Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - April 13, 2020, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A5 A 5NEWS I COVID-19 PANDEMICMONDAY, APRIL 13, 2020 ? WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM STRENGTHEN BOTH BY BECOMING A SUBSCRIBER TODAY. A STRONG MANITOBA NEEDS A STRONG FREE PRESS. All services can be accessed either on-line or by calling our friendly customer service staff between 7:00am -12 noon, Monday through Saturday, using the following numbers. Circulation Inquiries: 204-697-7001 or toll free 1-800-542-8900 Website: winnipegfreepress.com/customer-service/ Classified inquiries: 204-697-7100 Website: wfpclass@winnipegfreepress.com Obituaries: 204-697-7384 Website: obits@winnipegfreepress.com CANSTAR COMMUNITY NEWS Inquiries: 204-697-7009 Website: sales@canstarnews.com FLYER ADVANTAGE Inquiries: 204-925-3302 Website: winnipegfreepress.com /our-communities/flyer-advantage/ NOTICE TO OUR VALUED CUSTOMERS After much consideration, we have made the decision to temporarily close public access to the Winnipeg Free Press building. This measure is merely a safety precaution to help protect both staff and customers alike. W HEN the snow comes, it blan-kets the trees and whips its veil over streets, for a while obscuring the only view of Winnipeg I've held since the pandemic began. When it melts, minutes later, it leaves watery streaks on my window, like a painting of weather to decorate the tedium of another undifferentiated day. This is how I know the world now, through windows. The windows at the fast-food drive-thru, the windows at my house. The windows of my car as I inch out from my back lane. A few cars buzz past, and for the first time in my life, I wonder where they're going. Are they essential workers? If not, what are they doing? Where is there even to go anymore, other than a grocery store or the other handful of places that have the things that sustain us? Do they have a need to leave their house or, are they just like me, aching to get out and, if nothing else, just drive around? As I turn onto Academy Road, I real- ize that, between working from home and venturing only to the grocery store down the street, this is the first time I have ventured more than 800 metres from my door in more than three weeks. It's a strange feeling to realize the city is where I left it; everything in its place. Yet somehow, it's different. The eeriest part of the pandemic has been in the way every time you leave the house, you discover something that's changed in big or subtle ways. One day, you stroll into the grocery store; the next, you stand in a line that snakes around outside, waiting to be handed a sanitized cart. As I cruise around the city, the little changes grab my attention. The rows of pickup bins outside a big-box store. The signboards in front of businesses that read simply, "We Are Open," often followed by an exclamation mark, serv- ing as both promise and plea. Everything feels tense where it is public. At the airport, the arrivals con- course is silent; four planes land in the last hour, likely with few passengers aboard. There are few things so unset- tling as the sight of a place made for movement that sits mostly still. Outside Polo Park, a city bus pulls up to its stop, idles for a few minutes, then lurches away, empty. In the parking lot, I sit, surveying the scene. Stripped of all movement, the mall spreads out as a dead space, squat and unlovely. Expanses of con- crete surround looming bare walls, more a megalith now than a mecca, a monument to the suspended life we vaguely call "normal." I was at the mall not too long ago. It seems strange now; I haven't thought about clothes in weeks. Their appeal diminishes when one is not being seen. Turns out, two pairs of sweats and an old Megadeth T-shirt are all I really need. Maybe it was never about what was being bought, but more about the act of browsing and choosing and buying. Shopping itself was an indulgence, a balm to soothe pliable time; we did it because we could. The mall was somewhere to go; it was something to do that required little particular preparation. I open the door and gingerly step out- side my car. There is nobody around for a few hundred metres or more, but walking around free like this still feels wrong. The city is not ours anymore, in the way that it was. What innocence belonged to those days of just weeks ago, to spill through the world so carefree? There is a sign on the mall doors: "Due to circumstances beyond our con- trol..." If you squint a little, it can read as poetry more than mere euphemism. Public health officials tell us the fate of the pandemic is in our hands, how Manitobans react will determine its course, we can save the future by fol- lowing the rules. That's true, of course, and yet it feels so helpless on an individual level. All most of us can do is retreat and watch the world from behind windows, and spread at least two metres apart. All most of us can do is sit on the couch, surrender to circumstances beyond our control, and hope too many people don't die. In an ashtray nearby, a single old cigarette butt shares space with a Tim Hortons cup and a pair of discarded nitrile gloves. There's a story there, a small one, but outside of the drama on the front lines of the fight. Most of the stories that break the monotony now are small ones. For a few minutes, I stand spin- ning out its possible threads: a worker of some kind, here for a smoke and a momentary escape from the strange- ness of it all. Someday, this too shall pass. The virus will reach its peak and retreat, and the malls will reopen and the airports will belch clouds of travellers with each plane that lands. It will take far longer to shake off this sensation of disruption, to mend the dislocated bones of a society interrupted, to soothe the aching smallness of lives in isolation. At The Forks, the parking lot is empty, save for a hatchback. Two men are inside eating takeout. On a screen, a cheery tourism video plays to nobody, interspersed with ads for restaurants that are closed, hotels that are empty, and outdoor attractions we are now of- ficially discouraged from visiting. Every so often, a young woman pops up on the screen, inviting viewers into the nearby visitor information centre. "Come inside," she says, brightly. "Let us help you find your..." I roll down my window to make out the rest, but the recorded voice slips away in the wind. Something about a Manitoba adventure, I think. Some- thing about discovering places unseen. Something about a world that spanned open and full of promise, asking to be touched with both hands and explored without hesitation. All of that is still out there. None of it has gone away. The forests tremble into spring; the artifacts in museums pass time heedless to the absence of viewers. Yet for now, the visitor information centre sits dark behind its tall windows, filled with the ghosts of a freedom long taken for granted, but always more fragile than it seemed. melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca Home surreal home Drive around town reveals place that looks like Winnipeg, but feels nothing like it MELISSA MARTIN OPINION JESSE BOILY / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES An almost empty Graham Avenue Mall: a mere shadow of a city pre-coronavirus. Editor's Note: Longtime readers of the Free Press might remember a regular feature called Answers, where, in a time before Google, we answered readers' questions. Since even Google does not have all the answers regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, reporter Kevin Rollason will attempt to answer your coronavirus queries. Send your questions to coronavirusquestions@ freepress.mb.ca QUESTION: Is it safe to take mail and my newspaper into my home? Answer: Manitoba Public Health officials indicate it is safe to take both mail and newspaper into your home. But they say there are still some pre- cautions you should take which people haven't had to do before the spread of COVID-19. The main one is to practise good handwashing after you are done reading and handling your mail and newspaper. They also say don't forget not to touch your face while you read the paper. Q: Is there anything Canada Post has done to keep Canadians and their employees safe while handling mail? A: A Canada Post official say the Crown corporation has "dramatically changed the way we work, the way we deliver, the way we operate our post offices, and how we clean our facili- ties across the country, to keep our employees and customers safe and healthy." Canada Post has told Cana- dians not to open doors when mail is being delivered and to stand two me- tres away from employees as they fill community mailboxes. But they have also made changes to staff, schedul- ing, work layouts and work practices so employees can be two metres apart, as well as giving them gloves, personal protective equipment and disinfectant. Facilities are cleaned more often and workstations are sanitized. Q: I've always been able to order a three- month supply of prescription drugs, but now I'm limited to a single month and that costs me more in prescription fees. Why is this being done and can the province have pharmacists waive or reduce this fee? A: Manitoba Public Health officials say pharmacies have been told to restrict individuals to a 30-day supply of drugs in order to ensure a consistent supply of medications for everyone. During the pandemic, all provinces have limited prescription drugs to a single month to help reduce the effects of a global drug shortage. People are advised to speak to their pharmacist about options for dispensing fees. Q: I wonder about the travellers who came back and tested negative for COVID-19, did they still have to self-isolate for 14 days? A: Manitoba Public Health officials say, yes, they still had to isolate. That's because the coronavirus can take up to 14 days to cause illness and, especially if they had symptoms, the test result could have been a false negative. Q: I was in an elevator, the doors opened, and a person got on. Once the doors closed, the person began coughing and looked sick. How do I know whether the person just had a cold or the coronavirus? A: Manitoba Public Health officials say there's no way you would know the difference, but there are things you can do to reduce your risk of getting in that situation. One way would be to take the stairs instead. Another would be not to get into a crowded elevator, but to wait for another one. One of the best ways, though, would have been for that person to not go out. Manitobans should know by now that if they have cold or flu-like symptoms, they need to self-isolate for 14 days from when the symptoms appeared. Unfortu- nately, now you'll have to self-monitor yourself for symptoms including fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, breathing difficulties and runny nose for 14 days and, if you start getting those symptoms, you need to self- isolate and call Health Links to find out what to do next. Q: I heard through social media that hospitals are looking for donations of baby monitors to help look after babies and children in hospital. Is that true? A: Winnipeg Regional Health Authority officials say none of its hospitals is looking for baby moni- tors. But, hey, if you want to help out during these trying times there are things they are looking for, including industrial grade N95 respirators or accelerated hydrogen peroxide cleaner disinfectant. You can also volunteer to help others. Check these two websites for more information: https://manitoba. ca/covid19/business/index.html#call and https://helpnextdoormb.ca/ kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca Pandemic Q&A: is mail safe? KEVIN ROLLASON OTTAWA - Canadian authorities are blaming travel re- strictions related to COVID-19 for a request that Iran hold off on downloading the flight recorders from a commercial jetliner shot down in January. The Iranian military shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 on Jan. 8. All 176 people on board were killed, including 55 Canadians and 30 permanent residents. Canada and other countries who lost citizens in the inci- dent, including Britain, Sweden, Ukraine and Afghanistan, had been pressuring Iran for months to hand over the flight recorders from the doomed flight so their data could be downloaded and analyzed. It is hoped the information from the so-called black boxes will provide a clearer picture of what actually happened and help ensure those Iranian officials responsible are held to account. Yet while Iran's civil aviation organization reached out to affected countries last week to assess when they could send representatives to participate in the process, the head of the Transportation Safety Board of Canada says it simply isn't possible now because of COVID-19. "Everyone is anxious for the download and analysis of the recorders to proceed; this should have happened without de- lay, shortly after the accident," TSB chair Kathy Fox said in a statement. "However, with COVID-19 and the multiple travel restric- tions, travelling to attend the download of the flight record- ers is currently not possible - and this, for all countries concerned." As a result, she said, Canada and the other countries have asked Iran to postpone downloading and analyzing the flight-recorder data until the restrictions are lifted. "We still expect Iran will carry through with its commit- ment to have the recorders downloaded and, once conditions improve, we will send our experts to attend the download, wherever this takes place," Fox said. The black boxes have become pivotal to the Iranian-led flight-safety investigation and Ukrainian-led criminal in- vestigation into the downing of Flight 752, which was shot down shortly after takeoff from Tehran on the same night Iran fired a series of missiles at neighbouring Iraq. Iran promised in early March to surrender the flight re- corders within two weeks, but missed that deadline. While acknowledging the difficulties posed by COVID-19, Toronto dentist Hamed Esmaeilion, whose wife Parisa and nine-year-old daughter Reera were on the flight, said the international community needs to keep the pressure on Iran to hand over the flight recorders. "The best thing to do is to take the black boxes out of Iran to a third country like France," he told The Canadian Press. "We don't want to risk anybody's life right now and Can- ada can send the experts after they are sure nobody is at risk. This is a game Iran plays and I'm sure they are trying to put the ball in other countries' court to buy some time." The federal government's new adviser on Flight 752, former Liberal cabinet minister Ralph Goodale, said last month that Iran could not use COVID-19 as an "excuse" for not handing over the black boxes - a position echoed by Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne. Champagne's spokesman Adam Austen on Sunday did not respond directly to questions about the request that Iran postpone downloading the flight recorders and instead indi- cated the government's past statements that they should be processed immediately. -The Canadian Press Canada asks to delay jet crash investigation A_05_Apr-13-20_FP_01.indd A5 2020-04-12 10:04 PM ;