DigitalGhost

Honestly, I think they've managed it because they were better prepared for it. Another example is that for years, Japan has been quietly preparing for the next 'big' Earthquake. Believe it or not, Tohoku in 2011 was not it. There are plans for a full-scale evacuation of Tokyo and all of the other emergency work that would need to happen alongside it. London, Paris and Berlin will have no such plans because it was never considered necessary.

Where the west dropped the ball here was in failing to realise that travel between China and anglophone world has grown exponentially over the last couple of decades. In 2005, Avian flu found its way to Canada mainly because of Canadian residents returning home from trips to see family in mainland China and Hong Kong. In 2019, Chinese tour groups make up a huge percentage of tourism to Europe and Chinese students are the largest single foreign nationality present in most western universities. Coupled with visa waiver agreements that ordinarily most westerners to travel across Europe and North America pretty much as we see fit, it was always going to be a question of when rather than if.

Shard

Yes, I agree with that. I hope this proves to be a learning experience for us, and hope I survive it !

Japan, well normally I'd be impressed, but with 60 dead in Kyushuu owing to heavy rains, I wonder how effective their preparations for The Big One actually are ?!!

DigitalGhost

Oh they will be far from perfect but my own personal experience with Japan has taught me that they have a different relationship with death to those of us from the west. They had an understanding that you can rarely save everyone. Taking the nuclear issue out of the equation though, I think if you look at how Japan responded to the 2011 tsunami versus how America has dealt with its major natural disasters over the last decade or so then Japan suddenly doesn't look too bad.

Shard

Seems to be BoJo's core philosophy !

DigitalGhost

It's because sadly it's the truth.

scrubbedexpat091

More possible COVID exposure locations identified in Kelowna.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...sure-1.5647125

Passengers on Air Canada 8421, which flew from Kelowna to Vancouver on July 6 may have also been exposed to COVID and being asked to monitor for symptoms.

https://globalnews.ca/news/7171969/c...uver-symptoms/

dave_j

Well it may have been hyperbole, but I'd still argue that no country had prepared for this virus.
Whether it was luck because you were an isolated country, or whether you simply chose the least dangerous path or simply whether you had a population that had dealt with similar outbreaks before, in my view none of these constitute preparation for a pandemic.
Simply rating low on the death scale isn't good enough. C19 could have been much worse and required immediate purpose built isolation facilities en mass for immediate use etc. Some countries constructed and assembled them quickly, but again this is reactive not proactive.
But this is another of those topics that can be argued this way or that, but life's too short, or at least it is for us oldies with C19 on the loose.

Danny B

It's coming....

scrubbedexpat091

We are starting to see increases in BC, slowly rising still but still rising, I'd be surprised if we can stay in phase 3 until end of summer, hopefully I am wrong, but if the cases steadily rise, they wont take the risk.

Major school districts in California are starting to cancel on campus instruction for the time being, all learning will be online as these districts have done since March.

California also put back many closures they tried to loosen due to increasing cases and many hospitals neat or over capacity, and as one hospital pointed out they can have empty beds but not have the nursing, staffing and ventilator capacity, so while the hospital may in theory only be at say 70% bed capacity, they could be over capacity when it comes to staffing and equipment, not like you can just pull nurses off the street quickly.

Danny B

I really hope Canada stays closed to American travelers (as well as other bad hot spot countries) until next Spring. Last thing we want is a load of Vegas stag night revelers coming back home spreading their COVID germs around.

scrubbedexpat091

If they are Canadian citizens or PR's they can fly into the US, US is only restricting land borders from Canada, go to YVR and you can fly to the US no issue, of course those Canadian's returning home would need to quarantine for 14 days so hopefully that keeps Canadian's going to the US for leisure purposes from vising Vegas or the US.

I wont go this year to California for leisure, but if my parents became ill, I'd be on the first available flight, but I would quarantine for 14 days upon return which I guess for me would mean a hotel since I wouldn't be able to quarantine at home due to my wife and no way to isolate in a 1 bedroom apartment. But it would have to be a life/death emergency for me to even go at this point.

Jerseygirl

I am hopping across the border if the US has a vaccine first

scrubbedexpat091

I would consider doing that if the price was within reason or they give it free.

Canada probably wont get it first.

printer

This is the reality though isn't it? Borders are not completely closed and flights still coming and going. Now we should all be safe in the knowledge that anyone arriving into Canada has to self isolate for 14 days and has worn mask in airport and plane too. But we know that this isn't policed strictly and people have broken the rules. We also know that there is no mandate stating you must NOT remove mask whatsoever, so lowering mask to eat/drink while in airport or on plane are acceptable but of course this is now increasing the "risk factor" Even if the US border remains sort of closed we still have interprovincial travel which is allowed and of course we have seen that spike here in Kelowna because of that very fact. What would have prevented this spike? They were at a private address but they went out to beach, pub, restaurant, gym, pool. All these places are open and welcoming guests and all these places would not have had any kind of mask rules so that wouldn't of helped. I don't see any way of stopping these spikes popping up here and there unless we completely shut everything down and ban ALL travel anywhere for as long as it takes. This would not be a good idea. IMO

dbd33

We can avoid featuring in those spikes though. We don't have to go to the beach, pub, restaurant, gym, pool. We don't have to travel.