whichever is lower. Shopping malls will be restricted to 25% capacity (although how they are going to enforce this part in malls with multiple entrances is beyond me);
- Church, synagogue, and mosque services will be limited to 25% capacity or 10 people, whichever is lower, and mask-wearing is required;
- Gyms and fitness centres will be limited to 25% capacity, and all gym users must stay at least 3 metres (9 feet) away from each other.
I’m very glad I visited my mother and stepfather on Sunday, and brought some home-baked cookies as an early Mother’s Day gift; it looks like we will not be getting together for Mother’s Day this year.
In my opinion, the incremental approach of the Manitoba government is simply not good enough at this stage of the pandemic. The majority of new cases are coronavirus variants of concern, most of which have been shown to be more easily transmissible, and some of which make younger people sicker. Lacking any domestic vaccine production, we are still far, far behind the U.S. and other countries in our vaccination program. Under the circumstances, I feel strongly that non-essential retail stores, churches and gyms should be closed completely, as they were last November during our second wave, in order to bring the number of new cases and deaths down to as low a level as possible (the so-called “zero COVID” approach taken by the three Northern territories and the Atlantic provinces here in Canada, and in countries such as Australia and New Zealand).
The government says that they are trying to avoid a full shutdown, but I predict that they are going to be forced to implement one anyways, as cases and deaths increase. They are promising to crack down hard on people who are flouting public health orders, but they’ve been saying that all along, with little evidence of success. For example, the premier stated that some of the people who attended Sunday’s rally were issued tickets, but he had no specifics (you’d think he would have gotten that information before the press conference today).
There just seems to be a whole lot of stupid going around, both in a government that is too timid to take the necessary bold steps to halt transmission in its tracks, and in a populace who are getting lazy, rebellious, and non-compliant after more than a year of restrictions.
Under the circumstances, the best that you can do is to take care of yourself, STAY HOME as much as possible, and listen to the doctors and the scientists.
UPDATE April 28th, 2021: Chris Sky, who spoke at the Winnipeg anti-mask rally on Sunday, was arrested after speaking at a similar rally in Thunder Bay, Ontario. And apparently, only two people were fined as a result of the Winnipeg rally (the tickets come with a $1,296 fine).
I concur about the need for the government to show some leadership and take decisive action. The lunatics are being allowed to run the asylum at this point, and it’s beyond ridiculous. I’m thankful I’ve been vaccinated, but we have this same level of stupidity in the U.S. I just don’t understand how people can’t put two and two together about the ongoing and future risks of virus mutations. As pandemics go, we could certainly see things get a lot worse at some point, and we’re are just not going to be prepared to handle it. We have a large population of fundamentalist Christians that don’t want to take the vaccine, plus our whiny anti-government pseudo-Libertarians complaining about being forced to wear masks. Stupidity should be painful (and in this case I kind of wish it was lethal), but unfortunately the virus doesn’t discriminate.