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I'd imagine a lot of key pathways of trade don't really stop at the border. I'm sure that trucking, for example, doesn't hand off goods. They probably drive st

I'd imagine a lot of key pathways of trade don't really stop at the border. I'm sure that trucking, for example, doesn't hand off goods. They probably drive straight through after a short border check. Unless they think they have significantly fewer cases than the United States, it doesn't make sense to block travelers.

inasio 7y ago
There is a pretty stark difference between British Columbia and Washington State right now (10x cases, 42 vs 1 death)
- jamie_ca 7y ago
  BC had 3 more over the weekend, now 4 deaths. And quite an up-tick in cases. :(
  - inasio 7y ago
    Crap, and quite a few of those cases in Vancouver Island (lots of retired people, not a lot of hospital infrastructure). Announced only 1 hour ago it seems, and not yet in the Johns Hopkins tracker
    - fdjlasdfjl 7y ago
      Fortunately we're reacting ahead of time. Universities, rec centers, and public facilities are shutting down. We are also in the process of setting up a Korean-style drive through testing lab. Hopefully we can keep it out of the nursing homes.........
    - hackermailman 7y ago
      Zero social distancing going on either, busses crammed to the hilt and E. Hastings is wall to wall addicts outside right now. Someone I work with his wife is a health worker under potential exposure quarantine and he showed up to work today. I guess we are aiming for the full Italy version of this pandemic.
      - munk-a 7y ago
        Be vocal about it and talk out. I spoke out vocally at my workplace and most of us are now remoting - its on every individual to self-quarantine because relying on force (like the mounties or army) simply isn't reasonable - policing people closely defeats quarantining and those transit resources need to keep going to make sure essential employees can get to work. That all said I'm curious what Translink's plans are to restrict access to the skytrain.
- bawolff 7y ago
  Well if its doubling every 3 days, its only the difference of 10 days...
- blaser-waffle 7y ago
  Washington State is also an outlier in that one of the first places that got hit was a nursing home and they didn't react quickly enough; several of their residents died fairly quickly. The rest of the state is doing alright, comparatively.
danudey 7y ago
> I'd imagine a lot of key pathways of trade don't really stop at the border. I'm sure that trucking, for example, doesn't hand off goods. They probably drive straight through after a short border check. It's fairly trivial (conceptually) to close the border to non-commercial traffic while allowing commercial traffic through, given that both are separated physically at the border and you need paperwork to go through the commercial lane anyway. > Unless they think they have significantly fewer cases than the United States, it doesn't make sense to block travelers. Absolutely, given that Washington has mismanaged the crisis, and in the US there is often a monetary cost for even seeing a primary care physician, plus no mandated sick or vacation days, and the numbers so far reflect this. The biggest concern, in my opinion, would be people who try to come to Canada in the hopes that they can get sick here and recover somewhere that isn't going to bankrupt them as a result. Not that I want our southern neighbours to die in the streets while we lounge in relative medical luxury, but risking overloading both systems would be catastrophic for everyone.
- sigstoat 7y ago
  > The biggest concern, in my opinion, would be people who try to come to Canada in the hopes that they can get sick here and recover somewhere that isn't going to bankrupt them as a result. do canadian hospitals not send foreigners a bill? it seems like this sort of issue would've come up long before now.
  - bryanrasmussen 7y ago
    maybe it has come up before, but there would be a pretty significant difference between doing that with normal conditions and during a pandemic.
  - btilly 7y ago
    do canadian hospitals not send foreigners a bill? It may have changed, but it used to be standard not to. I remember a news article from about 15 years ago where doctors at a Vancouver hospital were unhappy about it. Not because they were treating the sick traveler for free, but because some stupid regulation meant that he had to remain in an ER bed rather than moving him to a normal hospital bed and freeing the space for anyone else who might need it.
xutopia 7y ago
You are right about this. The number of trucks passing the Champlain Bridge every day is huge and many of those truckers are American.

inasio 7y ago

There is a pretty stark difference between British Columbia and Washington State right now (10x cases, 42 vs 1 death)

jamie_ca 7y ago
BC had 3 more over the weekend, now 4 deaths. And quite an up-tick in cases. :(
- inasio 7y ago
  Crap, and quite a few of those cases in Vancouver Island (lots of retired people, not a lot of hospital infrastructure). Announced only 1 hour ago it seems, and not yet in the Johns Hopkins tracker
  - fdjlasdfjl 7y ago
    Fortunately we're reacting ahead of time. Universities, rec centers, and public facilities are shutting down. We are also in the process of setting up a Korean-style drive through testing lab. Hopefully we can keep it out of the nursing homes.........
  - hackermailman 7y ago
    Zero social distancing going on either, busses crammed to the hilt and E. Hastings is wall to wall addicts outside right now. Someone I work with his wife is a health worker under potential exposure quarantine and he showed up to work today. I guess we are aiming for the full Italy version of this pandemic.
    - munk-a 7y ago
      Be vocal about it and talk out. I spoke out vocally at my workplace and most of us are now remoting - its on every individual to self-quarantine because relying on force (like the mounties or army) simply isn't reasonable - policing people closely defeats quarantining and those transit resources need to keep going to make sure essential employees can get to work. That all said I'm curious what Translink's plans are to restrict access to the skytrain.
bawolff 7y ago
Well if its doubling every 3 days, its only the difference of 10 days...
blaser-waffle 7y ago
Washington State is also an outlier in that one of the first places that got hit was a nursing home and they didn't react quickly enough; several of their residents died fairly quickly. The rest of the state is doing alright, comparatively.

danudey 7y ago

> I'd imagine a lot of key pathways of trade don't really stop at the border. I'm sure that trucking, for example, doesn't hand off goods. They probably drive straight through after a short border check. It's fairly trivial (conceptually) to close the border to non-commercial traffic while allowing commercial traffic through, given that both are separated physically at the border and you need paperwork to go through the commercial lane anyway. > Unless they think they have significantly fewer cases than the United States, it doesn't make sense to block travelers. Absolutely, given that Washington has mismanaged the crisis, and in the US there is often a monetary cost for even seeing a primary care physician, plus no mandated sick or vacation days, and the numbers so far reflect this. The biggest concern, in my opinion, would be people who try to come to Canada in the hopes that they can get sick here and recover somewhere that isn't going to bankrupt them as a result. Not that I want our southern neighbours to die in the streets while we lounge in relative medical luxury, but risking overloading both systems would be catastrophic for everyone.

sigstoat 7y ago
> The biggest concern, in my opinion, would be people who try to come to Canada in the hopes that they can get sick here and recover somewhere that isn't going to bankrupt them as a result. do canadian hospitals not send foreigners a bill? it seems like this sort of issue would've come up long before now.
- bryanrasmussen 7y ago
  maybe it has come up before, but there would be a pretty significant difference between doing that with normal conditions and during a pandemic.
- btilly 7y ago
  do canadian hospitals not send foreigners a bill? It may have changed, but it used to be standard not to. I remember a news article from about 15 years ago where doctors at a Vancouver hospital were unhappy about it. Not because they were treating the sick traveler for free, but because some stupid regulation meant that he had to remain in an ER bed rather than moving him to a normal hospital bed and freeing the space for anyone else who might need it.

xutopia 7y ago

You are right about this. The number of trucks passing the Champlain Bridge every day is huge and many of those truckers are American.