The life in the time of the coronavirus continues… I’ve now been in self-isolation for over a week (actually for about ten days) and I am doing well. There are no signs of any symptoms so far and I am in good shape (physically and mentally) — although I still suffers from kidney stones from time to time. I try to stay fit by doing at least an hour of walking (if possible reaching ten thousand steps) and thirty minutes of cardio (by shovelling the backyard or sweeping the driveway) every day — while keeping my distance from people which is really not a problem for me. Unfortunately we had a couple of days of rain and I couldn’t reach my goals during that time. 

I also stay fit mentally by keeping busy with my blog and doing stuff around the house. First, all this reading is a great help in lowering my tsundoku pile. Second, since I am theoretically still working for the library, I try to do some reference work by writing as much reading suggestions and comments as possible. I have everything I need here to keep busy.

The moral is good — despite spending lots of time watching the news, both local and American. I really don’t mind the isolation. Now-a-day — with tons of books & Dvds, the television and the internet to make the mind travel — can we really be isolated anymore? In a way, the only apprehension is about going back to work and ending this very productive streak. However, the way things are going, I don’t think I have to worry about that for a while…

At first I was hoping to read a book and watch a movie every day, but all the walking and doing chores around the house take some time. I have not written as much as I would have liked. So far, I wrote a list of thing to do to keep busy during the isolation, my usual “Natural Friday” entries (about the dodo and the megaladapis), a comment about the second volume of Histoire en manga, a suggestion list for long series of manga in French, and a series of articles about Ghost in the shell Stand Alone Complex (manga, anime TV series, 2nd Gig, Official Log book 1, and movie) as well as the original manga. More (so much more) is in the works.

In the meantime, things are not doing so well around the world. We seem to cope well here in Quebec, but the situation looks dire in Europe and, particularly, in the U.S.. Here are some links to keep yourself informed:

• COVID-19 coverage (BBC)
• COVID-19 coverage (CNN)
• COVID-19 coverage (Google)
• COVID-19 coverage (The Guardian)
• COVID-19 coverage (Montreal Gazette)
• COVID-19 coverage (NYT)
• COVID-19 : tout sur la pandémie (Radio Canada)
• COVID0-19 coverage (The Washington Post)

• COVID-19 Québec dashboard (Université Laval)
• COVID-19 dashboard (John Hopkins University)
• COVID-19 Tracker (London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine)
• Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Situation Dashboard (WHO)
• Topos COVID-19 Project
• Coronavirus Deaths by U.S. State and Country Over Time: Daily Tracker (NYT)
• Projected hospital resource use in the U.S. (University of Washington)
• The missing six weeks: how Trump failed the biggest test of his life (The Guardian)

• Your guide to COVID-19 and its impact on life in Canada (CBC)
• Montreal’s latest COVID-19 news (Montreal City)
• Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Québec (Quebec government)
• Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Canada (Canadian government)
• COVID-19 – Information aux employés (Montreal Intra/extranet)

Please, stay put and safe — and keep reading.

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