When Vivian Moreau and her husband left Canada just over a week ago, the world was different. She was the only one wiping down every inch of her airplane seat with antibacterial wipes on their U.K.-bound flight.
In London to celebrate her husband’s 67th birthday, Moreau was surprised to see packed streets, large school groups taking the subway and Londoners spilling out of pubs during happy hour.
“It was like Londoners were living in a bubble. It was business as usual,” she said.
The Cowichan Bay couple left Canada in a pre-pandemic world. On their first full day in London, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic.
Moreau was born without a spleen, so she has a compromised immune system and had been paying attention to the spread of COVID-19 in Canada and around the world.
A few weeks before the trip, she sought the advice of her doctor, who suggested she take sanitizing wipes, a mask, surgical gloves and nasal gel as a precaution.
A few days after the WHO announcement, things started to change in London. Signs saying “No cash” popped up. In a restaurant, their server provided wipes to disinfect their hands.
“It was like a light switched,” she said.
Something switched for the couple, too, when they watched Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tell them and all Canadians abroad to come home on Friday.
“I appreciated what he did, because it certainly spurred us on,” she said.
When the couple flew back on Tuesday, Moreau was not the only one sanitizing her seat.
“We felt silly going over, because I think I was the only one doing that, but by the time we were flying home, everybody was doing it,” she said.
Passengers were taking precautions, carrying hand sanitizer, wearing masks and keeping their distance from others. In London’s Heathrow airport, Moreau saw travellers in full-body protective suits.
The couple landed in Vancouver to pamphlets, staff and large electronic signs informing arriving travellers of the novel coronavirus.
“It was information overload,” she said. “You could not get down to border services or to get your luggage without these two people at the top of the stairs and then huge electronic signage,” Moreau said.
Their ferry back to the Island was the cleanest Moreau had ever seen.
“It looked like the whole thing had been power-washed,” she said.
She saw about 20 other foot passengers in communal areas. The rest of the 150 or so passengers were in their vehicles, a crew member told her.
Passengers are temporarily allowed to stay in their vehicles on enclosed car decks.
Moreau saw ferry staff taking extra precautions, handing trays directly to customers instead of leaving them out for anyone to handle, and much of the food service had been reduced.
B.C. Ferries has since suspended food services onboard and at terminals.
Moreau said she was glad to get back to Canada, where she feels health officials are being proactive with measures to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Moreau and her husband are in self-isolation for the next two weeks at their home in Cowichan Bay.
“It’s good to be here,” she said.
