Oh My! Cron! Issue 62

Oh My Cron! I do know! We spell the fifteenth letter of the Greek alphabet o-m-i-c-r-o-n. And not the emphasis on the second syllable. However, we are scheduled  to leave for London, England on December 3 so maybe “Oh-My-Cron” is a more apt spelling. The discovery of the B1.1.529 Covid variant weighs heavily on a decision that must be final by the end of the day. (November 28). I will still be able to cancel our Airbnb for a full refund. 

As, Nico asks in the song, The Fairest of the Seasons :

“I want to know do I stay or do I go

And maybe try another time”

It was bad enough that new Covid cases were rising in Europe but this new variant makes for an additional complication and has led to new restrictions.

Why go!

We have all heard of cabin fever. I have city fever. We have gone to Nova Scotia for ten days and I have been to Houston for three days. Two weeks away from our shrunken world in almost two years! Hardly the time away from Montreal we have grown used to! Normally, we are away for at least two months every year.

I was looking forward to:

• Long walks in Hyde Park
• A pint in a pub
• Drinking champagne with my cousin, Jo and then going for hamburgers at Patty & Bun
• Lunch at Core bu Clare Smyth  – Three Michelin Florets 
• Excellent free Christmas concerts at Saint Mary Abbots Parish Church, Kensington Church Street
• London streets and shops at Christmas
• Just waking up in a different environment
• To overcome any residual apprehension of travelling

Why not to go!

Well, the natural segue – the natural apprehension that comes with travel in the age of COVID. Also, every day the UK has more than six times the number of new cases per million people than we do in Canada. Canadian vaccination rates are higher. In Québec,  90% of those 12 and over have had their jabs and the 5 to 11 age group is now in the process of being vaccinated. About 75% of the British population is vaccinated. A good number but the fewer vaccinated, greater the potential for transmission. 

However I still think that the odds of catching the Coronavirus would be very narrow. Because of our vaccination status and general good health,  it is even more unlikely that we would suffer serious illness. The damn PCR allowing us to return to Canada makes me apprehensive. Its timing has to be carefully planned and a positive test means a forced fourteen-day extension to the stay in the UK – in quarantine!

Well, Boris Johnson has just added another reason! A required PCR upon arrival and isolation until the delivery of a negative result. If I allow four days in quarantine, that leaves about eight days of vacation time.

Oh My! Cron!  I think the new BJ restrictions have put paid to this trip. 

Now, the countdown starts for Bordeaux and Paris!