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Opinion: Coronavirus is scaring Burnaby residents into staying home

A weird thing happened last Saturday – I went to Metropolis at Metrotown in Burnaby and found a parking spot right by a door to the mall.

A weird thing happened last Saturday – I went to Metropolis at Metrotown in Burnaby and found a parking spot right by a door to the mall.

Like, I found this parking spot in seconds – didn’t even have to do the “search circle” waiting for a spot to open up.

In fact, things were so weird that I had more than 20 open spots to choose from.

Why is that weird? Because normally it’s a kill-or-be-killed fight to find parking in Burnaby’s biggest mall.

This was at 1 p.m. on a Saturday.

Then I went inside the mall and, while it was busy, it’s wasn’t Metropolis-level busy. I could tell the difference from other Saturdays.

The coronavirus outbreak, which Chinese officials said appears to be accelerating this week after fi
The coronavirus outbreak, which Chinese officials said appears to be accelerating this week after first hitting global headlines in mid-January, has already rendered almost 3,000 people ill and resulted in confirmed or suspected cases here in Canada as well as in places such as the United States, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Southeast Asia. Photo iStock

I was in a few shops and ordered a meal in the food court. All of the staff I spoke with listed the same reason for things being relatively quiet: coronavirus.

On Sunday, I dined at a Burnaby dumpling house and it was half-empty. The last time I went, I had to wait 15 minutes for a table.

The pandemic is definitely keeping more people at home. My best friend – who is originally from China, but now lives in Burnaby – says she is avoiding local malls. She goes to a local post-secondary school and says her Chinese classmates have also told her they are staying home as much as possible.

My friend’s son was supposed to come home to Burnaby from Toronto later this week, but his father has warned him not to travel so he’s staying put.

I know the priority is keeping people safe, but this kind of thing can have a devastating impact on businesses. It also has a real impact on a person’s sanity.

With a second case of coronavirus reported in B.C. this week, and five nationwide, an Angus Reid poll released Wednesday, Feb. 5, found that three-in-10 (30 per cent) of Canadians say they are worried about contracting the virus. However, 40 per cent said they are concerned about the impact the outbreak may have on their community and three-quarters (76 per cent) are worried about the global impact as they watch the death count rise in China.

I don’t know if people need to stay home.

Perhaps we just need to heed these B.C. Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) tips:

  • The most important thing a person can do to prevent getting coronavirus is to wash their hands regularly and avoid touching their face
  • Coronavirus is not something that comes in through the skin. This virus is remitted through large droplets that are breathed deep into a person’s lungs.
  • Receptors for coronavirus are found deep in a person’s lungs. A person must inhale enough of the virus that it can actually bind to those receptors deep in the lungs.
  • Coronavirus is not airborne. The virus is transmitted through larger droplets that fall quickly out of the air — after a sneeze, for example. 
  • Coronavirus is not something that people can get from casual contact.  A person must be in close proximity (within two metres) with somebody to be able to inhale those droplets if a person coughs or sneezes in front of them without covering up.  
  • The droplets can fall to the ground after a sneeze and a person can touch them with their hands. The risk of transmission is low in this case, as those droplets must be of significant enough quantity to make it to the receptors in a person’s lungs.
  •  If a person has touched something that has droplets on it with coronavirus in it, as long as they clean their hands before touching their face or your mouth, they are not at risk of getting that virus in their body.
  • Masks should be used by sick people to prevent transmission to other people. A mask will help keep a person’s droplets in.
  • It may be less effective to wear a mask in the community when a person is not sick themselves. Masks may give a person a false sense of security and are likely to increase the number of times a person will touch their own face to adjust the mask or for other reasons.
  • Cover your mouth when you cough so you're not exposing other people. If you are sick yourself, stay away from others. Contact your health care provider ahead of time so you can be safely assessed.
  • With files from the Vancouver Courier.