Europe, Under Islamist Threat, Forced on Its Back-Foot

"We must be able to discuss topics such as freedom of expression in our classrooms without any outside pressure."

"It may hurt when someone has an opinion that conflicts with your world view or religious conviction, but they have a right to say so in all liberty."

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte

 

"We are ready to accept every Tunisian, but with conditions preserving the dignity and giving him rights to access to all stages of judicial appeals in France before the deportation [in discussions of security matters between France and Tunisia; the deportation of dozens of Tunisian migrants]."

Tunisian Interior Minister Taoufik Charfeddine

Muslim demonstrators hold placards during a protest against the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad in Charlie Hebdo in London (photo credit: REUTERS)

Police in Germany Friday announced raids they had carried out on the homes and offices of four individuals they had linked to the 20-year-old man who launched an attack in Austria. German intelligence had sent a request to Austria to have them monitor several Germans who had met with Kujtim Fejzulai, the Islamist attacker shot dead after he killed four people and wounded over 20 others after opening fire in the central nightlife district of Vienna on Monday night.

The Germans had visited Austria this summer and their contacts had been monitored by German intelligence. Austrian authorities made no move to alter their risk assessment of Fejzulal, on early release from prison with a 22-month sentence for attempting to join the Islamic State, but turned back to France by Turkish authorities. Enrolled in a deradicalization course in prison, he was considered to have been effectively deradicalized, earning himself early release.

Police searches near Hamburg in homes and business premises.

 

According to Austria's Interior Minister Nehammer, "immediate personnel consequences" had resulted over the botched heads-up over Fejzulai when Erich Zwettier, head of the local intelligence office in Vienna had resigned. Mr. Nehammer admitted to "intolerable mistakes" in tracking the suspect prior to his deadly shooting spree. As a result of which he ordered the closing of mosques Austrian intelligence now deems a security risk.

Fejzulai, born in Vienna, held a North Macedonian passport; his parents had emigrated from Macedonia to Austria, accounting for the North Macedonian passport in Fejzulai's possession, as well as an Austrian passport. He had planned the attack in the knowledge that residents of Vienna would be out enjoying the last hours before the onset of a new coronavirus lockdown and curfew. His coordinated actions as he carried an automatic rifle, handgun and knife took him to six discrete sites in a matter of eight minutes where he killed four people and injured others, before he was himself shot dead nine minutes after he began his deadly spree.

Austria's security services have come under close scrutiny, particularly as it emerged on Thursday that Austrian authorities had been warned by their Slovakian counterparts in July of Fejzulai's attempts to acquire ammunition there, for an assault rifle; a "communication" problem accounted for the lack of action on Austria's part, according to Minister Nehammer. A mosque and an Islamic centre that Fejzulai was known to frequent were closed on Friday, with Integration Minister Suzanne Raab stating that institutions which are "hotbeds for the blind hatred and violence we experience(d) on Monday" are slated for closure.

Last month, an assailant who shouted "Allahu akbar!" as he beheaded a woman and attacked and killed two other people with a knife in a church in Nice placed France on high alert. A 21-year-old Tunisian had arrived by ship to Lampedusa, a popular Italian island entry point to Europe for migrants from Africa. He was ordered to return to Tunisia but made his way to Nice instead, where he planned for and carried out his deadly attack.

 

People hold a photo of the history teacher Samuel Paty , who was beheaded last week, during a memorial march in homage to him, Tuesday, Oct.20, 2020 in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, northwest of Paris. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly)

 

This followed the beheading murder of French middle-school teacher Samuel Paty who had received threats from some of the parents of his students after he made use of a Charlie Hebdo satirical cartoon mocking the Prophet Mohammad, in a civics class on French values and freedom of speech. His murderer, a man of Chechen origins living in France, had set out to avenge the prophet after a video produced by a Muslim parent circulated within the Muslim community, identifying the teacher and his school.

Now, in the Netherlands a Rotterdam teacher has been forced into hiding as a result of a classroom discussion of the killing of Samuel Paty. Police arrested a female teen on suspicion of inciting threats against the Dutch teacher. Messages were posted on social media, though it was unclear whether the 18-year-old was a student at the Emmauscollege high school where the class debate occurred. Dutch Prime Minister Rutte spoke of the threats as "absurd" and "intolerable". 

 

Two 18-year-old men and a 17-year-old girl were charged Friday with "criminal terrorist conspiracy" in the murder of French history teacher Samuel Paty, a judicial source told news agency AFP.

 

That class discussion took place as a result of schools in the Netherlands, France and Germany being requested to hold a moment of silence for Paty whose death in October shocked the world community. On Monday, during a classroom discussion at the Emmauscollege, students had taken note of a bulletin board-posted cartoon that had been in place for years. Among the students, some took offence at its presence, a cartoon that won a national prize in 2015, showing a decapitated figure labelled "Charlie Hebdo" sticking out its tongue at a bearded man with a bloody sword.

 

Soon afterward a photo of the cartoon began circulating on social media, and by Tuesday the teacher who led the discussion began receiving threats, compelling him to go into hiding even as police became involved. That same day a school in a Paris suburb was reported by Le Monde as having received threats against another teacher, leading to the school being closed.

The Tewhid mosque in Vienna | Georg Hochmuth/AFP via Getty Images

Awaiting the Double Whammy, Flu-plus-COVID

"It [intervening early and more aggressively in those whose COVID-19 condition is heading toward a bad outcome] also gives us an opportunity to have really frank and honest conversations with substitute decision makers and loved ones."  Dr.Douglas Fraser ICU physician, lead researcher, Lawson Health Research Institute

"They're testing really aggressively in Australia and they're just not finding cases. As far as we know people don't transmit influenza virus unless they have symptoms. It would be almost societally unacceptable right now to be walking around with those kinds of symptoms. And that's when you're transmissible for flu. We would expect there to be much more prompt isolation of cases of infectious influenza [than usual]."                                                                                                    Dr.David Buckeridge, professor, School of Population and Global Health, McGill University

"[The southern hemisphere's experience is, in some ways] a good reflection that all of the good public health measures that people are continuing to practise, the hand-washing, the physical distancing as much as possible, the use of non-medical masks and so on, that help prevent or limit the transmission of COVID-19, would also work equally well for other respiratory infections, including influenza."  Dr.Howard Njoo, deputy chief public health officer, Canada

Getty Images

"Why are critically sick COVID-19 patients clotting"?, posed one of the more puzzling questions doctors grappled with. And now, thanks to the research of a team of scientists in London, Ontario, led by Dr.Douglas Fraser, the answer has arrived. The body's immune system, responding to an invasion of the novel coronavirus, churns out enzymes shearing off minuscule sugar-coated hairs leaving blood vessels to become inflamed and exposed, causing platelets to grab, causing tiny clots in the lungs and in the body. 

Apart from which the identification of six molecules that seem to predict who is at the highest risk of death with severe COVID-19  to alert doctors when to intervene might result in a scenario guiding doctors to intervene at an earlier date in the disease's progression and more aggressively in recognition of those people destined to have a very serious outcome, with increased risk of death. And those breakthroughs were attributable to the research work of Dr.Fraser and his colleagues who identified the critical six molecules predicting who is at the highest risk of death.

Should similar research with corroborative results support the claims for these two research projects, the results of the two studies may lead to improved treatment for a new disease on the cusp of converging with an old familiar one. The collision of COVID and flu is on everyone's mind with the approach of winter and traditional flu season. Some, like Dr.Howard Njoo, take comfort in the fact that Australia is experiencing a relatively mild flu season, hoping that this will become the norm everywhere, this year of SARS-CoV-2.

"Influenza is predictably unpredictable", Dr. Mark Loeb, professor of pathology and molecular medicine at McMaster University observed. "Almost nothing is known" about co-infection with flu and COVID-19, wrote U.S. epidemiologists Michael Osterholm and Edward Belongia reporting in Science. They note that most people are vulnerable to the pandemic virus and should a surge in COVID-19 occur in the fall, overlapping with a surge in flu, the resulting stress on hospitals could become catastrophic. The hope would be that the number of those infected with each virus will tend to peak at different times, not simultaneously, reducing the strain on the medical system.

The potential of a "twindemic" looms as a possibility, creating unique challenges in having the vaccine administered in a timely manner to an awaiting population. In May, a Pollara survey of 1,912 Canadians saw 57 percent claiming they would "definitely" or "probably" get a flu shot, an increase from 45 percent over last year. With many buildings remaining shuttered, fewer office flu clinics will be available. The question of sufficient PPE for vaccinators in pharmacies and other places also presents as a dilemma.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is urging provinces and territories to think outside the box to arrive at working strategies, including multiple, smaller  clinics; administering inoculations outdoors in parking lots or drive-thru clinics; mobile clinics in vans or buses, fly-in teams in remote and isolated communities; all measures that could presage the day if and when COVID-19 vaccines become available. This year's flu vaccine has been tweaked from last year's but sufficient information has not yet emerged to determine which circulating strain will be dominant this fall and winter.

The risk of a dual or co-infection of flu along with COVID-19 is there, it is a risk, particularly to those with underlying illnesses. Early testing will be critical to enable doctors to know what they're dealing with; whether flu or COVID. Symptoms overlap, while treatments differ; a matter of testing early,   diagnosing, for identifying which is which "will be an essential component for public health surveillances".

Dr. Loeb points out how critical it is that people continue to practise social distancing. "On the other hand there's a lot of return-to-normal activities such as school" which could make it increasingly difficult to contain both the flu and COVID.  "We're seeing a spike in infections just as schools are opening up. Schools will send children home if the school is unable to determine whether a child has COVID-19 versus a cold or flu. For many families that means parents will have to try to work from home", observed Dr.Steven Taylor, professor and clinical psychologist at the University of British Columbia.

 

COVID-19 Control: Nothing as Straightforward as Could be Hoped

"I lose sleep over this daily. Everybody needs the money. It's really discouraging because I know what's going to happen."                                                                  "I know that as soon as those schools open ... that these elderly and vulnerable people are going to start dying again."                                                              "We're all really scared for these people that we support."                                   Unnamed woman working in developmental services sector

"[There are no rules] prohibiting staff from working in external locations, and we have not received any direction from public health or the ministry that this measure should be taken."                                                                                            "According to legal advice received, we are unable to impose these types of restrictions on employees in the absence of a specific public-health directive."  Ottawa-Carleton District School Board

Laura Walton,  custodial staff on casual supply lists. (CBC)

"We have raised it [with the ministry], and said, 'What do we do'? At this point, there doesn't seem to be any indication."                                       "This is an indication of just how low-paid these jobs are. For far too long, this government and previous governments have chosen to balance books on the backs of public services ... And I think, as a result, they're a little bit more hesitant to actually address the issue that they know they themselves have created."                                             Laura Walton, president Ontario School Board Council of Unions

"Our staffing situation is critical right now, and it is the thing that keeps us up at night."                                                                                                                   "[With temporary solutions to LTC staffing shortages winding down, the] pandemic pay [wage boost --] anything that takes any more people out of our system just makes us that much more vulnerable."                                                                     Donna Duncan, CEO, Ontario Long-Term Care Association 

"You can't blame the individuals, who are simply trying to cobble together a living [wage]. It's something that's very difficult for us to tackle other than to advocate for an increase in pay that would prevent them from having to double up on work in that fashion."                                                                                                       "There needs to be a solution that safeguards students, safeguards the people in the other congregate-care settings, safeguards the families that these people go home to, but doesn't punish the individuals by depriving them of the ability to make a living."                                                                                                                    "It would be absolutely irresponsible for anybody to stick their head in the sand when this issue has been raised."                                                                            Harvey Bischof, president, Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation

A custodian cleans a classroom in Brubaker Elementary School in Des Moines, Iowa. Not having enough staff to clean and maintain Ontario public schools was an issue even before COVID-19, according to the Ontario School Board Council of Unions. (Charlie Neibergall/The Associated Press)

It is a problem with menacing ramifications. The huge death rate out of long-term care institutions during the first wave of the coronavirus sweeping through Canada resulted from conditions in the homes where residents shared sleeping facilities, bathroom facilities, where distancing was difficult to achieve, where an alert and preparations to control the contagion were absent, where personal care personnel were improperly trained, and often brought the virus with them into the homes unaware that they were infected, and the result was a high mortality rate among the vulnerable inmates, elderly and health-impaired.

Now, suddenly, with the re-opening of schools as a new school year presents itself next week, the focus is on school custodians and other support employees of schools who spend the school day supporting students in a vital job that is low-paid. In contrast school teachers themselves make a truly handsome salary in compensation for their vital job teaching students. Education costs are sky-high, a major portion of which is dedicated to teaching staff salaries. Their unions never stop agitating for wage increases. The situation is one of injustice, the difficult and vital work of teaching aides and custodians fails to be adequately financially compensated.

One can imagine the horrified response of someone like Mr. Bischof should government, careful of tax dollars, recommend that teachers be satisfied with their munificent salaries to allow lesser-paid employees of equal merit in their positions to be offered a long-overdue increase in their salaries. Which could result in those low-paid employees no longer feeling it necessary to head out to another job after school closes for the day, to augment their school board salaries to make up for a living wage.

Dr. Christopher Labos says there is little value in testing every child for the coronavirus before school starts and he speaks to concerns about keeping kids apart in the classroom.

Now, alarm bells are pealing as schools are resuming in an atmosphere of doubt and fear, with parents on tenterhooks, having to return to work and grappling with the options open to them; continue home-schooling and forego that career (obviously mothers) or send the child back to school and hope for the best. In either instance, as long as the coronavirus remains a threat grandparents can no longer be counted on for after-school care. The 'bubble' that worked well in the past few months has been pricked in the face of social distancing problems as children converge on their schools.

Suddenly the very real impact of separation and care have met head on; and the possibility of COVID-19 transmission through concurrrent employment in education and congregate care has come to the fore, even if a little late in the game. The government of Ontario took steps in the wake of horrendous deaths at retirement and long-term care homes to ensure that workers would adhere to new guidelines mandating that they work at only one such home rather than as in the past trying to supplement incomes incommensurate with their roles, to provide a living wage.

That having been made clear, that going from one home to another turned out to be a contagion-nightmare, failed to take into account that the measure was specific to the homes, nowhere mentioning the situation whereby those working in school settings seek to top up their income by working as well in long-term care and retirement homes, among the vulnerable, setting the stage for the previous massive death toll where Canada's entire death rate due to COVID was 82 percent represented by the steep mortality rate seen in such homes.

The restrictions relate to working in more than one retirement or long-term care home. Nothing in it addresses the likelihood of a worker seeking employment in areas outside health care, such as education. Workers with jobs in both areas now present as an entirely new headache, one not readily solved other than to deprive low-paid education workers with the opportunity to top up an inadequate wage with taking a second job in a field of medical and long-term care badly in need of workers.

The situation where daily death rates in long-term and retirement homes shocked the public and led governments throughout the country to pledge to solve the problem resulted in a stabilization. And that situation is now on the cusp of resurging. The executive director of Ottawa-Carleton Lifeskills considers the situation 'challenging'. The group operates eight residential group homes employing close to two hundred front-line staff asking of them that any who will plan to work for a school board inform them. And should an outbreak of COVID-19 occur at a school, immediate updates would be required.

What Do You Value More Than Your Child's Safety?

 "It is like sitting on a cliff. For parents, it revolves around the central question: Am I doing the right thing? What is the right thing for you when the ground is a long way down or shifting under you constantly."                                                                  "It's exhausting, and I think it is increasing stress and anxiety and the mental fatigue that we experience when we have to deal with life-critical things and don't have a solid, consistent basis on which to make decisions."                            "There's no black and white. It's this pendulum that swings between risk and benefit and it has to be a calculated trade-off."                                                    Dr.Judy Illes, Canada Research Chair, neuroethics, University of British Columbia

"[Children remain] remarkably unimpacted by COVID-19. [There is no evidence kids are epidemiologically important in community transmission]."                      "The stereotype that children are just germspreading machines goes back to influenza, but we know now that COVID-19 is very different than influenza when it comes to kids."                                                                                           Dr.Michael Silverman, chief, division of infectious diseases, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University

"Children may therefore have the potential to be substantial drivers of the pandemic. [While the first early reports out of China failed to find children being major vectors, school closures early in the pandemic] thwarted larger-scale investigations of schools as a source of community transmission."                   "[While children experience much less severe illness from the virus] there is no reason to think that children are less likely to transmit the virus than adults."  Dr.Zoe Hyde, University of Western Australia

A custodian cleans a classroom in March after the pandemic hit. School will look differently when students return in the fall. In Ontario, there will only be 15 students in a classroom at one time in schools that have to have an 'adaptive model.' (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)

Confused yet? Contrasting impressions, don't know which might be correct? That's the impression frustrated parents have, casting about for definite answers to tremulous questions over whether they should be sending their children back to school in September or committing to home schooling them and in the process sacrificing their professional lives. Balancing the important things of life; your offspring as opposed to your ambitions.

People, particularly parents of young children, are experiencing restless nights. Accompanied by strange dreams where shape-shifting and puzzling backgrounds, frightful occurrences and inexplicable conclusions come to them during their fitful episodes of sleep sandwiched between wide-awake struggles to return to sleep. Night-time, when we are at our most vulnerable, assailed by troubling and fearful thoughts of events overtaking us, making us helpless to decide our own futures with any degree of confidence.

CASEZY via Getty Images

Across Quebec and Ontario parents are petitioning for smaller class sizes. Some teachers admit going back into a classroom terrifies them. "Is it safe to send my child back to school?", parents everywhere that the global pandemic has struck -- and that's everywhere -- ponder, frustrated at the information coming their way, that seems to change from day to day. Dr.Judy Illes and UBC neurology resident Dr.Chris Feehan are of the opinion that as the stress inherent in awaiting the next pandemic surges, preparing for the unknown may trigger pre-traumatic stress.

This syndrome is not yet included in the official manual of mental illnesses, but in all likelihood, it is destined to be, "as the body reacts to perceived future dangers", the two wrote. "Real or imagined, these dangers activate the nervous system in preparation for a burst of activity potentially necessary for survival", they wrote, "And not knowing what that act will entail, or when." Though their focus was on front line health workers, it applies as well to parents "and just about everyone else who is confused about the fall, and waiting for the next shoe to drop."

The latest federal modelling of the near future in Canada was released just days earlier, including a "reasonable worst-case scenario" represented by a large fall peak of COVID cases, followed by additional peaks and valleys. Even while numbers of new reported cases daily is on the increase, with schools soon to reopen "everyone is on nerve", according to Montreal cardiologist and epidemiologist Dr.Christopher Labos. Mindful that the combined topic of children's well-being, and COVID-19 has now found common agreement.

Jizusek via Getty Images

A paper published in JAMA Pediatrics found the amount of viral RNA (genetic pieces of the virus) detected in nose swabs of children between the ages of five to 17 turned out to be similar to those taken from adults. Children under age five showed viral levels ten to 100 times higher. Even though children have experienced less severe illness by far from the virus "there is no reason to think that children are less likely to transmit the virus than adults", pointed out Dr.Hyde.

Whose conclusion was challenged by the publication a day later by Dr.Silverman's opposite conclusion. "Part of the energy that is surrounding current protests is about getting out of the house, getting together, screaming together", noted Dr.Illes in another emerging phenomenon she has named anticipatory fatigue; a reflection of the fatigue associated with the unknown. It's difficult to be strategic, she points out, given that the science continues to move, leaving society with a scattershot approach to the future mired in the novel coronavirus.

izusek via Getty Images

Some studies leave the impression that children who are kept at home develop a higher risk of anxiety and depression. Perhaps sensitive children subconsciously adopt those attitudes because it's what they sense emanates from their parents. A young nuclear family with two professionals desperate to find some quiet time sequestered at home with their offspring who begin to imagine that having their children attend school part time may afford them some badly needed relief and time to themselves.

"Think about what's important to you. What you value", urges Dr. Illes. Negative thoughts of the future can be turned into positive ones when they're reframed to reflect variant scenarios. Focus on evidence-based information. Take care not to consume too much alcohol, or engaging in other unhealthy coping devices, and focus on recognizing symptoms such as constant, vivid concerns and disturbed sleep.

Elementary School students in the U.S. social distance as they line up after leaving the restroom on their first day back to school Monday, July 27, 2020 in Corinth, Miss. Many Canadian students will be returning to classrooms in September as provinces announce school reopening plans. (Adam Robison/The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal via AP)

COVID-19? Re-Opening Quebec

"Our challenge is to gradually restart the economy without restarting the pandemic."
"The idea is to gradually add workers and analyze the effect on the contagion."
"But one thing is clear: If we want our plan to work, we need to continue our efforts of physical distancing, and we need to continue to protect the most vulnerable."
Quebec Premier Francois Legault

"Will I be sending my kids to school [in Montreal] on May 19? No. [There are costs to reopening that include risks to children and parents, teachers and staff with pre-existing conditions, and evidence of emerging complications for kids who get COVID-19]."
"[The province has not proven itself capable of doing widespread testing for the general population and has a dismal record of contract tracing, which means] we are basically flying blind."
"And reopening in Montreal of all places? Montreal has the highest number of cases in the country."
Claire Trottier, education specialist, professor, McGill University, Department of Microbiology and Immunity

“The best option here is to send the smallest kids back to school."
"We have lots of evidence that there are bad things that happen because the kids are stuck at home, like their parents can’t work, and kids who require special services are not getting those special services."
"We have a quarter million kids in Quebec who rely on school breakfasts and are not getting those."
Epidemiologist Jay Kaufman, department of epidemiology, biostatistics and occupational health, faculty of medicine, McGill University

A mobile hospital in partnership with the Canadian Red Cross is set up in the Jacques-Lemaire Arena to help care for patients with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from long-term centres (CHSLDs), in Montreal, Quebec, Canada April 26, 2020. Christinne Muschi / Reuter

Most Canadian provinces have fared well in their efforts to control the spread of COVID-19. British Columbia, where the epidemic first raised its ugly head, has seen declining rates of infection. Alberta appears to have SARS-CoV-2 under control but for a number of outbreaks in oil camps and poultry processing plants. Saskatchewan and Manitoba both of which have had very few numbers of COVID are preparing to reopen their economies. On Canada's Eastern shore, the COVID outbreaks have been well managed and relatively few in number.

The country's two most populous provinces -- Quebec and Ontario -- have borne the brunt of the COVID invasion, with Quebec accounting for far more cases and deaths than any other province, including Ontario. Yet it is Quebec that is preparing to reopen its schools on May 11, while Ontario takes a more cautious approach and has designated the end of May for its openings.

Canada's total number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus to date stands at 50,000 with 3,000 deaths. Quebec's numbers are daunting, with 26,594 confirmed cases and 1,761 deaths. The death figures for Canada overall and Quebec in particular are derived in large part from the elderly and health-compromised who live and are cared for in long-term care facilities and old-age homes.

Quebec's decision to move swiftly to reopen its economy have caught other provincial governments by surprise, although at some point in May most other governments have targeted their own re-openings; reasonable enough given their lower statistics of epidemic numbers. And all are cautioning that if matters turn awry with early opening, they will swiftly revert back to the status quo.

Premier François Legault has said the province will open elementary schools and daycares outside of Montreal as of May 11 and in Montreal, Laval and Longueuil on May 19 only if it felt it is in control of the coronavirus outbreak. Paul Chiasson / THE CANADIAN PRESS

New Brunswick has had no new cases to report for the past ten days, yet it has decided to plan for a more gradual re-opening than Quebec whose latest report was 775 new cases and 83 new deaths on Tuesday alone. However, Premier Legault has announced that most retail stores will be clear to reopen on May 4. Only Montreal itself which has been hardest hit in the province, will wait another week for its re-openings on May 11.

Quebec accounts for half of the entire country's COVID-19 cases, and close to 60 percent of COVID-19 deaths, with 23 percent of the country's population base. Despite which officials have the impression that the peak of the initial wave of infections has arrived and they're now on the downward curve. Since lockdown measures were implemented, about 1.2 million Quebecers have been unemployed.

At Bombardier Inc., one of the province's largest manufacturers, manufacturing is to be gradually resumed from May 11, with its 22,000 employees expected to return to work in the next few weeks. The company is prepared to implement such precautions as daily employee temperature checks, tool disinfecting stations, installation of Plexiglas shields. "Are people concerned? It would be a lie if I said no. But the majority are happy to go back to work", said Serge Dupont, assistant to the Quebec director of Unifor.

Quebec has already allowed residential construction to resume. It plans to let the whole construction industry resume activities by the end of May. (Ivanoh Demers/Radio-Canada)

According to Jack Jedwab, president of the Association for Canadian Studies based in Montreal, part of the reason for Quebec decision-making might be accounted for given francophones appear less fearful of the virus. His organization worked with the polling firm Leger Marketing, tracking weekly public sentiment during the pandemic. The most recent round of polling found 47 percent of francophone responders fearful of acquiring the virus in comparison to 59 percent of anglophone respondents.

"I think there is also a cultural dimension to it, but you know, it's hard to measure that dimension", commented Jedwab. "Life goes on", said Premier Legault when he announced schools and nurseries would reopen. And with that re-opening, the rest of the country will be viewing what happens in Quebec over the next few weeks, and how it might pertain to their own more gradual plans for re-opening their economies.

Quebec plans to begin allowing some retail stores to open on May 4. (Ivanoh Demers/Radio-Canada )