Ok, as this is my 'journal' and I want this for future generations, here's a breakdown. It's not chronologically or medically correct, but it will give you an idea of the craziness that is gripping us worldwide, and how fast it is taking over...
At the end of December there was reports of a new virus that had emerged out of China. It was identified as 'new' or Novel and a coronavirus which is in the same family as SARS and the common cold. It is a respiratory virus that can cause pneumonia in patients. As the days went on, soon they found cases of people outside the country of China. People who had traveled from there. By January 23, China had started to impose restrictions on travel and quarantine measures. They even started to cancel public events. January 31, the confirmed cases in China were up to 9809. There were confirmed cases through many countries in Asia and into Europe.
On February 11, WHO (World Health Organization) named the virus COVID-19. At that time there were 42,638 infected in China, with 1016 deaths. Many more cases were starting to see throughout the world. They did not have an effective treatment for this new virus, and with many of the symptoms being very routine (cough, sneeze, fever) many people did not realize they had been infected. They docked a cruise ship and quarantined the people on board.
The virus hit Italy and as of February 21, they had 6 cases. Several countries started to close borders. People were starting to recover from the virus, but the spread was still quite rapid. Italy suspended sporting events to try and stop the spread. Less than a week after their first cases, Italy's numbers jumped to 650. More and more cases were seen throughout the world. The number of infections had surpassed 82,000 at that point.
Many airports were screening people. There was many notices telling people to look for symptoms if they had travelled etc. On March 11, WHO declared the outbreak a Pandemic. And on March 12 the global death toll had passed 4600 and the number of total infections exceeded 126,000 cases.
Canada's first case was reported on January 25. It was a man who had traveled from China to Toronto. A few more emerged, but mostly from people who had traveled to China or were in close contact with people who had been infected. More and more notices went around about good hygiene, hand washing and looking for symptoms. Most people, including myself, kept thinking, "It's just a flu, it's no big deal. People are getting better everyday."
People started panic buying. Toilet paper, of all things, started flying off the shelves. And bottled water. I went grocery shopping on March 5, usual run for monthly groceries. Not too much difference though it was busy. I went in again on Saturday with my Mom, and toilet paper was really low. By the end of that weekend, many stores were completely out and many canned goods etc were really low. They started talking about limiting exposure to large groups of people. Some sporting teams were in talks of not allowing fans into stadiums. As of March 11, there was approximately 100 cases in all of Canada.
March 11, the NBA has one player test positive for the virus. They immediately shut down the game and a couple of hours later, they suspend the season 'until further notice'.
Earlier that week I had talked to Dustin about it. I asked him if he thought it was as big of deal as the media etc. was making it. He said he didn't know. At first, he said, he didn't think it was. But after seeing some of the data coming out of Italy, he was a little worried. At that point, that country was basically shut down. Their hospitals were completely overrun and the medical staff was having to Triage EVERY patient, not just Covid patients. So basically choosing who they thought had a better chance at survival, and who they had to set aside and hope for the best. He said THAT is what he was worried about. Our ER's in Alberta are extremely abused with people coming in with colds, flu, lots of little things that are not emergent. He was worried that people would start coming in with this new virus, infecting everyone else OR coming in thinking they had it and catching it and taking it back out and these two things causing a backup and some regular emergencies, like car accidents or heart attacks, and it would be really hard to treat everyone. Watching people panic buy toilet paper really would make you think that yes, when it hits here, they will flood the hospitals and clinics.
So basically he was worried about people panicking and causing a bigger problem than the actual virus itself. The virus can be dangerous to some, elderly, immune-compromised, but it seemed to be relatively less dangerous to healthy humans. People freaking out or just ignoring symptoms is what would cause the major problems.
March 12 - we wake up still amazed that the NBA is closing down. We hear of friends in other places that are having certain events etc being cancelled. Mostly in California. Then we see that the NHL will be suspending play, the MLS is as well and the MLB is pushing opening day and stopping Spring Training. We joke about how we thought about going to Arizona to watch baseball. We start talking about how, yes, it's a good thing. There are too many people at those events. That's a good precaution.
Then I see that Disneyland is closing for the rest of March! Now that is crazy to me. It has only closed 4 times in history. Then we get the news, church services will not be held in buildings. All meetings are suspended. We had heard that they were only going to be broadcasting conference, no spectators, but closing church?!? Then we heard that Basketball zones we're postponed. All events of 250 people were to be suspended in Alberta. There were talks of closing the Universities and Colleges. And then Hockey Canada shut down all sanctioned events, including practices.
That one really hit me. I mean, my boys are done their season, it doesn't really affect them, but they have friends on the Midget and Atom teams that were slated to go to Provincials in a week. Some of the kids, this was their last year! Many of them will never get the chance again...and all of that just done.
It's the same with basketball or many of the other sporting events across North America. NCAA tournaments were all suspended. There now were no sports to be heard of...it was unreal. It felt so dreamlike. Like someone was going to post on Facebook, 'Just Kidding!!'. It just was too crazy.
At the beginning of the week there was memes floating around about how it was Time change, full moon and Friday the 13th this week...Good luck! Oh and Corona, so wash your hands. And now a big snowstorm Southern Alberta...school was a snow day on Friday...
I said, that I wouldn't be surprised if school is cancelled on Monday. But all through the weekend, nothing. More confirmed cases, more talk of 'Social Distancing' and hand washing and 'Flattening the Curve'. Jokes of TP hoarding and not having any food raged through Facebook. As of March 14 there were 39 cases in Alberta.
It was a quiet weekend. Nothing going on, nothing even planned because my kids were done everything, and then it snowed and got cold, so it was a great start to 'Self Isolation' for us. I was a little out of it. I DO NOT do well when I don't know what is happening. I like to have a plan. I like to be ready. (hence why I didn't worry about TP, because I always have a stockpile) So, since my anxiety is a lot about control, and I couldn't control what was going on, but I could control my environment, I made my kids SUPER clean the house. Bleach is my friend. Though, I will admit, the house really needed it. Hockey season is long and busy and the house gets minimal attention most weekends. So I was determined to feel like I had done my part in our home.
Sunday we had a late brunch, and because there is a Pandemic going on, let's watch the Pandemic series on Netflix...I'm sure that that has helped me oh so much *insert sarcasm here* And then Brody comes in, jumping for joy, that 'There's no school! They cancelled school!' We grabbed our phones and searched and sure enough, the Press conference saying, that there were now 56 cases in Alberta, including some from 'community contact' and now all schools and daycares would be closed.
It was a little like something in my snapped. I think I was really holding on to that hope that this would blow over and things would be normal in the next couple of weeks. But no, school was cancelled, indefinitely. As in, they are pushing kids through their grades and the earliest they will reopen is September. 5 months of Summer...
I have been feeling better today, but yesterday I was freaking out. Like, what am I supposed to do with them? for 5 months!! Everything is closed, activities, rec centers. And as a good citizen, you are trying to keep them home and out of public as much as possible. I'm not sure if I will survive...or maybe I should rephrase that. I'm not sure if my children will survive.
Right now, they think it's awesome. no school, Playstation and tv all day. I'm sure the boredom will hit in the next few days when everything loses its appeal. It's warming up, thankfully, so now I can send them outside to get out of my hair. But I am just feeling so out of sorts. I used to be really good with making my little schedules and following daily routines. When they were little and you basically control everything they do. Now they are big and it's so much more of a fight to get them to do things, that making a daily routine??? BAHAHAHAH! Ya right!
So it's Day 1 of 166 days of summer...and I'm trying to work on my coping skills as of right now. Trying to just breathe and let my kids have a little fun. The last thing they need is Mom having a complete breakdown, or even a partial one. Trying to come up with fun ideas for them to learn Life Skills, like cooking and budgeting and talking on the phone (Coop seriously has troubles with that) Hoping that we can use this time to bond together as a family. That I can teach them a few things about life and perseverance. And that maybe, we slow down a little and enjoy the extra time we have.
No comments:
Post a Comment