H1NFUN

The #18 Corydon bus was unusually packed today. Every seat was taken and the standing room was getting sparse. As the bus filled up, I was pushed to the far back. I find it harder to keep my balance at the rear than up at the front for some reason, but I digress. As I held onto the bar overhead and rubbed up against, unintentionally, a man in a business suit, I instantly knew I was catching something. Not from the man-to-man bodily contact but from being in such a small confined space with so many people.

Winnipeg Transit, says it carries about 20% of Winnipeg’s work force to and from work. According to Winnipeg’s official website, the population of Winnipeg in 2008 was 666 600 people. So, 20% of that is 133 320 people. I don’t know what the statistic is for how many of those people are in the work force but if you factor in all the students and people without cars that use the bus as well, it’s probably a fair chunk of that.

The H1N1 flu is typically spread same way all seasonal flus are, through means of airborne germs and touching surfaces with the virus on it. People were definitely coughing and sneezing all around me. Also, the bar I was grasping onto was probably grasped by a many hands before my own. I’m not a germaphobe at all but I was a little freaked out.

This Winnipeg Free Press article talks about how the city has a plan if there is an outbreak of the flu. They’re even overcompensating and planning for 30% of the city workforce being infected when the initial thought was that 10-20% would be. They plan to move people around to different departments to cover for people who catch the flu. Police investigators will be put into patrol cars, fire-safety educators will be put in fire halls and a monkey with one arm will replace Mike Kelly if he happens to fall ill.

Along with the people who actually catch H1N1, the percentage of the work force that is unable to work is expected to be higher because people might have to stay at home to take care of a family member with the flu.

The H1N1 outbreak is supposed to get fierce this fall but I guess there’s not that much we can do about it. I’ll wash my hands frequently, cough/sneeze in the cuff of my arm, excommunicate people that are sick from my life (sorry grandma!) and try not to rub up against anymore suits.