Read on Twitter
Yes but.
1. a test isn't foolproof, far from it. But yeah better than nothing.
2. in Europe, that one guy was selling negative test certificates. So, this obstacle can be circumvented easily.
Now let me tell you about my story. Thread --> https://twitter.com/carolyndunncbc/status/1344357595574726656
1. a test isn't foolproof, far from it. But yeah better than nothing.
2. in Europe, that one guy was selling negative test certificates. So, this obstacle can be circumvented easily.
Now let me tell you about my story. Thread --> https://twitter.com/carolyndunncbc/status/1344357595574726656
My dad died a few weeks ago in the Northern Alps. My trip to Europe was - to me - essential: I had to attend the funerals and help my mom. I was expecting empty airports and planes - as my friends who travel as essential workers had told me .
But not at all. Leaving on the 13th. Full planes. Transit in Paris was... scary. People squeezed in narrow corridors, masks under their nose, or no masks at all (a few of those at Trudeau too btw). And so. many. people. everywhere. No distancing. at all possible.
In the plane from Montreal, people flying to Europe to visit friends and family, or just tourism. With bags of Christmas presents, and school age kids (this will matter at some point in the story, @CovidEcoles ) and all the kit.
Got back on the 26th. Chose that date in order to make sure that son will exit the quarantine just in time to be able to attend school in person as planned on the 11th (even if the odds are low). TOTALLY different story. Empty planes, empty hallways in CDG (even an echo in 2E ;)
So. I assume the people who left with us on the 13th with their kids won't be home in time for the rentrée en présentiel on the 11th? So we could expect them to homeschool for that period. Or maybe not? @CovidEcoles (!).
Which leads me to our return to Canada. BTW, I was kind of puzzled that nobody asked me why the trip (I had his death certificate with me but nobody asked me for it). And the custom agent couldn't care less. Nor did he care about my downloading the Arrivecan app btw.
the only thing that mattered to him was if I had cheese or huge amounts of money with me. I had none of this in case you're asking. Just some of my dad's tools that he had asked me to keep.
I woke up on the first day of quarantine with a ArriveCan app notification asking me to fill in a super short questionnaire. That was it. I was watching the news on the number of cases and wondering if quarantines were going to be enforced.
I could clearly see how cheating could be easy. And it kind of pissed me off. Like the government is relying on personal ethics. I was thinking of @kick1972 's piece this morning and wondering if the people who headed south earlier would even care to obey the quarantine.
Then I got a call from a machine at la Santé publique. I had to answer a few basic questions by clicking 1 or 2. Like are you home. do you have symptoms blablabla. Easy to do even in the middle of a Super C where you would be grocery shopping for instance.
Then later I got a call from a (real) agent asking to speak to my son. That's when I was (a little) relieved. I thought it was fairly smart to talk to the minor traveller. Jr answered a few questions candidly. Showing that we were clearly obeying and intending to obey the rules
My feeling is that transgression is too easy. I didn't want to travel, I had to. And I felt unsafe on the planes because crowds of people were going on HOLIDAYS. I feel unsafe today because foxing is still obviously easy
What will happen when those people - those who went south, those who went east too - come back. Did they intend to keep their kids home when in person school resumes (on 11th)? And homeschool them themselves ?(there's no remote teaching in case of individual absence)
For the record. Coming back home on the 3rd means that you are quarantined until the 17th. Even if you have a negative test in hand. Will they even care? Maybe they do. But if you couldn't stand to stay home one holiday, I wonder if you can handle quarantining.
I am sorry for my health worker friends. I am sorry I had to travel. I took all the precautions. Changed masks every four hours. Washed our hands. Stayed away from people in Europe (and in the circumstances I would have cared for a hug or 2, trust me).
As the numbers are soaring, however, I am feeling pessimistic. If I can't get a hug, I'll take any positive thinking - don't be afraid to prove me wrong. - 30 -
