Pandemic Canada 2020 - The response, the issues and problems

DIY-HP-LED said:

What alternatives to incarceration would you suggest? Freedom to infect others and knowingly cause death and illness in the community?

You need to think a bit more and spout self righteous insults a lot less, Doctors will be deciding who lives and dies soon, playing God, feel like telling them they are pompous and immoral? Well Genius, I'm waiting for your answer in how to deal with sociopaths and such. Perhaps you figured it was ok for people to knowingly spread AIDS and not tell their multiple sex partners? Guess you don't think they should be jailed either, like judges and juries do, pompous ass.

Grow up and spend some time in the real world kid, We await your wise counsel, what would you do about the problem? You obviously disagree with the existing law, you pompous asshole.

Miscreant = A person who behaves badly or in a way that breaks the law. ie. A criminal

As for death sentences we are all under one especially if you are over 60, seniors have a low tolerance for such bullshit.

Using that logic you must believe Bernardo should be released from prison too, along with all the other murders, because their life might be at risk from coronavirus along with the rest of us.

Jesus yer stupid!

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LOL, hit a nerve there, clearly. I hope you are not employed in any decision making capacity in government.

oopsididit said:

LOL, hit a nerve there, clearly. I hope you are not employed in any decision making capacity in government.

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I wanted to make an impression. Please don't start a discussion with an ad hominem attack, a skillful question is much more effective, sorry for the insults, I was merely making a point.

Actually my nerves are quite good, though I am concerned for friends and family as I'm sure you are too. I'm 65 and in pretty good health, others here look at it as a direct threat to their lives. I'm retired have a good income and have no problem self isolating, others are not so fortunate.

Treat me right and I do the same to you, I only shit on Trumpers, socks and trolls, otherwise I like to write humor. The humor part is in another post, was to lock up 18 to 30 year olds in camps where you control the rate of infection while supplying lots of pot and beer to keep them there. My main argument was that many would be reluctant to leave their personal woodstock. Remember all the best bands would be quarantined too..

It looks like Canadians are getting $2K per person/month, bill just passed and starts april 6th, money by mid april.


Government streamlines, expands COVID-19 benefits program

Nearly 1 million Canadians have applied for Employment Insurance in just the past week

The federal government has streamlined the COVID-19 emergency benefits program and says Canadians struggling financially can now expect payments within weeks.

The application process is scheduled to open in early April, with income support payments amounting to about $2,000 a month expected to flow about 10 days later. The benefits will be available for four months.

The government is streamlining the financial support regime as it struggles to cope with an unprecedented volume of employment insurance claims.

The new program collapses two previously announced benefits — the Emergency Care Benefit and the Emergency Support Benefit — into one.

The Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) offers income support for up to 16 weeks to those who lose pay because of the pandemic. A government news release says the "simpler and more accessible" program will cover Canadians who lost their jobs, got sick, are under quarantine or have to stay home because of school closures.

It's available to wage earners, contract workers and self-employed people who don't qualify for employment insurance (EI).

• THE LATEST
  Coronavirus: What's happening in Canada and around the world Wednesday
• 1 in 3 Canadians worry they'll miss rent or mortgage payment due to COVID-19 — survey

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday that nearly one million people have applied for EI in the last week alone. In his daily address to the nation from his residence at Rideau Cottage, he acknowledged that many Canadians are feeling stressed about paying their bills as they lose income due to the global pandemic.

"The hard truth is people are out of work because of this crisis and worried about what comes next. So I want you to know that we'll be there to help you. Our government is doing everything we can to be there for you," he said.

The online portal to apply for CERB will be available in early April, and people can expect payments within 10 days. CERB payments will be issued every four weeks, and will be available from March 15, 2020 to Oct. 3, 2020.

'Unprecedented' volume of EI claims
"The EI system was not designed to process the unprecedented high volume of applications received in the past week. Given this situation, all Canadians who have ceased working due to COVID-19, whether they are EI-eligible or not, would be able to receive the CERB to ensure they have timely access to the income support they need," said the government news release.

Trudeau said the government is redeploying staff from other departments to process the claims and to handle queries from Canadians.

Other elements of the emergency response plan:

• Canadians who are already receiving employment insurance (EI) regular and sickness benefits as of today will continue to receive benefits and should not apply to the CERB.
• Canadians who have already applied for EI and whose application has not yet been processed don't need to reapply. Canadians who are eligible for regular EI and sickness benefits can still access those benefits if they're still unemployed after the 16-week period covered by the CERB.

Today's announcement comes shortly after legislation to pass the $82-billion emergency response program, which includes $27 billion in supports and another $55 billion in tax deferrals, passed the Senate. It passed in the House of Commons early today after tense negotiations between the political parties.

Calls for direct income supports
Dozens of Canadian business groups are calling on governments to make a "national effort" to protect jobs and keep essential goods moving during the COVID-19 crisis — one that would include direct income supports for laid-off employees.

In a joint statement issued Wednesday, more than 60 organizations representing a range of industries — including energy pipelines, breweries, aviation, medicines and forestry — call the proposed 10 per cent wage subsidy a "step in the right direction," adding more must be done to help businesses and workers through the pandemic.

"Canadian businesses are ready and able to step up to overcome the challenge of COVID-19. We will work to ensure that Canadians have the food to feed their families, the fuel to heat our homes and to keep essential services moving, the equipment and facilities to treat the sick and the communications systems that unite us even as we are kept apart from one another," reads the statement released by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

"To win this fight, we need every possible human and financial resource and we must be able to focus all of our attention on this struggle."

The groups want governments to provide more direct funding for employees, and point to other countries that have offered to cover as much as 80 per cent of the incomes of employees whose jobs are threatened by the health emergency.

"We encourage the government to backstop the economy by implementing income supports at similar levels as Denmark and the United Kingdom," the statement reads.

Nova Scotia declared a state of emergency on Sunday, I just went for a drive around town to check things out, we're fucked. It looked like a regular day only busier, the grocery stores, pharmacies and gas stations were open and there were lots of people around, not enough people are staying home. I never got out of the car myself, strictly reconnaissance, Walmart sells groceries as does the dollar store too and they were busy. I'm gonna go up to the grocery store tomorrow morning during seniors hours, from 7-8 AM, before regular opening, it's not too busy then.

We need to do a better job of personal distancing and shutting down shit here, I'm concerned that the government action is not rigorous enough to stomp this thing out in the area. We've got 51 confirmed cases in the province, but are not testing nearly enough, with a tighter lock down for a month we can push the reset button on this bug provincially.

If we have testing and a stabilized situation in a few weeks, we might be able to help out other regions with ventilators etc. We are going to need to mobilise resources nationally to manage them to maximum effect and shift them to hard hit areas as required.

Near as I can tell, from experience in Oregon, it takes a couple of weeks for people to adjust.

Coronavirus: The latest in drug treatment and vaccine development

Researchers exploring whether existing drugs can be used to treat COVID-19
CBC News · Posted: Mar 26, 2020 8:36 PM ET | Last Updated: March 26


This undated transmission electron microscope image shows the novel coronavirus, the virus that causes COVID-19, isolated from a patient in the U.S. (NIAID-RML via Reuters)

Scientists around the world are racing to find novel ways to treat, mitigate or prevent infection from the novel coronavirus.
The response has been especially rapid as the virus has spread unchecked across the globe. Still, any treatments are a long way from being proven both effective and safe, and most certainly won't come in time to address the current pandemic.

According to some of the top infectious disease experts in the world, even on an accelerated timeline, a vaccine is still likely 12-18 months away — and then the challenge will be producing enough to make it readily available.

There is currently no drug therapy or vaccine approved anywhere in the world for COVID-19.

Here are the latest developments in the research.

Old drugs, new tricks
March 26: University of Manitoba researchers begin recruiting participants for a series of trials to test whether the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine can reduce the symptoms and severity of COVID-19 and slow its spread.
The trial, in conjunction with researchers at the University of Minnesota, University of Alberta and McGill University Health Centre, will include participants who have tested positive for COVID-19, or who live with someone who has. Long-term use of hydroxychloroquine is known to cause cardiac and eye toxicity, but Dr. Ryan Zarychanski, an associate professor of internal medicine, said the short five-day trial should be "very safe."

• Manitoba researchers begin clinical trial with drug they hope can help in COVID-19 fight

"The idea is to reduce the severity of symptoms," said Zarychanski, a critical care doctor, "and also reduce the transmissibility of the virus and reduce community spread, which can help keep our population more healthy and reduce the burden that we're expecting on the health care system."
But experts, including Canada's chief public health officer, warn that hydroxychloroquine can have serious side-effects. They also say there is a danger that hoarding the medication could hurt the many patients who take it for chronic inflammatory diseases like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.

• Canadian doctors urge caution on repurposing malaria medication to fight COVID-19

March 25: New York's Mount Sinai hospital begins treating critically ill COVID-19 patients via plasmapheresis, a century-old therapy that involves removing antibody-rich plasma from blood and returning it to a patient (the same or another) after either treating it or replacing it. In this case, doctors will transfer antibodies from recovered COVID-19 patients into sick ones in the hopes the antibodies will neutralize the disease.

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
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.@MountSinaiNYC to begin the transfer of #COVID19 antibodies into critically ill patients: https://bit.ly/2WKAy6C

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March 23: Researchers at the Montreal Heart Institute say they are recruiting up to 6,000 Quebecers over the age of 40 who test positive for the novel coronavirus to study whether colchicine, an anti-inflammatory drug used to treat gout, Behçet's disease and familial Mediterranean fever, is effective in treating respiratory complications of COVID-19, like lung inflammation, before patients need ventilators or die.


Quebecers who meet the criteria and wish to take part in the study at the Montreal Heart Institute can find out more from their doctor or by calling 1-877-536-6837. (Montreal Heart Institute)
"It's inexpensive, it's widely available and the reason why we think it might very well work is that it's a powerful anti-inflammatory agent," Dr. Jean-Claude Tardif, the institute's research director, said in an interview with CBC Montreal's Daybreak.

• Montreal Heart Institute launches clinical study into colchicine as potential COVID-19 treatment

Immunizing the herd
March 23: The Canadian government announces $275 million in funding for a number of Canadian research initiatives into vaccine development and testing. One of them is a Saskatoon lab that for four decades has been working on coronavirus vaccines primarily for animals, including successful vaccines for cattle and pigs.
March 17: China gives the go-ahead for researchers at the country's Academy of Military Medical Sciences to begin human safety tests of an experimental coronavirus vaccine.
March 16: Scientists at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Research Institute in Seattle begin a first-stage study of a potential COVID-19 vaccine when they administer the first shot to a volunteer patient.

From CBC news in Canada
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U.S. has more COVID-19 cases than any other country

The United States has now surpassed China and Italy as the world's coronavirus hotspot, with nearly 86,000 confirmed cases. In a Fox News interview, President Donald Trump appeared to question the severity of the need for ventilators in New York, the hardest-hit state.

A controversial anti-malaria drug is being trialed as a therapy for COVID-19 at the B.C. seniors’ care home at the epicentre of the province’s novel coronavirus outbreak. Global News has confirmed that residents of the Lynn Valley Care Centre are receiving hydroxychloroquine as a part of an international study on the effectiveness of the drug.
Forty-six residents and 24 staff at the facility have have tested positive for COVID-19.

READ MORE: Can ebola, HIV or malaria drugs stop coronavirus? WHO starts testing to find out

The drug is being administered to all residents of the virus-stricken building known as “the lodge” at the care home, with the exception of those who opted out of the trial.

Debra Drew, whose father is one of the COVID-19-positive residents of the facility, said her family decided to opt in. “As a family we had the right to deny the treatment,” she said. “We said, ‘Yes, lets try it… Every day is a new day.”

Hydroxychloroquine is a Health Canada-approved drug which has been used to treat malaria for more than a half-century. It is also used as a treatment for lupus.

READ MORE: Quebec-based pharmaceutical company donates 1 million doses of malaria-drug for COVID-19 patients across Canada

The drug made international headlines this month when U.S. President Donald Trump touted it as a potential breakthrough treatment for COVID-19.

The drug has shown promise in some small, early trials.

However, its benefits remain unproven, and the B.C. Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) has recommended against its use to treat the disease “based on the lack of clinically convincing outcomes and the fragility of the supply chain.”

On Thursday, the College of Pharmacists of BC, College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC, and BC College of Nursing Professionals took the unusual step of issuing a joint statement warning against the use of unproven treatments, including hydroxychloroquine.

READ MORE: Don’t trust Trump’s coronavirus ‘cure,’ says widow of man poisoned by chloroquine

However, that guidance specifically exempted clinical trials.

Hydroxychloroquine is also being tested by a team at the University of Manitoba.

Trials began March 26 in Manitoba and Quebec, and similar trials are also underway in the United States. Alberta and other provinces are expected to join within a few days.

They say personal distancing and other measures are starting to work in Canada.
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Global National: March 28, 2020 | Canada says COVID-19 measures working while U.S. crisis deepens

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is cracking down on cross-country travel by imposing new restrictions on domestic travel. As Abigail Bimman reports, while Trudeau said Canadians' efforts are helping to curb the spread, more still needs to be done.

Meanwhile, Jennifer Johnson reports on the staggering statistics that reveal one person is dying every 17 minutes in New York, as the U.S. scrambles to source medical supplies to slow the spread of the pandemic.

Europe has passed two grim COVID-19 milestones, after the continent reported twenty thousand deaths linked to the virus, half of which occurred in Italy. As Redmond Shannon explains, while several countries have already imposed lockdowns, these measures are expected to become even more severe.

The Bank of Canada dropped its key lending rate in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to a nationwide drop in mortgage rates. As Robin Gill reports, the pandemic is forcing realtors to adapt to cooling sales in recently hot markets.

As the world responds to the COVID-19 pandemic, people around the world are adjusting to the strict social distancing measures imposed, including self-isolation. Reggie Cecchini looks at how people are passing the time.

oopsididit said:

How about we lock you up for being a pompous ass? Throwing 'antisocial' people in jail in such circumstances could be a death sentence for them. I hope you aren't the one deciding who gets locked up for what.

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Isnt that what prisons are for? To remove people who are a threat to society and to protect the innocent. Fairly straightforward.

DIY-HP-LED said:

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Fuck yeah! And Trump will pay for it!

"Trump also proposed digging a water-filled moat and stocking it with snakes and alligators. If he was kidding, his aides didn’t think so, as they sought a cost estimate for the cartoonishly ludicrous proposal. Trump also wanted the wall to be electrified, and topped with spikes that could “pierce human flesh.”"

Ontario’s coronavirus testing backlog decreases

Though thousands of people are still awaiting their COVID-19 test results, there are signs the province’s testing backlog is beginning to lessen. Tina Yazdani reports.

How bad is COVID-19 in your area? University students launch heat map to track virus across Canada
Flatten.ca is quickly becoming a go-to source of information about how COVID-19 is spreading across Canada

About one week ago, when the University of Toronto moved all classes online, and first year engineering student Shrey Jain moved off campus, he started wondering what he could do to help stop the spread of the deadly COVID-19 coronavirus.

Though just 18 years old, in a matter of days, Jain has emerged as the public face of Flatten.ca, a website that’s quickly becoming a go-to source of information about how COVID-19 is spreading across Canada.

Between Friday morning and Saturday afternoon, around 110,000 people visited the website to answer a brief survey about their age, whether they’ve experienced symptoms and their approximate location. That information was compiled into a heat map, so that anyone can visit the website and see what’s happening in their neighbourhood, including the number of potential cases and vulnerable people.

“I wasn’t expecting to be as big it is,” said Jain, who added that his team is working on the website for 12 to 14 hours a day, even as they simultaneously finish up their classes.

The project started when Jain, who has been participating in hackathons since high school, texted a few friends to see if anyone had ideas about how to slow the spread. To his surprise, people jumped on the idea, and now Flatten.ca’s team has grown to about 30 people, including students from McMaster University, University of New Brunswick and University of Waterloo, as well as some high profile advisors, such as Geoffrey Hinton.



A view of the heat map from Flatten.ca. Flatten.ca

Hinton, sometimes called the ‘godfather of artificial intelligence,’ is an emeritus professor of computer science at the University of Toronto, that Jain connected with through one of his professors. He also works for Google, which agreed to sponsor the project by providing server space, which essentially ensures the website won’t crash as the number of users grows.

Through some of Hinton’s connections at the Vector Institute of Technology, a Toronto-based machine learning research hub, Jain dialed in to a conference call earlier last week, in which Dominic Barton, ambassador to China, spoke about how other countries have flattened the curve and now Canada needs to find solutions.

How bad is COVID-19 in your area?

Thanks for posting all these links @DIY-HP-LED ! Many bookmarked now.

Thanks to the others who also posted useful links too!

Was watching PBS news today like usual and there's Mitch passing the buck again by claiming that the impeachment trial was why Trump didn't get on top of it earlier. Hell, he's still no wheres near on top of it now so what will be the new excuse I wonder.

I'm kicking my ass now for not buying an RO unit and supplies like hand sanitizer etc. Getting drinking water could be an issue with the local stores only taking orders over the phone then packing up your stuff, if they have it, and loading into the back of your vehicle when you pick it up. We just refill jugs in the store so I may have to buy a few new 5gal jugs filled and we have 10 but only 4 full ones.

Planning to get a fire going in the pit and cooking up some snow to get water for my plants. Got plenty of snow and free firewood laying around all over the place. Won't be the first time when we've had week long power outages and a frozen up water line from the dugout for a week too.

I sure hope we don't have to keep this up until a new vaccine is out there to help but there are already mutations so just one vaccine won't cut it.

Stay safe people!

Coronavirus outbreak: How long are COVID-19 restrictions expected to last in Canada?

Speaking to reporters outside Rideau Cottage in Ottawa, Ontario on Wednesday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was asked about recent media reports that the Government of Canada expects the social distancing and public shutdown guidelines to continue until July. Trudeau refused to give a specific timeline on when the lockdowns and quarantines might be lifted but said Wednesday the measures could last for “weeks or even months.” “We know [these measures] are going to be in place a number of more weeks, perhaps even months. But everything depends on how Canadians behave,” Trudeau told reporters Wednesday. “The choices you make to stay at home, to self-isolate, not to go to six different grocery stores… these sorts of things are what will arrest the spread and the increase of this virus.” As well Patty Hajdu, Canada's Minister of Health, and Dr. Theresa Tam, Chief Public Health Officer of Canada, were both asked on Wednesday to offer their professional assessments of what a "best case" and a "worst-case" scenario looks like for Canada as it continue to grapple with the outbreak of COVID-19.

Ontario provincial death toll numbers not adding up . The government numbers are half of what the area health units have reported ...... WTF??? The spokesperson for the province as quoted “we have no ideal why the discrepancy”. Hold on to your hats folks. It’s gonna get way worse before it gets better. Two weeks ago our premiere as quoted “go out and enjoy the long weekend, have a great time with family. Spend it traveling and don’t worry.” Sounds awfully familiar doesn’t it...... imbecile . I’ll just spend another fucking month isolated due to the incompetence and stupidity of all the people out walking around, working on packed construction sites, shopping at 10 stores in a day to buy shit they don’t fucking need ...... rant over .

Budley Doright said:

Ontario provincial death toll numbers not adding up . The government numbers are half of what the area health units have reported ...... WTF??? The spokesperson for the province as quoted “we have no ideal why the discrepancy”. Hold on to your hats folks. It’s gonna get way worse before it gets better. Two weeks ago our premiere as quoted “go out and enjoy the long weekend, have a great time with family. Spend it traveling and don’t worry.” Sounds awfully familiar doesn’t it...... imbecile . I’ll just spend another fucking month isolated due to the incompetence and stupidity of all the people out walking around, working on packed construction sites, shopping at 10 stores in a day to buy shit they don’t fucking need ...... rant over .

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Order a mask online from china (see my posts) for when ya got to be in public and spend the summer at the lake as usual, this year on the government dole...

This is the best fastest hope IMHO, not the vaccine the treatment, should be ready by fall for regular folks and it should work. You'll get the bug, but ya most likely won't die from it, made for the elderly and vulnerable, gives the immune system some serious help. They are hiring like crazy in the Peg for this and have partnered with big US firms.

Until then there's the hot tub and the lake, roast, freeze and scream! It apparently works too...