Day 4: Zoonosis

Today, I thought of Anne Frank, of how she wanted to leave a record of what was going on. I can't remember whether she thought about death. In my memory, she hoped and lived and, in abnormal circumstances, she sought glimpses of normality.

Perhaps, I should have considered starting this a few weeks ago; last Monday even. I didn't. The pandemic crept over our lives fast, in ways we couldn't have predicted, and now it is all around us.

It seemed so far away in China, soo removed... Italy was closer. I have friends there who have been quarantined for over two weeks now. For us, it started on Monday. That was four days ago. It feels like a different life. We could still go out then, have a coffee and cake sitting at a cafe. Now, almost everything is closed. Grocery stores, pharmacies, and banks remain open.

The U.S./ Canada border will close at midnight tomorrow.

Several friends, who had been out of touch, contacted me this week. All of them by messenger. Not one by phone. I rather talk on the phone. I'm old, I guess. I never really learned the subtle art of texting. But people reach out in ways that work for them.

I also reached out. There are many things going on with me, stressful things that have almost nothing to do with pandemics or science or viruses. The stress that day cost me two cupcakes, moist chocolate cakes covered in sweet strawberry buttercream that tastes like summer.

I also started listening to David Quammen's book Spillover. Amazing book with gripping narratives about various zoonoses. I never heard about Hendra virus before. Its story will have you at the edge of your seat.

On Monday, March 16, there were 403 cases of COVID-19 in Canada. I wasn't eating carbs.

Today, we have 872 confirmed infections and 27 suspected cases. Is this going to become a geometric progression?