I am officially 557 pages into my manuscript, which I believe was a total of 883 pages. I’ll have confirmation of that as I go. Lots of progress, and my first chapter has gone out to the second set of eyes. Hopefully, I hear from him soon so I can arrange to exchange the next chapter.

In light of the corona virus, also known as Covid-19, staying inside has never felt more justified. In case some of you didn’t know, I’m in Canada. As I’m sure it’s become apparent that Canada is struggling to contain Covid-19, I have never felt more comfortable with staying at home and not leaving unless absolutely necessary.

While I haven’t done any travelling, and I don’t need to self-quarantine, I do find the necessity in keeping away from crowded or populated places. If we must go grocery shopping, then we risk it, otherwise, I am staying in as much as I can.

This of course makes it very difficult to date, and I technically have a date on Friday. I’m racking my brain for an alternative way to meet up with him, given that lots of places are closed down, and I’m very nervous about being in busy places because of the virus. Despite all the posters, news articles, and video instruction to cover your mouth and nose when you sneeze or cough, with either a facial tissue or your sleeve, and to wash your hands often – people still don’t abide by these rules. I’ve seen people just sneezing in the middle of a hallway or using their hands and fingers to wipe germs off their face (from the sneeze or cough). People aren’t listening to the social distancing much either; I’ve frequently seen people pushing up against others because they want to leave a store, instead of being respectful, and safe.

With everything I’ve seen for myself, and heard and listened to on the news, it doesn’t seem like Canada will be getting better; it’ll inevitably get worse before it gets better.

My overall point is, stay safe, stay indoors as much as possible (stay indoors at all times if you’re self-quarantining), and be careful. Follow the rules the governments have laid out in an effort to contain the virus and keep people safe. Practice social distancing, carry facial tissues with you in case you sneeze or cough, if you are sick, wear a mask every time you leave the house (or just stay home, that’s even better), use hand sanitizer often if you can’t wash your hands (assuming you were able to buy it before people hoarded the stuff), contact the necessary authorities if you feel as though you’re exhibiting the symptoms of covid-19. We can’t do this unless we do it all together. This is ultimately the biggest group effort that every person in every country must work towards. If we can do this all together, then we can contain and prevent further spread of the virus, but if we can’t work together, if we resort to violence just to get our hands on toilet paper, or ignore all the precautionary measures necessary to keep people safe, then we will lose this fight.

So, I ask all of you to stay safe and to follow the rules to keep everyone else safe too.