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Stay or go home Covid reshapes thinking

 Over the past few weeks I have been in Mexico, largely for work, but also to escape the winters of Quebec that was, in 2020 brutal.  So far 2021 has proven to be less painful.  First off it was far less cold, yes there were days of -40 but only very few.  Canada's winter was mild if you consider that the great lakes remained largely ice-free the whole winter.

Snow that was still 50 cm deep in April is nearly gone.  The roof of our house is entirely free of snow, and in fact, the property is sloppy but nothing compared to last year.  This winter appears to be mild, and normally we would consider leaving Mexico later next month to start opening the house for spring and summer.

But our plans are now up in the air.  Although Air Canada has announced that it will resume flights to Cancun sometime in May, we can still fly via New York, the news on Covid in Canada is not good.  Quebec is seeing daily infection rates rising again, it had been falling since December.  The new aggressive variants are now in Canada.  Death levels are low but infection rates are rising.

Everything is not rosy here in Mexico either, yesterday the Governor of Yucatan announced that Chichen Itza the famous Mayan ruins halfway between Merida and Cancun would be closed during Easter.  There is a real concern in the Yucatan that no one takes covid seriously in Quintana Roo, in fact, no one wears masks there either in Cancun, Playa, or Tulum.

This first measure is certainly not the last.  We expect that the beaches will be closed during the holly week which is a very important holiday in Mexico.  Within days I expect announcements that the beaches at Progresso, Sisal and Celestun will be closed 

And there lies our dilemma, what to do.  Our inclination is to stay put and not go anywhere.  Why exposer ourselves to the various variants in Canada.  We may take a side trip to Houston for our Covid injections so that we are safe, as of now it's already simple for anyone to get a shot.


Fun time

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