Activity or lack of?

I've been seriously trying to stay off social media of late - it can really become addictive and all-consuming - but this morning, while working in my office, I couldn't resist so I keyed up both the SXM Island Cam and the Sunset Beach Bar Cam. After watching each one as background for over five minutes I was so depressed I logged off BOTH cams.

In ten minutes of total watching - not one plane or boat moving in the island cam and a total of two vehicles driving by Maho Beach - one being a police pickem-up truck and the other perhaps a bus? Typically, this time of the day there would be a non-stop stream of vehicles passing through this area. Not a person walking the beach and virtually no footsteps in the sand.

I'm aware the island is in shutdown mode but my heart just aches for the island and all her people. To have all that beauty and potential enjoyment at your toes and not be able to enjoy any of it has to be so depressing.

I know it is to me from afar but I keep telling myself - hang in there, this will pass and eventually things will go back to normal. Perhaps a new kind of normal but at least a normal we can relate to after what we've recently been forced to experience. At least I hope so....

Pat, once again, you've hit the nail on the head!! Just when things may begin to open up (here in CT), the reports of the virus continue to get worse. I fear our world will certainly become a different place- some changes are positive but so many of the changes will bring us down. I've always been the ultimate optimist but..........

This island has gone through a lot worse than this virus. In time St Maarten will spring back like nothing happened.

Scubaman--I would beg to differ. Corona will have a far longer, more devastating impact than any hurricane, in my opinion.

Yep. This will certainly NOT be a spring back. Anywhere. We have many scars from Irma still.

I strongly disagree with you Scuba.

The island has certainly had more than its share of disasters and has eventually managed to come back from all of them but personally speaking, I don’t believe any of the past occurrences will have the long term negative results the coronavirus has created.

She will spring back because of the incredible strength and willpower of her people but certainly NOT “like nothing happened” but that’s just one person's opinion. And in honesty, I hope you’re right and I’m wrong. Time will tell.

Time will tell.

This is much different than recovering from a hurricane (which, frankly, with respect to Irma, has not been all that great), because this is a global disaster and the economic engine that will drive any recovery is completely outside the control of the island.

Well I agree with your latter statement - a small island like SXM can’t do much to resolve a world-wide financial problem of this magnitude.

But truthfully, given the enormity of the Irma damage across the island, I think the recovery has been monumental, at least on the Dutch side, and chances are, if the French homeland government would get out of their way, I think the French side would be right there with the Dutch.

But I’m just a visitor so what do I know? !

Talk to locals, they will vehemently disagree on that statement. I have had multiple conversations with my local friend of 29 years, this is worse than any hurricane in his opinion as it is way more than rebuilding a structure.

A hurricane comes stays for a few hours and leaves, at that time you know exactly what the damage is, be it minor or major, like Irma, and you can make plans to rebuild and overcome the effects of the hurricane. This virus has been around for weeks, and no-one really knows much about it or what needs to be done to eradicate it to an extent where some normalcy is possible. Two totally different problems with the virus being the worst of the 2 IMHO

We all should acknowledge that life as we Knew it is OVER. No more Handshakes. Hugs. Kisses. Sitting at Bars and Restaurants. Beaches on Chairs. Etc........Reflect.... Savor the Memories and look Forward to Life. IMHO. God Bless ALL on TTOL

But of course J.D because after Irma we reopened the Airport with tents and I'm myself used it in 2018 for our Sister and Mom Funerals. And I had to go back in 2019 to NY to sign some papers.
Harsh reality I had to deal with back them.

We need a zoom orient beach party

Oh good grief! There will be a cure, and a vaccine. Maybe the next few months won't be the same but honestly, we'll hug and kiss our friends, eat in restaurants, drink in bars, and enjoy the beaches in lounge chairs. I expect to do all those things in St. Martin in November.

Don't count on a vaccine by then.

Regardless, "Life as we knew it is OVER" is a bit of overkill! I prefer to be a bit more realistic.

I agree.

Absolutely, Georgia. I don’t know about the kissy-huggy hand shaking part but life will go on and we can only hope the return to our former reality is soon. And November sounds real good to me. 😊😊

Whether we're kissing and hugging our friends in November remains to be seen, but eventually we will. I wish your November dates coincided with ours; it's been a while!!

Yes, I am worried for the friends we have made who make their living down there.

Not Realy...... To. Many unknowns still. ...No vaccine.... It's going to be a Looooooong Ride

I am not in the camp that thinks a vaccine is the "cure all" for anything and everything dealing with this. Way too many people take various flu vaccines and still get the strain it is supposed to prevent, same with shingles and the vaccine for that. A vaccine may likely help the overall situation, but they are not foolproof and will just provide a false sense of security in some (not all) cases.

I don't think anyone believes a vaccine is a cure all, but if you have a better solution I am sure the Medical Community would love to hear it.I think most sane people believe vaccines for polio, measles, mumps are the best that we will have for a long time. Nothing is 100%, but to cast doubt on a vaccine as an answer to medical diseases is a disservice to science and medicine.

You’re absolutely not incorrect on vaccines for the diseases you cited, but Rural Carrier also has a valid point. A shot for influenza ( a type of Coronavirus) is about 30% effective at best IF the vaccine is a good match for that seasons strain. We still have no vaccine for any of the known Coronaviruses, so some skepticism about a Covid 19 vaccine being available ( or effective) anytime soon is warranted.Hopefully we get some effective therapeutics, and that could happen long before any vaccine emerges. Anyway, we all want to get back to our beloved Island in the sun soon, and some of us will go as soon as we are allowed to. Others will wait until they feel the risk is less. It’s a personal decision and everyone’s situation is different.

Perhaps you should have read my post a little closer. I mentioned VARIOUS FLU VACCINES, I never mentioned anything about polio, measles or mumps. As sxmParrotfish mentioned, the yearly influenza vaccine is a crap shoot as it depends on the strain of flu for that season and the right matching vaccine.

BTW, there are parents out there who refuse to vaccinate kids today for either personal or religious reasons.

The initial shingles vaccine was very ineffective, hence the reason for version two. I know multiple people who have had medically diagnosed shingles (some more than once) after taking the initial vaccine, my wife happens to be one of them.

Not really sure or what your "sane people" comment is about. Opinions vary, even within the medical and science field.

Yes. I had the replacement series of shingles shots after that report came out. Hope I never get it as friends that have had it were miserable.

My wife was lucky, both cases (AFTER the original vaccine) were very mild and caused just minor discomfort. Both she and the doctor were surprised with the first case and shocked with the second case.

Influenza vaccines can sometimes miss the mark because the influenza viruses often mutate significantly throughout their life cycle, and sometimes the vaccines don't prevent illness in some people. The mutations to this point with SARS-Cov-2 have been very minor, and it appears to be a very stable virus (which is both good and bad). If it continues in this manner, the vaccines that will begin to arrive possibly as early as September may prove very effective against this virus. Trust me when I tell you that I have 'inside information' about this, and in the end there will likely be 8 to 12 different vaccines for COVID-19 disease prevention. Some will not be safe for people over 70 years of age, while others may not be safe for children. There are over 100 vaccines in trails or pre-trials at this point, with 14 of them now in Phase II Clinical Trials on humans. Phase Two trials (or double-blind placebo trails) will likely take four months to complete, so a target somewhere around September 15th is the next goal. By that time a good number of the potential vaccines will fall by the way side, while some others will be fast tracked for FDA approval. At that time, it is possible that high risk groups including medical professionals and people with underlying conditions (diabetes, coronary issues, pulmonary disease) may be granted access to the first vaccines. And, possibly by Christmas or January, 2021 the billions of doses needed to inoculate an entire planet will be available.

I'm not trying to be some kind of cheerleader here, but no virus has ever won the war against science and the human spirit. We wiped small pox off the face of the planet by 1980, and there was absolutely no effective treatment for that disease as I recall. But, when a vaccine came along that was the end of small pox on a worldwide scale. The same will someday be true with COVID-19 so my hope is that everyone out there will get vaccinated once this time arrives. Hopefully, sooner rather than later.