Hey all! I hope everyone had a great Easter and spent some (more) quality time with their family. In this blog post, I'll tell you how the outbreak is being dealt with in Canada, and how my family and friends are coping.
Before I get started, here's the link to Canada's current statistics.
Canada response to the coronavirus outbreak has been quick and effective. Given the examples in China, Italy, and Spain, Canada started taking serious measures very early in the outbreak. For example, the province of Ontario (Canada's most populous province) decided to close schools after only 59 cases were confirmed in the province. Now, all public schools across Canada are closed until September 2020.
Similar to the current situation in Spain, Canadians are also being asked to work from home, social distance themselves, and only leave the house to buy groceries. All non-essential businesses have been closed. People that have been travelling by air, sea, or train are being forced to quarantine for two weeks. The police are also stopping vehicles on the roads to make sure people are not moving around without just cause. People can even receive fines for disobeying these orders.
However, given all the craziness, the federal government has responded fabulously to Canadians' financial situations. Full-time workers that were laid-off can apply for employment insurance and receive a generous monthly stipend. Any other type of workers can now receive $2000 CAD per month for up to four months. Apparently, it's as easy as calling a phone number, pressing a few buttons, and the money appears in your bank account 3 days later. Many of my friends and family are currently relying on this financial support. This governmental support makes me so grateful to live in a country like Canada.
Although the quarantine has been long and draining, I still appreciate the little things throughout my day. For example, since I love cooking, I've challenged myself to make complicated recipes from scratch, and it's been very fun! So far, I've made homemade pizza and a Moroccan kefta tagine!
And now, I'll leave you with this meme. This is how I feel and look like most days, but as the meme says, staying inside means being a responsible adult!
I think that help people giving money is a very good idea, because people is still losing their jobs.
What I liked the most is that they have organized money help for people. Here in Spain there are a lot of people that are having a hard time because of money problems.
I like that when they have fifty-nine positives close the schools, because they are not going to have a lot of problems in the hospitals like in Spain or Italy.