# How will people react if Covid-19 flares up when the lockdown ends? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [April 29, 2020, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-people-react-if-covid-19-flares-up-when-the-lockdown-ends/852805 "2020-04-29T11:54:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-people-react-if-covid-19-flares-up-when-the-lockdown-ends/852805/282 "2020-07-09T20:06:53Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > The Canadian population, however, is highly concentrated geographically. In 2016, two out of three people (66%) lived within 100 kilometres of the southern Canada–United States border, an area that represents about 4% of Canada’s territory. That works out to about 28 people per square kilometer. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-people-react-if-covid-19-flares-up-when-the-lockdown-ends/852805/283 "2020-07-09T22:10:19Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > That works out to about 28 people per square kilometer. That’s nice. It has nothing whatsoever to do with my point though. You said initially that “Canada’s population is well distributed which has helped to keep the numbers down.” It is not well distributed. Quite clearly and obviously it’s not. It is concentrated in a relatively few number of urban areas, concentrated within 300 km of the US border. This is a fact. I’m not sure you understand the concept that you’re trying to discuss here. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-people-react-if-covid-19-flares-up-when-the-lockdown-ends/852805/284 "2020-07-09T23:04:36Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > That’s nice. It has nothing whatsoever to do with my point though. > > You said initially that “Canada’s population is well distributed which has helped to keep the numbers down.” Yes, that’s what I said. I used the cite you gave of population percentage and the area they live in to calculate the number. where the density increases in places like Montreal the death rate spirals way up. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2020, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-people-react-if-covid-19-flares-up-when-the-lockdown-ends/852805/285 "2020-07-09T23:24:15Z")
Your statement was "“Canada’s population is well distributed which has helped to keep the numbers down.” And now you seem to be claiming that you meant “where the density increases in places like Montreal the death rate spirals way up.” These two statements are mutually exclusive. You’ve just claimed the opposite of what you initially said. I don’t think it’s worth pursuing this any more, as I am not confident that there will be any possibility of productive conversation with someone who does a complete 180 without even realizing that he’s done it. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2020, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-people-react-if-covid-19-flares-up-when-the-lockdown-ends/852805/286 "2020-07-10T18:33:52Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Your statement was "“Canada’s population is well distributed which has helped to keep the numbers down.” > > And now you seem to be claiming that you meant “where the density increases in places like Montreal the death rate spirals way up.” > > These two statements are mutually exclusive. You’ve just claimed the opposite of what you initially said. They’re not mutually exclusive unless you’re trying to parse words for the sake of argument. Obviously there are large cities in Canada. But the population is nicely distributed outside of these cities. Canada didn’t produce any covid miracles. It’s not a highly populated country. It’s just common sense that a city like Montreal (which is the only city in Canada with a subway system) generated serious covid numbers. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2020, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-people-react-if-covid-19-flares-up-when-the-lockdown-ends/852805/287 "2020-07-10T20:57:26Z")
No, you’re still wrong. Canada’s rural population outside cities is not “nicely distributed”. Quite the opposite in fact. The Territories (Yukon, Nunavut, NWT) are VERY sparsely populated, with a very large land area. Rural areas closer to the US border are much more heavily populated. Rural Ontario is much denser than rural Saskatchewan. You initial point that “Canada’s population is well distributed which has helped to keep the numbers down.” is utterly, completely, and thorougly wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2020, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-people-react-if-covid-19-flares-up-when-the-lockdown-ends/852805/288 "2020-07-10T23:13:40Z")
I used your cite to produce the numbers in response. I did this by dividing 2/3 of the population into the landmass that’s 100 km from the border. The UK has 2.8 times the deaths per capita compared to Canada. Feel free to explain why. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2020, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-people-react-if-covid-19-flares-up-when-the-lockdown-ends/852805/289 "2020-07-11T00:01:05Z")
> [@RealityCheck71](#): > > The problem is, and I know I’ll get grief for it, is that masks haven’t really been shown to be a game changer. > **[Threader - Good threads every day](https://threader.app/thread/1279144399897866248)** > > Welcome to Threader, a place to read and discover stories and knowledge from Twitter. Get a selection of good threads every day. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2020, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-people-react-if-covid-19-flares-up-when-the-lockdown-ends/852805/290 "2020-07-11T00:55:06Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > I used your cite to produce the numbers in response. I did this by dividing 2/3 of the population into the landmass that’s 100 km from the border. And you still don’t understand why this does not prove your erronous point that "Canada’s population is well distributed which has helped to keep the numbers down.” You can’t prove that a countries population is well distributed by simply taking the population and dividing by the area. That’s not how reality works. The amazing thing is: You don’t even understand why you’re wrong. It’s pretty impressive. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2020, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-people-react-if-covid-19-flares-up-when-the-lockdown-ends/852805/291 "2020-07-11T19:55:43Z")
> [@RealityCheck71](#): > > So when was your mask law put in place and how much did it help? Like I said, we have so few cases, it won’t really be possible to measure here. Common mask usage is one of the reasons we have so few cases. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2020, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-people-react-if-covid-19-flares-up-when-the-lockdown-ends/852805/292 "2020-07-12T01:12:28Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > The amazing thing is: You don’t even understand why you’re wrong. It’s pretty impressive. It really is. ---
**Author:** ![RealityCheck71](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitycheck71/32/3493_2.png) [@RealityCheck71](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityCheck71)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2020, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-people-react-if-covid-19-flares-up-when-the-lockdown-ends/852805/293 "2020-07-12T12:25:48Z")
Not really. Before the local mask law came this week, I never saw above 30% mask use in the grocery stores. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-will-people-react-if-covid-19-flares-up-when-the-lockdown-ends/852805.md?page=14)