After completing their final Royal duties in the UK, The Sussexes (Harry and Meghan) hightailed it to Canada just before the Coronavirus outbreak began to gather pace.
It was thought that they would be hunkering down in self-isolation with their 10-month old son, Archie, in their new home on Vancouver Island by the Saanich Inlet of North Saanich, British Columbia. But as you will read below, that now no longer seems to be the case.
All Canadians told to social distance themselves
The Prime Minister, Justine Trudeau, is emphasising the urgent need for all Canadian citizens to social distance. When the pandemic first grabbed a foothold in Canada, approximately 90% of infected people were travellers. However, in the past week, the situation has changed with 90% of new infections being spread by the community.
At this moment in time, a border restriction introduced by the Canadian government and their counterparts in the United States, banning all non-essential travel was put in place.
Before the border restrictions came into force, however, it is now reported that the Sussexes flew to a new home in California after warnings that the total number of COVID-19 cases was expected to rise to 15,000. That estimate could, however, easily rise.
Harry and Meghan flee the COVID-19 epidemic in the UK
Since Harry and Meghan left the UK, there are now nearly 7,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases, although the British government’s chief scientific adviser has stated that the true figure is likely to be in the region of 55,000.
The worrying thing for the UK though, is that the outbreak is spreading faster than in Italy comparing progression timeframes. Italy is the largest epicentre of the pandemic – larger even than the outbreak in China. The Italians have now had over 64,000 confirmed infections resulting in 6,077 fatalities to date. Spain is not far behind Italy, but both could eventually be overtaken by the UK.
Sussexes put their rivalry on hold
Under normal circumstances, Harry, (formerly HRH Harry) would have been able to keep up with his reported favourite UK football team, the Arsenal. But they too are casualties of the Coronavirus pandemic. Their manager, Michael Arteta, went down with a COVID-19 infection of the 12th of March. It was that which in part promoted the FA’s decision to stop football being played across the UK.
It’s easy to see why Harry became an Arsenal supporter. You only have to look at the Premiership’s list of best over goal scorers. In third place is France’s Thiery Henry, and in sixth place Dutchman is Robin van Persie. Both had long spells at Arsenal.
Kate, on the other hand, has an allegiance with Chelsea Football Club. There could be some interesting rivalry there each time the two clubs meet in the Premiership. But thanks to the COVID-19 outbreak and the suspension of UK football program, there will be peace in the Sussex for a few months to come.
Their new neighbour in California is said to be David Beckham. Perhaps, when play does kick off again on the other side of the Pond, it means they can add Manchester United into rivalry stakes too.
When will it all end?
Sport has of course also come to a halt in Canada since the Sussexes took flight to California. In fact, before the Olympic committee decided to announce that the Tokyo Olympics are to be postponed until summer 2021 at the latest, Canada was the first nation to officially withdraw their team from the Games.
We wonder when it will all end, also when it finally does – in which country will Harry and Meghan be residing?
