Novel Coronavirus COVID-19 (nCoV-2019)

[Richard White]

Yes I had that in early November of last year. Took about three weeks to get over. i assumed it was just a bad case of the flu.

That's exactly it. I think this has been around for awhile but went undetected because of flu season.

It wasn't until people started dropping in China where the flu isn't as prevalent (compared to colder climates) that people realised it wasn't flu season causing it.

 

[Jasmine18]

A lot of people are simply having anxiety causing a sore throat or shortness of breath too.

Last night I couldn't sleep as I thought I had shortness of breath and then the next morning I was fine

 

[AlbertC]

Healthcare workers make up 1 in 10 known cases of COVID-19 in Ontario

229 lab-confirmed cases are workers in healthcare sector, provincial data reveals

Lauren Pelley · CBC News · Posted: Apr 02, 2020 4:00 AM ET

Healthcare workers make up roughly 1 in every 10 of the known COVID-19 cases in Ontario, totalling 229 lab-confirmed cases to date, CBC News has learned.

The finding is ringing alarms as hospitals across Canada are bracing for an expected surge in patients with the potentially deadly respiratory illness — which comes amid ongoing concerns over potential shortages of personal protective equipment for front-line health-care workers.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/healthcare-workers-make-up-1-in-10-known-cases-of-covid-19-in-ontario-1.5518456

 

[Jasonzed]

This may have already been posted but here are the update-to-date statistics: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

 

[Northern Light]

The lockdown attempt in India is not going particularly well.

India’s coronavirus lockdown sparks mass migrations, an economic catastrophe and a crisis of faith in Modi

As hundreds of thousands move from cities to the countryside, fears mount of new contagions and a worsening humanitarian disaster

www.theglobeandmail.com

 

[Northern Light]

Headaches abound for our agricultural sector.

Canada has permitted many foreign farm workers to come in; but in many cases, the visa issuing offices are closed; while flights from Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean are scarce.

Canada’s food supply at risk as pandemic tightens borders to farm workers

Agricultural sector employs about 60,000 temporary foreign workers each year to plant, harvest crops

www.theglobeandmail.com

This really does portray the need for more involvement of locals; but that will mean improved pay/working conditions, which in turn will mean higher prices for produce.

On conditions, the article notes that the housing often provided to migrant workers on Canadian farms can be crowded, often old-style dormitory (rows of bunk beds), which may be ideal for the spread of Covid.

Should that happen, those workers may end up in our local hospitals............

 

[lenaitch]

Headaches abound for our agricultural sector.

Canada has permitted many foreign farm workers to come in; but in many cases, the visa issuing offices are closed; while flights from Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean are scarce.

Canada’s food supply at risk as pandemic tightens borders to farm workers

Agricultural sector employs about 60,000 temporary foreign workers each year to plant, harvest crops

www.theglobeandmail.com

This really does portray the need for more involvement of locals; but that will mean improved pay/working conditions, which in turn will mean higher prices for produce.

On conditions, the article notes that the housing often provided to migrant workers on Canadian farms can be crowded, often old-style dormitory (rows of bunk beds), which may be ideal for the spread of Covid.

Should that happen, those workers may end up in our local hospitals............

Decent money is part of it, but many of the farmers that require seasonal help complain that local folk simply don't want to do it. It's hard, long work. Mechanization has helped in some crops but manual labour is still largely necessary. I worked with a guy who worked tobacco farms in high school and university - from what he described, it sounded like the worse job on the planet, right next to tree planting.

Living conditions probably vary widely. I've been on some Bradford area farms and some seemed pretty decent, but dorm style for sure. No single living. I've spoken to some seasonal workers, primarily Caribbean who said than, other than family separation, the conditions (and money) are better than home.

 

[AlbertC]

Grocery store staff fed up with 'social' shoppers who flout pandemic rules

Some employees also say they’ve been verbally abused by angry, impatient customers

Kayla Hounsell · CBC News · Posted: Apr 02, 2020 5:00 AM AT

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/covid-19-pandemic-shoppers-grocery-stores-1.5518481

 

[Northern Light]

Decent money is part of it, but many of the farmers that require seasonal help complain that local folk simply don't want to do it. It's hard, long work. Mechanization has helped in some crops but manual labour is still largely necessary. I worked with a guy who worked tobacco farms in high school and university - from what he described, it sounded like the worse job on the planet, right next to tree planting.

Living conditions probably vary widely. I've been on some Bradford area farms and some seemed pretty decent, but dorm style for sure. No single living. I've spoken to some seasonal workers, primarily Caribbean who said than, other than family separation, the conditions (and money) are better than home.

No question it can be hard labour; again though, issues around length of work day, days off, proper equipment.

All these investments cost money. If you are at maximum harvest, and you cap the work day at 8 hours, you need a lot more staff to get through.

That's part of what makes it so tough.

To my understanding, mechanization of grains/cereals is extremely high.

Root Vegetables are also pretty mechanized.

Soft, bruise-able fruit/veg extremely low ( tomatoes, strawberries etc.), lettuce and asparagus are 2 others.

Lots others in-between.

But imagine having to get down to the level at which strawberries or asparagus grown to prune, adjust soil levels, or harvest.

I certainly couldn't do it. I would have found that tough in my teens.

I expect we will see further mechanization; I'm not entirely sure why lettuce is done by hand so much.

If I'm understanding this, it may be entirely a function of how cheap labour has been.

4 Labor-Intensive Crops Farmers Wish They Had Robots To Harvest

Many fruits and vegetables must be harvested by hand because it's hard and costly to design machines that won't damage them. But as farm labor dwindles, there's a new push to develop more farm robots.

www.npr.org

 

[Northern Light]

A very generous landlord! All credit to him.

‘I really don’t care about money now, I care about YOU.’ Toronto landlord says skip the rent during COVID-19 pandemic

“My tenants are people, and I think we should treat them as such,” Chris Boyes wrote to the Star in the email. This past week, he’s been busy scrambling to organize his own books as he freezes rent for his 36 tenants.

www.thestar.com

 

[Northern Light]

A very good piece here, looking at some of what went wrong in Northern Italy.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/covid-19/italy-covid-19-outbreak-lessons-1.5517520

Highlights:

- Loss of containment of contageon in hospitals.

- Transferring Covid patients from overflowing hospitals into Assisted Living/LTC homes.

- Poor efforts at testing/contact tracing.

 

[Admiral Beez]

I think there's a very good chance that if we do antibody testing, the numbers will indeed be high. https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/01/europe/iceland-testing-coronavirus-intl

In the end that’s what will stop Covid19, when most people have been exposed and thus the virus runs out of people to infect.

 

[AlbertC]

Toronto mayor calls for blitz as residents continue to access shuttered sports fields

Chris Fox Web Content Writer, CP24

Published Thursday, April 2, 2020 9:09AM EDT

TORONTO --Mayor John Tory says that he has asked Police Chief Mark Saunders to authorize a “substantial enforcement blitz” amid reports that many residents are continuing to openly flout the closure of sports fields, running tracks and other community assets.

The province has ordered the closure of all outdoor recreational amenities in an attempt to limit the spread of COVID-19 but there have been repeated instances of people violating that order, sometimes brazenly.

On Wednesday CP24’s cameras captured dozens of people accessing a running track at North Toronto Collegiate Institute by hopping over a locked gate. There were also hundreds of cars seen parked at Sunnyside Beach, despite the fact that the city had closed all parking lots at parks and beaches as part of an earlier order.

'Lives at stake': Toronto mayor calls for blitz as residents continue to access community spaces

Mayor John Tory says that he has asked Police Chief Mark Saunders to authorize a “substantial enforcement blitz” amid reports that many residents are continuing to openly flout the closure of sports fields, running tracks and other community assets.

toronto.ctvnews.ca

 

[Richard White]

Toronto mayor calls for blitz as residents continue to access shuttered sports fields

Chris Fox Web Content Writer, CP24

Published Thursday, April 2, 2020 9:09AM EDT

TORONTO --Mayor John Tory says that he has asked Police Chief Mark Saunders to authorize a “substantial enforcement blitz” amid reports that many residents are continuing to openly flout the closure of sports fields, running tracks and other community assets.

The province has ordered the closure of all outdoor recreational amenities in an attempt to limit the spread of COVID-19 but there have been repeated instances of people violating that order, sometimes brazenly.

On Wednesday CP24’s cameras captured dozens of people accessing a running track at North Toronto Collegiate Institute by hopping over a locked gate. There were also hundreds of cars seen parked at Sunnyside Beach, despite the fact that the city had closed all parking lots at parks and beaches as part of an earlier order.

'Lives at stake': Toronto mayor calls for blitz as residents continue to access community spaces

Mayor John Tory says that he has asked Police Chief Mark Saunders to authorize a “substantial enforcement blitz” amid reports that many residents are continuing to openly flout the closure of sports fields, running tracks and other community assets.

toronto.ctvnews.ca

People will not learn... I blame the influencer and tiktok generation.

 

[gabe]

A lot of people are simply having anxiety causing a sore throat or shortness of breath too.

Last night I couldn't sleep as I thought I had shortness of breath and then the next morning I was fine

That is true.

I have an anxiety disorder, and so does my boy friend. It's been bad the past weeks, I get off and on tightness in the chest, and i get numbness and tinglings in my arms and legs. My BF when his anxiety is bad, he gets panic attacks, dry mouth and goes the bathroom a lot..


Like so many others, we are out of work. Unemployment takes a huge emotional and mental toll. My BF is permanently done work May 1. His office isn't renewing the lease. And I'm not sure what the business world is going to be like when i go back to work.