Wow. In Ontario the schools are seeing cases but not much transmission. But in most districts everyone’s masked indoors and high schools are a hybrid model.
I love visiting the USA, and have lots of friends and some family there. But it’s super low on the list of countries I want to visit again as the pandemic eases because it looks to me like the recovery will take longer because of the lack of coordination and consistency. between various levels of government. April seems way too soon to me, but I’d be very happy to be wrong!
Yes! At the end of this, I hope we have a less racist, more inclusive, more fair, more just system, especially for people of color and LGBTQ. I am not quite ready to give up hope, although I do joke about retiring to Mexico.
This is heart-breaking and maddening at the same time.
Same in MN! Not a lot of transmission inside schools - it’s more from other activities. Our Gov said that the contact tracing they’ve done shows that it’s mostly restaurants (after 9pm) and small social gatherings. I have no idea how they’ve narrowed down restaurants to late-night, but it doesn’t surprise me a lot.
As a non-fanatic hockey mom, I’ve been surprised that they aren’t tracing cases to sports as much.
Amen. Those are great things to strive for. In my personal experience though, it’s not those who believe this against those who don’t, but that most people are well-intended and agree these are good goals but have deep divides on how such loaded terms as ‘racist, inclusive, fair, and just’ are defined. We see things like that through many different lenses, and I believe decent people can have varying views on how we look at those things. Most Americans would love for the country to heal and unite, but only if it involves the other side coming around rather than trying to really listen and understand other points of view. I know I’m guilty there. This forum many times has helped me hold my tongue and try to walk a mile in others’ shoes more than I usually do. I’ll probably be better off for it.
I think it’s a lot easier in hindsight. For instance, many probably though the segregation of schools, neighborhoods, drinking fountains, etc. was just and fair, but in hindsight we know it’s not. That may be an extreme example, but one I could think of off the top of my head.
It’s funny, we get the exact opposite message here: we all have a curfew and can’t gather in groups of more than 10, but there is no spread happening in the schools and the schools that are either remote or hybrid need to move them all to full in person learning (thus eliminating the 6 foot rule and cramming them onto school buses).
I am completely bitter about this and I’m not having to deal with the logistics of the whole thing like you do! Mind you, we got school notification 4 times last week letting us know of a total of 8 cases within the school last week alone - this may be adding to my sense of bitterness about this whole thing)
Ya, they are not blaming schools here either - they say the cases in schools are coming from community transmission…not transmission in the school.
I think really what contributed - Halloween followed by Thanksgiving/Columbus Day. Aka - gatherings/parties. That’s when the numbers started escalating unchecked.
For two weeks they have halted all group sports/fitness. No social gatherings over 15, bars closing at 11. Who knows if it will make a diff.
Other than my “non-essential but essential for my mental health” trips to WDW I have been following the guidelines.
I can understand the conflicting feelings because I’m having them too! It takes me about two months after a trip to get the bug to go back, and it is strong. We had planned a family trip in December, decided against it to avoid feeling obligated to keep the kids out of school to quarantine after, then planned a couples trip for this week only to have to back out due to our kids schools (except for DD4s daycare) going virtual. It is so hard to weigh risk with travel right now. I felt we were being risky going in August and now it seems that was almost a lull compared to now, but yet I would still go to WDW if there weren’t such pesky things as risk to our parents and quarantine from school/daycare to interfere. The Christmas photos and videos definitely drew me in too. But, I counter to myself, there is nothing new there since our last trip except larger crowds, longer lines and now added Plexiglass on all the ride vehicles which I can only imagine detract from the experience and justify crowding more people in which I still think will increase risk. I did not feel comfortable on KS with all rows full and plastic sheeting in between, and that was outdoors. Still I am so sad and wish we were there. I have to give kudos to Frontier, despite their sometimes sketchy reputation, they have given me full flight credits on three cancelled bookings this year with the same funds! Now that unstoppable corner of my brain says if daycare closes down too, we might as well go in December after all since I haven’t cancelled that package yet and the kids will be stuck home anyway! I also have bookings in February and April (in case DLR isn’t open) and will just weigh each one as it comes to see if I/we are comfortable going. At least I can enjoy planning even if I know it may not happen.
With regards to school, public schools in our city are virtual but all the private schools have been in-person. Our kids private schools did have cases but no apparent school-based transmission. Kids were getting the virus from family members. The grade school shut down because there were too many teachers out positive, and the high school because teachers were overwhelmed meeting the task of both teaching in-person all day and taking care of the 80/600ish students who were learning virtually (whether by choice or due to being positive or under quarantine) after school. Our community has had a huge upswing since Halloween which I attribute to bars and private parties. In one family which we are friendly with, the husband caught Covid at a bar party (which DH was at, against my wishes, thank goodness he didn’t catch it too!). So, they had to cancel the kids Halloween party they always have, and were still planning on. And now, I’m getting evites for a wine tasting they are hosting. Seriously??!!! I don’t think it’s the schools here that are to blame, it’s the adults.
@sanstitre_has_left_the_building I do think you will visit WDW and love it again, but it will take time for all this uncertainty to sort out. Maybe it’s even a little easier since until the border is open you don’t have to make a decision. I completely agree with you on Dubai, China, and Russia - would love to see them also and likely never will due to the regimes. But, I think the US is still solid at its core and will settle down. Regardless, in the bubble you don’t have to think about politics at all!
I think for the county north of us - the spread is two fold: sports bars; if the parking lot is packed, what’s it like inside?
And high school sports: as even one relative non-believer says (cue sarcasm), football helmets stop covid. Every Friday night, the 10 pm news has easily 10 minutes of high school football sports scores, with highlights from at least 6 games. Getting school back in session was only partly so parents weren’t teachers and/or could go back to work. Equally important was getting sports going again.
So you’re stopping off at the sports bar for an hour before going to watch your kid’s team play football.
I’ve had similar feelings. I’ve postponed travelling to the US for now, we will probably be back sometime next year if it all eases up, but it doesn’t feel quite the same. It used to be a second home for me.
Remember that Orlando is just one tiny part of a huge nation. And it’s a part where a huge percentage of the population caters to tourists. I don’t like the way things are at all but I think they’ll get better.
