Wow, everybody's doing nothing, and there's so much to say about it!
I keep trying to slip in a non-pandemic update, but things keep evolving so quickly, there's no time for it. As of this posting, this will become the month with the highest number of updates for 2020, that being five.
A couple of days ago, the Province of Ontario declared that they would be ordering the closure of all non-essential businesses. At face value, this is very alarming. What about my life or living style is considered "essential" in the eyes of the government? Is it simply keeping me alive? What about electronics, which keep me connected with my loved ones and allow me to stay informed about the current situation? I have a cat. Is his life considered as essential as mine? What about pet food? How about transit between cities? Am I now locked into KW?
Well, here is a link to the list of "essential services": https://www.ontario.ca/page/list-essential-workplaces
Us Canadians are pretty generous with the term "essential"
Some takeaways...
Stores that deal with pet food and supplies are still open.... Vetirenary clinics are not. I am fortunate that I have one young, healthy cat. My family in Guelph has two elderly cats. They will probably be fine, but I worry a bit. I've seen some news about vets fighting for the right to be considered an essential service, and distributing equpment to pet owners so that they can provide at-home care.
I feel bad for owners of exotic pets... When you look at categories of pet owners, they are usually separated into "dog", "cat", and "other", and "other" is always represented by a rabbit. What about owners of ferrets, lizards, snakes, birds and fish?
Right here, I want to say, while I'm not personally a dog person... I dont condemn those who are choosing to walk their dogs during this crisis. When you adopt a dog, one of the questions you are supposed to ask yourself is, "can I bring it on a walk every day?". If you can't, that's a huge toll on the dog's health and wellbeing. So do your best to keep your distance, but so long as we continue to house dogs, their well-being is your responsibility. I get it.
The liquor stores are staying open. This is probably the most "what" inducing piece of this list, especially when you consider that in Ontario, we are allowed to sell beer and wine in our grocery stores. The logic I've heard behind this decision is that there are some people who are so addicted to alochol that their withdawal symptoms would cause them to require medical intevention when our hospital staff are already overwhelmed.
I've just got to say... I'm not above this ruling... I will likely choose to take advantage of our right to purchase alcohol... but if I were pressed... I would choose vet clinics to stay open over alcohol stores.
I think what is happening here is, we want to limit how closely people are connecting, but we are kind of walking a tightrope, because when you bother a large number of people a lot, you know what happens? Protesting. And you know what happens at protests? Lots of people crowding together, shouting loudly, spraying Covid-positive spittle everywhere.
Restaurants are staying open, but only for take out. This was already being enacated. Just looking out my living room window, I can see the local pizza joint and shawarma spot are still open. Our pharmacy is still going, as well as our convenience store. Tim Horton's consistently has a line in it's drive thru.
Hotels, motels, and shared rental units are staying open. This one's a bit weird, because we're supposed to not be traveling, and these servicers are for travelers. I have heard this is to help people stranded in Canada. I have also heard that truckers (a very essential service currently) make use of them. But business can't be good at this time.
I wish the government would partner with hotels and motels to temporarily house our homeless population. Where else are you going to find places that are meant to provide shelter to individuals for an impermanent amount of time? It's already happening, as a number of homeless shelters have made deals with hotels to temporarily house people when other resources are at capacity. Right now, homeless who are not able to socially distance are creating danger for us, and there is definitely a dip in people renting rooms. I know that many homeless will choose to wander from their rooms, but many would capitalize on the securioty of staying inside.
It gets a bit weirder though... While Canada and Ontario haven't declared a State of Emergency, Waterloo Region has, as well as many. other local regions
This has been a trend for many nearby areas. It means they can enact additional stipulations. Guelph (where my mom and brother live) had been doing okay, but now, the city has three cases
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I can answer some questions for you, I think. My best friend is a vet, so we've already talked at length about some of this, and other things I've picked up from people I follow on Twitter. They aren't necessarily the same in Ontario, but I think most of them might be.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with trying to keep vet clinics fully open is that there is a lot of overlap in terms of both drugs and supplies with human medicine - same PPE for surgeries, for example. So if supplies run low, or are expected to run low, then human medicine will take priority over animal medicine.
I'd guess rabbits are the most common type of "exotic"; they're really only considered exotics because there are so many more dogs and cats.
Liquor stores would typically stay open because withdrawal for some people with extreme addiction can actually kill them ... but also possibly because they can generate quite a bit of money, and because right now, a lot of adults might benefit from having something to help relax them a bit during extremely stressful times. (I just figured out that last part while I was typing the first. Might also explain why states with dispensaries keep them open.)
Hotels and motels are likely also open (at least the smaller ones?) because travel hasn't stopped completely - like you said, truckers have to work or else the economy would collapse completely, but there are also essential people traveling to where they're needed (doctors, nurses, techs etc). If they're not local, they need a place to stay.
Down here, they were intentionally vague about what was essential, partly to ease the economic impact, but partly because it could cause some real problems if they tried to be explicit about what counted and what didn't. For example, an office supply store might not seem like it's essential right now, but business for a lot of companies hasn't stopped, and if you're working from home, where do you get supplies if you need them?
Also down here, "stay at home" isn't literal. In fact, they encourage us to go outside as needed to get fresh air and exercise - walking, bike riding etc - but we just need to keep that 6-foot distance while doing so. (Do they say 2 meters? It's close enough, and I'd guess all Canadians know feet-to-meters and not nearly as many Americans can do the opposite.) Walking dogs is fine, letting kids out to play as long as they stay separate (i.e. parks, playgrounds are closed). The stay-home thing refers more to car travel: don't go in to work if you're not an essential business, don't go to the store more than once a week, that kind of thing.
Stay safe and healthy! This too shall pass, it'll just take quite some time.
That answer about the vets is really smart! So vets and hospitals fall under the healthcare umbrella, and hospitals are just so swamped that we can't prioritize animals
Delete