I am a Canadian who works as a journalist in Canada and Mexico. On Sunday, March 29, I flew into Toronto’s Pearson International Airport from Mexico City on Air Canada, fully expecting a rigorous response on the part of the airline, my government, and my fellow travellers, to the threat of COVID-19.

Boy, was I wrong.

The first worrying sign was when lining up to check-in at Benito Juárez Airport in Mexico City. Two metres of social distancing might have been impractical – the line would have extended to who-knows-where – but to stand aside at one metre seemed reasonable. I did that.

“Hey, can you move it forward?” said a man behind me. He was among a cluster of six travelling Canadians. No masks. They were all in a pretty good mood.

I mentioned that I was trying at the very least to keep it to one arm’s length. He accepted that I wasn’t going to move forward, but didn’t pull back.