Exponential Rise In COVID-19 Cases = Another Corona-Contaminated Christmas = 2020 Begins Again???
By Lela S.
At the start of December, cases were rising. This is normal, around the holidays, COVID cases should rise considerably and then lower after New Year’s, I thought, reading the news on my iPad.
December 20. A record is broken; the coronavirus has infected three thousand new victims in Québec. I was taken aback: shouldn’t the vaccine for kids aged five to eleven be helping? I guess not.
When I heard the case count, I had just finished a math exam (easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy). At my school, there were two options: study at home or study at school. Since I like staying at home, because I can procrastinate to my heart’s delight, it’s obvious which option I selected.
However, a few minutes later, I received a message on Teams from my class’s group chat, poulet mariné et drama en latin (in french, the translation is: marinated chicken and drama in latin, don’t even try to ask). From my friend Emmy, who was at school: “ANNONCE POUR TOUT LE MONDEEE, PLUS DECOLE ET PAS DEXAMENS DEMAIN ET APRES DEMAIN!!!!! (announcement for everyone, no more school nor exams tomorrow and the day after tomorrow).
I was stupefied. And confused. And in complete and utter shock. To confirm, I asked my good friend Carolina (who would never lie or do anything bad) to confirm. She said that the rumor was, unfortunately (because of school being cancelled) and fortunately (because EXAMS WERE CANCELLED), fully true.
Later on in the day, made: bars, taverns, casinos, theatres, and gyms would be closing, plus schools still in school would be closing immediately, and all other schools would be going into remote learning for the week of January 3-10. Which was exactly what I had predicted, but which didn’t really affect me as my winter break was already ending on the 10th.
December 21. Over five thousand new infections were recorded in QC, beating Ontario’s 4,812 in the the highest single-day total reported Canada-wide since the pandemic began.
December 22. The next day, it was reported that there were 6,361 new cases of COVID-19, more than 1,000 over the previous day’s case count.
December 23. An explosion 9,397 new cases: an exponential increase of 3,000 from the previous day, originating primarily from the unvaccinated population.
December 24. Over ten thousand cases. TELL ME SOMETHING I DON’T KNOW, was my first thought as the news was announced. I was not at all surprised.
Today is December 25. Quebec added 9,206 more coronavirus cases during another corona-contaminated Christmas. Sigh. I can’t wait to get out of this pandemic. Actually, don’t we all?
However, I don’t think that moment is going to come anytime soon. Lea agrees with me: with this amount of virus around, it’s a stupid idea to let the schools open up on January 10th. February 10th would be satisfactory, I said. However, there was more: in a Messenger Kids call, we said it at the same time:
2020 WILL BEGIN AGAIN.
I don’t mean to scare anyone, but as Lea said, not sending us into immediate emergency lockdown at this stage is a gigantic mistake that should NOT be made (cough cough, Legault…). Even though neither of us wants it, our consensus is that this is necessary for the elimination of the virus that has infiltrated one-third of my life.
Do you agree, disagree, have a question, or have something else to share? Share your side of the story in the comments below!