Air Covid!!!

My first morning of work will start soon: I am about to head to Syunik NGO to learn about their many projects in this region. This will give me a better idea of how the funds collected for the Atken Armenian Foundation should be disbursed.

I am however very tired: it is just past midnight Ottawa time (9am here), around the time I would normally go to bed. Which is probably why I couldn't sleep more than about 1 1/2 hours last night... oh well, I am having a coffee, hopefully it will wake me up until the inevitable crash later, and perhaps I can sleep early tonight.

So, let me take this opportunity to talk about the Air France Paris-to-Yerevan leg of my flight, which was a bit of a nightmare. I had a tiring and sleepless 6 hour wait in the terminal waiting for the flight. The terminal seemed small, perhaps only 50 seats were available (seats were distanced, each alternate seat was marked to keep it free), so I assumed it would be another empty and properly distanced flight, as had been the Montreal-Paris flight, where both seats next to mine were empty, and the plane was probably only about 35-40% full.

Montreal-Paris: many empty seats

Paris-Yerevan: my seatmate chatting with his friend

It proved to be an inauspicious affair: as boarding began, a rather long line had formed, much longer than what I expected, given the seating capacity of a smaller plane. It took an hour to board, in a rather disorganised manner to boot. As soon as I was walking towards my seat, I was speechless: the plane was six seats across with an aisle separating three on either side, it was about 40 seats deep, and practically NONE of the seats were empty! To my shock, I heard people coughing left and right. I guess I had become accustomed to people trying very hard not to cough (at least, in public) in Canada, lest they be leered at... so, I started to panic a bit.

I sat down next to two Armenian gentlemen who knew each other and were chatty. The one right next to me seemed not to take kindly to wearing his mask. He was not the only one who wore it on his mouth and not on his nose at all, but moreover he seemed quite comfortable taking it off completely, even as he was speaking to me, from about 18 inches away!!! I contemplated asking him, whether kindly or firmly, to please make sure he wore the mask, but decided against it, thinking we were seated so close anyhow: and since so many others on the flight were not properly wearing their masks anyhow, I said nothing. In hindsight, I should have insisted. I guess I'm not accustomed to lecturing people publicly, but this was certainly called for. One flight attendant did mention it to him, several times, but that mask kept slipping down, or even off. The fact that he was quite loquacious didn't help matters, nor did the fact that a buddy of his from another seat often chatted with him, leaning on the seat right above where I was sitting in the aisle seat, while I contemplated invisible droplets spewing from the sides of his mask...

Let me say here that, on the advice of my brother Raffi, who is a physician, I took with me a sort of sealant for my mask, which could either be purchased (for a good one) or made for free from a printout (which is what I did), produced by the company fix the mask. It basically sits like a muzzle over the mask, but when worn properly, is supposed to create a seal on all sides of the mask so that particles can't easily be breathed in from the sides. Paired with goggles, this could provide a fairly effective protection (I don't have goggles but wear large glasses). I also put a blanket provided by Air France over my head at times, such as while trying to ward off the buddy's droplets...

Side view

This is the fix the mask template which I made. With stores closed I couldn't find the kind of rubber they recommended, so I cut one out out of a large size of latex gloves uses for dishwashing (my wife Hoori's idea), I made several and brought them with me. Note that proper use should include changing the mask every few hours

Mealtime came and, of course, all masks come off. We were sitting cheek by jowl, so really, what protection was there in the end?  I tried to sleep while others ate, thinking that not eating while others did would provide some protection for me (I ate the "delicious" half cheese sandwich provided after others had stopped eating), and got perhaps 1 hour of interrupted sleep, hoping that my "seal" was preventing me from catching Covid, unlike, I am guessing, most of the other passengers.

At the start of the flight, two flight attendants holding cans of aerosol above their heads sprayed the entire plane while walking down the aisle, which was supposed to disinfect the plane somehow. I highly doubt it would do anything at all, but even if it did, people were sitting so close to one another throughout the flight that they would probably spread the disease after any disinfection. Besides, I never consented to being sprayed on: I mean, what is in that can, really? How do we know nobody has allergies to whatever is being spewed, or whether it is safe?

Here is a Reuters photo of a flight attendant spraying a cabin, for context (never mind the story covered...)

I must say, the whole thing was pretty unpleasant, even scary. I write this as a partial warning to travellers to Armenia anytime in the near future: prepare yourself! Get a face shield and a seal that goes over it! Get goggles! Consider flying with another airline! From what I have seen thus far generally in Armenia, people are not socially distancing, and wearing the mask seems to be an afterthought, done poorly, and I'll admit it is a bit worrisome. I should say however, that although Covid numbers were terribly high in Armenia a month or two ago, they are actually currently better than in Canada, if the international numbers are to be believed from this site I have visited since the start of the pandemic to get ideas of numbers. Perhaps because so many people already got it...

So, on that rather sombre note: I am about to head to Syunik NGO, where I understand the staff wear masks. Also they plan to better inform the public about Covid, and the importance of social distancing, mask wearing, etc. I want to remain positive as much as I can, but I did feel the need to vent (pun intended) my Air France story...

Stay tuned!