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montreal, once the centre of the pandemic, starting to feel normal again
"people are trying to seize the moment" worried the virus could return in the fall
jul 7 2021
3 minute read
juno isasi, left, plays basketball with fei wang in martin luther king park in montreal tuesday july 6, 2021.
john mahoney
/
montreal gazette
by: jesse feith
even in normal times, marc saint-cyr has a hard time sitting at home and not doing anything. so when the pandemic struck, the hardest part for the 71-year-old was being told he couldn’t leave his house, not even to do his own groceries.
but outside a côte-des-neiges community centre tuesday morning, saint-cyr was back in his element, volunteering to pick weeds and plant flowers in its garden. and though he’s not quite ready for private gatherings, last week he went to a restaurant with his wife — a first in over a year.
“the lack of social contact was hard, but now everything is restarting,” saint-cyr said, wiping soil from his blue knee pads during a short break. “it feels good just to see people out and about again.”
it’s now been a little over a week that montreal has been under the “green” level of quebec’s pandemic alert system, the least restrictive of all levels. among other changes, the shift has meant looser restrictions around indoor and outdoor gatherings, and restaurants and bars being allowed to welcome more customers.
though montreal is not yet its old self, the steady drop in new covid-19 cases and loosening of restrictions has allowed the city — once the canadian epicentre of the pandemic — to gradually come back to life. around town on tuesday, terrasses were bursting with patrons while families flocked to parks and public spaces, holding picnics and crowding splash pads.
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in early afternoon, gino dini, owner of café conca d’oro in the city’s little italy neighbourhood, was busy prepping the place for tuesday’s euro 2020 semi-final pitting italy against spain.
dini said the euro and the montreal canadiens’ unexpected stanley cup playoff success coinciding with the reopening has been a blessing for local cafés and bars when they needed it the most.
and after a long 15 months, during which social contact was limited and gatherings nearly non-existent, he believes montrealers are treating themselves a bit and indulging in what they’ve missed.
“i think it being the summer, and there maybe being a risk of confinement returning in the fall, people are trying to seize the moment,” dini said. “people are getting their lives back, and they’re choosing to live.”
over at martin luther king park, juno isasi was shooting hoops at the park’s basketball court, trying to get others to join him in a pick-up game.
a seafarer by trade, the 38-year-old said he was enjoying his two weeks off. during the height of the pandemic, he said, the court “looked like a ghost town, there was nobody here.”
but on tuesday, a few small groups of friends had gathered, occupying each of the court’s baskets. teens filmed themselves doing trick shots and parents rebounded the ball for their kids.
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“people were avoiding each other, but now at least they’re saying hi,” isasi said. “it’s great to be playing outside, it brings joy. … and it feels good to be back in shape again.”
earlier, at notre-dame-de-grâce’s trenholme park, friends david furlotte, 68, and wesley isaac, 66, shared a bench while smoking a pair of cigars.
isaac, a former delivery truck driver, said it’s the little things he’s missed the most over the last year. his routine used to include going to the same second cup for coffee each morning, but when the pandemic hit, “my car became my coffee shop.”
furlotte, for his part, said it’s nice to see things returning to how they were, but noted you can still sense a certain uneasiness among people, which he thinks is only normal.
he and a group of friends had planned a trip to cuba before the pandemic, he mentioned, but one of them caught the virus and is still struggling with covid-19 “long hauler” symptoms.
furlotte said it’s been a reminder of just how serious covid-19 is and how little is still known about it. so though he’s glad to see things reopen, he hopes people won’t let their guard down too fast.
“i’ve been keeping my distances, but i find a lot of people aren’t doing that now, they’re taking it for granted a bit,” he said. “and it’s a little scary for an old person when you see that going on.”
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