Steph in Montreal

Steph is one of my very best friends. I've known her as long as I can remember, she was in my wedding party, we went to every level of school together. She is hands down the smartest person I know and has spent the last 14 years living in Montreal and studying at McGill. She's worked towards a PhD which she recently earned from home due to COVID. Here's what she's been experiencing: 

Covid-19 in Quebec

Date	Quebec	Montreal (in addition to everything Quebec)
March 11	Announces 14day self isolation for returning travelers
March 12	Bans indoor gatherings of more than 250 people. Anyone with flu-like symptoms must self quarantine for 14 days
March 13	All School suspended for 2 weeks. Remote learning commenced on March 30th. Public day care also closed.	All public buildings are closed (arenas, libraries, sport facilities, etc.), large public events cancelled (saint Patrick’s day parade, Montreal symphony orchestra)
March 14	Visits to hospitals and long-term care facilities are prohibited. Advices people 70 and over not to leave their homes. Offers free childcare to essential workers.
March 15	Closure of leisure and entertainment venues (movie theaters, bars, gyms, pools and ski hills). Restaurants must operate at half capacity and enforce social distancing.
March 19	Financial aid is first made available and the income tax deadline is extended. Quebecers are asked not to travel between regions	Extends Tax deadline and unveils $5 million emergency fund for small businesses.
March 20	Quebec woman who tested positive is arrested for not being outside and not following quarantine
March 21	All indoor and outdoor gatherings are banned regardless of size. Includes private home gatherings.
March 22	Liquor stores must close on Sundays. Eat in restaurants are closed but takeout remains open. All malls are closed.	Begins opening walk in testing clinics and drive through testing clinics.
March 23	All non-essential businesses are ordered closed
March 17		Local state of emergency declared. Old hospital buildings are transformed into emergency shelters for the homeless
March 28	Access to remote regions prohibited and enforced by roadblocks. Cabin rentals prohibited.
March 30	All businesses (except gas stations, pharmacies, convenience stores, and restaurant take out) ordered closed on Sundays so employees can rest. Includes grocery stores.
April 2	Increased power to police. Can now give fines ranging between $1000 and $6000 for people who are not following social distancing rules.	Opposition leader holds engagement party for daughter even though son has tested positive. Montrealer’s are unimpressed and the mayor scolds him.
April 4		City police now also have the power to hand out large fines for those not respecting social distancing.
April 5		City park parking lots are closed to encourage people to stay in their area and not travel to parks. Parks remain open for now but will be closed if people don’t follow the rules.
April 8	10.031 cases, 175 dead	4775 cases, 77 dead

We got told to stay home fairly quickly and everything was shut down quickly as well. Social distancing is being heavily enforced, they have given out hundreds of tickets to people who are not following the rules. We are not allowed to hang out in groups at all, you are only allowed to be with the people you live with. We are allowed outside, there are no restrictions on that and we are allowed to go to grocery stores and other essential things (liquor here is essential so all the government liquor stores are open). We just have to do all these things alone. Only one person per household is allowed in stores at a time, so for example if a family shows up at the grocery store only one person can go in. Public transit is still open and running, you have to enter busses from the back door now and they cut service slightly because ridership was down 80% but I think they only cut service by 20% so that it doesn’t get crowded. I took the metro and a bus on Tuesday for a doctor’s appointment and there are very few people riding. Its easy to keep space on public transport. For the most part people are respecting social distancing, although I did watch a woman yell at a young man about keeping his distance after she basically walked into him so she could get off the bus first so not everyone fully has it. Some people are wearing masks and gloves outside but not everyone. Groceries have not been an issue. The store near my house is generally fully stocked (although I don’t live downtown anymore so I’m not sure what its like there). The toilet paper sold out in the first couple weeks but then people calmed down and its not a problem anymore. Eggs were surprisingly hard to get for a bit but have been re stoked. There is no flour or yeast, apparently everyone is making bread.

In terms of day to day, I can’t go to work. All labs have been shut down. The neuro, where I work, is not letting anyone who isn’t a patient in the building unless they have a special exemption which they are only giving for animal care. My roommate works in tech, she still has her full-time job and works full days during the week. We made her a little home office at my desk in the living room. We have a pretty solid daily routine which is keeping us both sane. We workout between 30 min- 1h every morning using the Nike training club app. And then she goes to work and I do whatever I have decided will keep me busy for the day. Then we have lunch together and dinner together. We have made some really good food! We also play games in the evenings. We are going to have a skype Easter with both of our parents which is tricky since we span 7 hours of time zone but will hopefully be nice. My rugby team has been doing virtual hangouts and we do weekly virtual workouts on Wednesday night. We don’t really leave the house except for exercise (runs, walks, bikes) or to go to the grocery store. We are driving the cat crazy!

Zoom is now a big part of my life. I defended my PhD on zoom. McGill only allowed me and my committee to be present which was different form the normal in person seminar which is open to the public. They do this since there is a private chat function and they want to maintain academic integrity. Which I get but was sad since mom and dad couldn’t be there. But I facetimed them after and we still popped champagne. The track team did a virtual banquet, half the people dressed up and half were in PJs. It was actually really fun! I also have weekly lab meetings via zoom on Tuesdays.

I try and get outside when the weather is nice, it just generally makes me feel better. We have a deck and a back patio so there is lots of outdoor space. We also have a cul-de-sac in the back and my roommate and I will go out and throw a ball around for something to do. I have been running more, there is a massive park beside my apartment and so far people have been good about not crowding the park so hopefully it stays open.

They think Montreal will hit the peak of infections in the next couple weeks and then things will start to slow down. The mayor said she is hopeful that bars and restaurants will be able to open at lowered capacity towards the middle of May. I don’t know if I believe that, but things are looking more hopeful. They also don’t think that we will max out our medical system so people should be able to get care if they need it.