Well, my parents’ 14-day quarantine has been extended by another 14 days. Not a big surprise. As I shared last Friday, positive PCR tests for the corona common cold have led to massive restrictions for who-knows-how long at their retirement home.

Shocking, however, was the announcement sent out by the current management: “A deep cleaning, disinfection and sanitization of common areas was completed over night by contractor specialist using Health Canada Approved Chemicals. The deep clean of the entire building including all suites is continuing and will be completed this weekend.”

My immediate reaction: How is dumping chemicals on surfaces going to help frail residents from getting an airborne virus? At best, it probably does nothing; at worst, adding toxins to the air may make the residents even weaker.

Then I remembered: In Corona, False Alarm?, Johan Giesecke, a Professor Emeritus at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, says on page 127:

“Politicians want to demonstrate their capacity to act, the capacity for decision making and most of all their strength. My best example for this is that in Asian countries the sidewalks are sprayed with chlorine. This is completely useless but it shows that the state and the authorities are doing something, and that is very important to politicians.”

Beyond being mere political theatre, such actions may create superbugs. “There’s concern that the sudden overuse in cleaning products and hand sanitisers during the pandemic could lead to an increase in the number of antimicrobial-resistant bacterial species we encounter,” writes Winston Morgan in Science X. “This would put a greater strain on our already struggling healthcare systems, potentially leading to more deaths.”

If the government thought the coronavirus was a problem, just wait until you see their solutions…