Sunday, March 15, 2020

Plans Cancelled

We were to meet with far-flung family this coming Tuesday when they would be passing nearby. It involved family from Guelph, Tornoto and us. The family from Guelph are our niece, nephew and their baby whom I have yet to meet. Sue's sister would travel from Toronto, and Sue, Sha, the kids and I would join them at the restaurant.

Shauna made the restaurant reservation on Friday, but the COVID-19 situation is fluid. I had been stewing over this all morning, especially because Sue and I are over 70, and there was also a baby involved. Consider that our neighbouring province, Quebec, has asked all over 70s to stay home.

I was thinking hard of opting out when our niece contacted us to say that they were cancelling. Phew!

We really wanted to get together since they are going to be close by, but you can't always get what you want.

Niece suggested that we could send selfies instead, but when Sue wanted to comply, she lamented that she didn't have a tripod for her phone.

So, I went to the cupboard and extracted her birthday present although that is still 10 days away.

She loves it.


Meanwhile, here are the latest numbers (I think) for Canada.

  • 244 confirmed cases and 5 probable
  • 29% are 60 years or older
  • therefore 71% of cases are younger than 60
  • 12% have been hospitalized
  • 1 person has died
  • 79% of cases are travellers
  • 8% are close contacts of travelers
  • Ontario has the most cases, 101
Meanwhile, while we fret about lunch for 9, Americans are doing this at airports, courtesy of their stable genius president.

Image

14 comments:

  1. That's a good petri dish just sharing the same air (and germs) for hours. What a sanctimonious turd is supposedly in charge of our country! His minions are as much to blame, which supplanted the knowledgeable scientific leaders. Yes, you all are wise to hunker-down, as I am trying to as well. Happy almost birthday Sue!

    ReplyDelete
  2. He may be a stable genius, but he'll be put out to pasture come November!

    ReplyDelete
  3. There are 26 confirmed cases here in Cyprus (which is a lot for population of just over a million). Total lock-down... all restaurants closing from tomorrow, all private businesses closing other than food shops and other essentials, no tourists/visitors allowed in, all returning Cypriots and legal residents have to have certification that they are free from infection AND go into quarantine for 14 days, no meetings over 75 people. It's like a ghost town.

    Hope you stay safe and well.

    ReplyDelete
  4. They made a good choice. Take care you guys!

    ReplyDelete
  5. It is entirely understandable.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Better safe than sorry. We are less safe due to stable genius, but we are trying. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Stay safe and healthy ! I think the second photo is horrifying! The first full of warmth and love.

    ReplyDelete
  8. It is a horrid situation.
    We will provide sanctuary for our grandies for three weeks. Their teachers gave direciton, read 15 min. a day! HAH! They read for hours. We're going to have so much fun!!! 10 cases in Ottawa.

    ReplyDelete
  9. He's made a right mess of it, hasn't he, Ollie.
    And an early happy birthday to Sue.

    ReplyDelete
  10. That is a beautiful photo of you and your wife. I hope we all survive this crisis. David and I are in our 70s also.

    ReplyDelete
  11. As hard as it was, you made the right decision. It's going to be hard to stay in when we're used to being out and about.

    ReplyDelete
  12. My cousin was hosting a 100 year birthday party for her dad next Sunday and I had to tell her that we decided against going since mom is 90 and we hate to take her out. Consequently, she postponed the party. I feel really bad about this but it’s just a scary time to be out. We’ll drop by their house next week with a treat for him.

    I really feel Trump has totally screwed this all up with misinformation and downplaying the seriousness of the situation. I just love how he keeps saying over and over it’s not his fault. He actually even tried to blame it on “the previous administration.”

    ReplyDelete
  13. What a shame that you are missing out seeing relatives bu it is probably a good idea to avoid crowds although community spread is inevitable, I am sure of this. Here in Scotland, we already have community spread and only patients hospitalised are tested, everyone else with symptoms but well enough to be at home is advised to self-isolate. Stay safe and take care of each other.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Good birthday present!
    It's the same over here. I don't know the breakdown of people infected, but most who pass away are definitely elderly. Children hardly seem to be affected apparently, but they are still asked to stay away from their grandparents as they are more at risk.

    ReplyDelete