SMOKE

 

Our daily walks are taking place inside Willowbrook Mall in order to avoid inhaling the smokey air that has smothered the southern part of our province. We saunter past shops that have closed, others that have customers waiting outside and nervous employees wearing masks. It is a surprise to see that most of the people we pass are masked. All of the businesses have signs posted that highlight the number of customers allowed inside at any given time. I wandered into a new Winners store(masked) to check it out and chatted with the hand sanitizing attendant at the door. She said that they were allowed to have 300 customers. It is a huge store! Many smaller businesses allowed only 8-10 customers.

Covid didn't keep us inside but these smoke filled days with air quality(AQI) of 175...rated as "unhealthy" is definitely putting us at risk for an outdoor walk. This is slightly better than yesterday's rating of 183 which was considered "very unhealthy". It is unusual to wish for rain but I am hopeful that the skies will bring a downpour and clean our air soon!

Meanwhile Covid positive cases continue to climb in BC as well as hospitalizations. This is not a good sign for the months ahead as we approach the influenza season. We have maintained constant hand washing during the past six months and avoided close physical contacts. However there are still acquaintances who approach us without a mask, inside our two meter space and start talking. It is time to stop being polite Canadians and to tell them to "back off"!