The Oxford Learners’ Dictionary defines chaos in five words – a complete lack of order.
Well, a complete lack of order defines global Covid-19 responses. The scrambled reactions to the Omicron surge do not leave many world governments looking good.
I don’t know what signals your governments sent you when the Omicron variant emerged. In Québec our premier earned our family’s nickname of Barney Rubble in more than appearance. He suggested that:
Any parallels with your jurisdiction?
There is no evidence that in this modern world, travel bans work to reduce infection rates. Bans may delay the arrival of Alpha, Delta or Omicron but only if infection is not already present in the community. However, the next character of the Greek alphabet will arrive, but it may be a little late for its date.
In Canada, international travel and borders are a Federal government jurisdiction. New bans and advisories were, in my mind, a political decision forced on the Feds by the provinces. The Feds should have resisted! But then Ontario and Québec would have put all the blame on Ottawa for the Omicron surge if they had not imposed the new travel restrictions.
Smart travellers buy health insurance. Insurance companies increase premiums based on risk analysis. Consider increased costs for travel and for travel insurance, the requirement for vaccine passports, testing requirements / costs, forced extended stays, and “other country” chaos. All are already effective dampers on travel.
Will ask if I am so smart, why not come up with a plan. Well, that is a bit like asking a music critic if he could sing better than an opera star on a bad night. Unfair! The critic hasn’t had years of training and practice but can still judge a bad performance.
So, I am handicapped. I don’t have access to the same information and armies of minions to develop a plan. However, I may also have an advantage. I don’t need to think about re-election. So my next issue – a plan to tackle the complete lack of order.
So that my Ontario readers don’t feel left out! The Waters clan has a nickname for Doug Ford. Bonhomme Carnival! Too bad he isn’t mayor of Québec City. It would help save money on costumes.
I know! I am going to sound like a grumpy old man. Maybe that is because I am. I have been scratching my head in wonderment at the Taylor Swift phenomena. Is she an Incredible song writer, composer, and performer? I really don’t know! A discussion for another time? But probably not. At my age […]
Don’t build it! At least, Not In My Back Yard ! I acted as an advisor in the sale of a beautifully natural, 14-acre urban waterfront estate. Existing zoning allowed for the development of 30 to 35 single-family homes, which after road dedication would leave very little green space. I did not think that was […]
We were visiting Glasgow (literally that Dear Green Place in Gaelic) to see where my father was born, grew up, and went to University. Fortunately for me, my cousin John from Australia had just visited and had met with historians, Bruce Downie and Norry Wilson. So, we too arranged to meet them in the Govanhill […]
Vienna on top again. This week both Monocle Magazine and The Economist unveiled their quality of life / most liveable city indexes. There are differences in the way each publication sets its index. So it is even more impressive that once again, Vienna tops both lists. I am a bit lazy today so rather than […]
Many Viennese went from hot bedding to superblocks overnight. Could they even imagine an apartment complex 1000 metres long built along two streets with even more massive landscaped courtyards? Could they conceive of 1400 apartment units built to house 5000 people on 56,000 square metres or 38 acres of land. Or a vertical build-out that […]
Vienna had been a poor city even before the First World War. “Normal” housing arrangements meant six to eight people sharing one room and a kitchen. Then, in early 1919, just after the Armistice, the cost of living tripled in two months. Bed lodgers could no longer afford their 8-hours a day in a shared […]