Ontario is trying to strike a balance between restricting movement and opening businesses. Like many places, they have a colour coded system with different conditions for each.
Our numbers in my local area seem to be getting worse. The gyms are open at the moment, but have been closed twice before and probably will be again in a couple weeks due to a third wave.
How are you doing locally?
Chicagoan here. Honestly, I’ve lost track. I’ve been self-isolating pretty hard, so pretty much no matter what the City did, it wouldn’t change my behavior much. I haven’t set foot in a grocery store in more than a year. In theory, restaurants here are open for limited indoor dining, but we haven’t eaten in a restaurant in more than a year, either. Other than my own home, the only indoor places I’ve set foot in are for a couple of brief doctor appointments (one for my flu shot, and one for orthotic fitting, both brief and masked), and in my mom’s house a couple of times, both brief and masked. (She is getting up there in years and needs help doing things like putting in the storm windows.)
I was restricted just the day before yesterday.
We went to a beautiful overlook at the top of a cliff over the river. There was a fence restricting us from walking off the cliff.
Seriously, how does anybody feel “restricted”? I’m already avoiding way, way more than is restricted. This kills, and not just maybe the person who catches it, but some of the people we give it to, the people they give it to, and so forth. Sorry if this offends anybody, but I just don’t get it.
I haven’t eaten inside a bar or restaurant in a year (oops—there was one time in the suburbs in December.) I’ve been going to the grocery pretty much daily, and I’ve been volunteering in ways that puts me close to people and even inside their apartments. One of my kids has been doing in-person learning almost the whole year (minus December). The other has been back since late January. I haven’t really felt much restricted. I did at first, but I’ve gotten used to it and it’s a lot looser and less stressful than it was the first few months. Now that I have both shots done — I know, don’t let your guard down — but I feel much more relaxed and open.
Eastern Wisconsin. Except for the mask mandate I really haven’t felt restricted since our state SC threw out the governor’s edicts last summer. The only things that were left that I needed to deal with were capacity limits and mask mandates. I’ve dined in restaurants, attended mass, weddings, and funerals, been to bars whenever I felt like it, with and without masks. They typically all had limited seating but were open. Businesses are free to impose any restrictions they like and to change how they do things to impart a sense of health safety. For me and mine this pandemic and the responses have been more of a nuisance as to which business is enforcing what than an actual bar the door and lockdown everything that has been imposed on others.
ETA: forgot already that my schooling went remote last Spring. When we returned last fall half the class was missing as their employers felt it too dangerous for them to return. Mine was close but relented if we wore the N95 masks they provided all day at school.
Here in the UK, we’re currently in our third lockdown - bars, restaurants (except takeout), non-essential shops, gyms etc all shut since the start of January, with instructions to stay home and local - no driving an hour to go for a walk.
We have a roadmap for easing the lockdown, starting from yesterday (two households can now meet outdoors), but my GOD it’s been tedious.
I don’t feel “restricted” at all. Essential goods and services are readily accessible, and I don’t miss anything else. It might be nice to go out to a good restaurant once in a while, but I can do without for as long as necessary. It appears that my favourite restaurants are in fact open with limited capacity, but I can’t be bothered until things are back to normal. I just hope they can stay afloat through this mess, especially small independent ones like a fantastic sushi place I know.
I haven’t been restricted, either. I stopped going to bars and restaurants and gyms &c before the state put any limits on them. The grocery store and drug store have been open. Other places I’ve wanted to also from have done curbside delivery or mail order.
I miss my social life, but the restriction is my fear of catching or spreading the virus, not the law.
When my state first imposed a curfew i thought i would be restricted, but then i read the details and noticed that every single thing i was doing (shopping for food, walking for exercise) was exempt from the curfew.
My nephew recently killed himself, and I restricted myself from the funeral. He was high-school age and I (correctly) assumed hundreds would be in attendance. I care a great deal for his parents, but spending hours in a likely superspreader event was just too much for me. So I stayed home.
Our normal entertainment is designed to avoid crowds at all costs (boating and camping mostly). Mizpullin and I loath gatherings of any type and had stopped going to restaurants before the pandemic, so few of the distancing limitations have affected us. The funeral was one of the few times I’ve felt really restricted, but it was voluntary on my part (their state was mostly “open”).
I guess the only other times were minor annoyances, as some state parks were closed during the pandemic. But there were always nearby alternatives that worked just fine.
If a lot of others feel like you do and
I seriously doubt
What a terribly sad thing for your family, I’m so sorry.
My MIL died last month, and as part of lockdown restrictions here, we could only have 25 people at the church (all spaced out, with everyone’s contact details provided in advance), and no wake allowed at all. Which was awful, but it felt safe, at least.
Constant changes contribute to COVID fatigue 
Ontario was planning on opening up barber shops on April 12th, but we had to shut down for another month. (I’m only thinking of this because I need a haircut. I learned to shave but I don’t know how to cut the hair on my head without looking like I went to the world’s worst barber.)
The Ontario government is making political decisions when they should be listening to the doctors. At least it’s vaccinating at a decent pace by Canadian standards. They’re vaccinating people age 55 and over next week. (I’m still too young to get my shots, but now I’m optimistic I’ll get my first shot by the end of April.)
I think Ontario has done an okay job of listening to the doctors, who vary a lot in their projections. The ICU docs are justifiably worried about increasing volume, but the reality was that finding an ICU bed has always been difficult and COVID has just brought more acuity and attention to the problem. Balancing the interests of business and public health is admittedly hard. If people gather(ed) significantly for Good Friday or Passover or many other events, which one can understand, it may make things more difficult.
I went months without a haircut first time round but have been diligent about taking opportunities since. Still, not a big deal to me.
Restrictions haven’t been much of a problem for me. BUT, I’m pretty much retired, and work from home when I do work. I feel for those that have been put out of work and who’s lives have not only been put on hold but in many cases have lost jobs or had to shut down their business. Both groups could suffer financially for a long time and of course this could also impact their general health.
I agree that far too much politics have entered into decisions, however I doubt that surprises anyone.
Probably what bugs me more than anything is the constant barrage of covid news. Does anyone really need to have a daily 20 minute ramble of covid statistics on local news channels? Such as, number of cases in every corner of the universe, number of people hospitalized. Then that broken down into how many in ICU, how many on a ventilator and so on. Are there people actually keeping notebooks - writing this information down each day?
We get it. There’s a virus. Is there no other news going on in the planet?
I’ve as yet to hear of anyone in my circle of friends, acquaintances or even 3rd party (friend of a friend of a friend) that’s had the virus. Just lucky I guess. But I’m not out in bars or gatherings either.
I’m glad you replied. I had a moment when I couldn’t remember how many it was. We’re locked down…we’re opening up - we’re opening up - we’re…we’re…we’re locked down again.
It seems to have been going on for ever.
j
It’s my understanding that since November, Toronto has been basically on the same level of lockdown that the entire province just got moved to. It has not worked at all in Toronto. So clearly, Ontario is not listening to the correct doctors.
Like others, little idea. I’ve been following a fairly strict self isolation - I go to the grocery store, and the yarn store. I’ve met some people in very small outdoor gatherings. I have traveled to see my youngest in Massachusetts - the riskiest behavior I’ve had. But since I don’t go to gyms, haven’t had a haircut in a year that I haven’t done myself, don’t go to any big events, my church has been doing virtual services since last March, and don’t go to the gym, I really don’t know what the legal status of those things are from moment to moment.
Given Toronto’s density, international exposure and the large amount of regional travel which has likely occurred - it is clear Toronto is going to be much affected. Vancouver has done better despite the same weaknesses.
Certainly one should carefully consider the views of epidemiologists, infectious disease experts, intensivists and public health professionals. It takes political courage to implement more severe restrictions. It has been far from perfect, but parts of it are good. Doctors often, but not always, appreciate the legal, political and economic ramifications of advice. Blanket restrictions can and should be more carefully applied to different businesses - there are many types of gym and they differ substantially.
I do think the politicians have listened to the doctors and considered their views. Not perfectly. Not at all. But no one has seriously questioned the science or need for protection and measures considered impossible not very long ago.
Again, hopefully one learns the right lessons and does everything, next time, needed to gain the upper hand. But as little more as possible. An almost impossible task.
I was at a resale shop today that has a lot of older women as part of their clientele. The owner said that a senior-living facility was on lockdown for so long, when they lifted the quarantine, one of the residents came into her store and told her, “I would rather have gotten COVID and died from it than endured that lengthy isolation.”