This may have tugged at my heartstrings today.
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Novel Coronavirus COVID-19 (nCoV-2019)
- Thread starter AlvinofDiaspar
- Start date
Ontario Newsroom
news.ontario.ca
WislaHD
Superstar
Maybe, but it won't make a difference electorally due to the electoral college system.
Admiral Beez
Superstar
Apparently a lot of the swing states allow absentee ballot. This might help. We’ll know that the GOP is worried about it when they start trying to make court challenges to block absentee voting.
Admiral Beez
Superstar
Me too.
lenaitch
Senior Member
I've given up discussing the pandemic on another site that is largely populated by Americans, seemgingly primarily Republican supporters. Many believe that, while voluntary social distancing, PPE, etc. are good ideas, any manner of government orders, closures and things are constitutional overreach and symptomatic of a government that is out of control. Individual liberty is paramount. Perhaps the large number of New York bodies in reefer trailers and mass graves will rest easier knowing they were conscripted soldiers in battle for liberty.
Johnny Au
Senior Member
As I once said, it could take at least a million American deaths to convince Americans to vote for Biden and have Biden implement free universal health care (albeit under a different name to be more politically palatable).
lenaitch
Senior Member
Another entry in the 'you can't make this stuff up' department:
Towered
Senior Member
You said what a lot of us are thinking, I suspect...
AlbertC
Superstar
Coronavirus: what’s behind Vietnam’s containment success?
Despite sharing a border with China, Vietnam has, with a combination of early decisive action, extensive testing, vigorous quarantining and social unity, so far avoided the devastation seen in Europe and the United States.
With coronavirus infections in the mere hundreds, Vietnam’s response to the crisis has earned praise from the World Health Organisation.
Official statistics show there are currently more than 75,000 people in quarantine or isolation. The country has so far conducted more than 121,000 tests, from which only 260 cases were confirmed.
As yet, there have been no virus-related deaths, and infection rates remain significantly lower than in
South Korea, Singapore and even Taiwan – all of which have been widely praised in global media for their effective responses to the pandemic.
www.scmp.com
Despite sharing a border with China, Vietnam has, with a combination of early decisive action, extensive testing, vigorous quarantining and social unity, so far avoided the devastation seen in Europe and the United States.
With coronavirus infections in the mere hundreds, Vietnam’s response to the crisis has earned praise from the World Health Organisation.
Official statistics show there are currently more than 75,000 people in quarantine or isolation. The country has so far conducted more than 121,000 tests, from which only 260 cases were confirmed.
As yet, there have been no virus-related deaths, and infection rates remain significantly lower than in
South Korea, Singapore and even Taiwan – all of which have been widely praised in global media for their effective responses to the pandemic.
What’s behind Vietnam’s coronavirus containment success?
With no deaths reported and the number of confirmed cases in the mere hundreds, Vietnam's response to the pandemic appears to be working.
www.scmp.com
AlbertC
Superstar
Coronavirus: Hong Kong inventor unveils reusable masks he says employ UV rays, ‘photocatalytic coating’ to disinfect in storage
www.scmp.com
- Stark Chan, who rose to fame as a teen tech prodigy, says the coating on the masks’ exterior releases a substance that can kill bacteria and viruses
- The tech entrepreneur said while the new masks have no formal certification, a local university has found them more effective than surgical mask
Hong Kong inventor says reusable masks employ UV rays to disinfect
Stark Chan, who rose to fame as a teen tech prodigy, says the coating on the masks’ exterior releases a substance that can kill bacteria, viruses.
www.scmp.com
AlbertC
Superstar
Toronto opening new two emergency child care centres after receiving 800 applications
Published Monday, April 13, 2020 6:31AM EDT
TORONTO -- The City of Toronto has announced plans to open two new emergency child care centres after receiving more than 800 applications for the first four facilities.
The new facilities will be available only to the children of essential workers who have no other alternatives.
One of the new facilities will open up in an existing city-run childcare facility on Bathurst Street north of Front Street today while the other will open later this week at another existing city-run child care facility on Danforth Avenue near Greenwood Avenue.
The city says that since launching the online signup portal for the emergency child care facilities on March 26 it has received more than 800 applications and has placed nearly 200 children in care. It says that 71 per cent of all applications have been from frontline healthcare workers and first responders.
Published Monday, April 13, 2020 6:31AM EDT
TORONTO -- The City of Toronto has announced plans to open two new emergency child care centres after receiving more than 800 applications for the first four facilities.
The new facilities will be available only to the children of essential workers who have no other alternatives.
One of the new facilities will open up in an existing city-run childcare facility on Bathurst Street north of Front Street today while the other will open later this week at another existing city-run child care facility on Danforth Avenue near Greenwood Avenue.
The city says that since launching the online signup portal for the emergency child care facilities on March 26 it has received more than 800 applications and has placed nearly 200 children in care. It says that 71 per cent of all applications have been from frontline healthcare workers and first responders.
Toronto opening two new emergency child care centres after receiving 800 applications
The City of Toronto has announced plans to open two new emergency child care centres after receiving more than 800 applications for the first four facilities.
toronto.ctvnews.ca
AlbertC
Superstar
Canadian bioscience firm says it's approved for production of rapid COVID-19 testing device
Published Sunday, April 12, 2020 10:00PM EDT
TORONTO -- A Canadian bioscience firm has received federal approval for production and distribution of a device it claims can produce COVID-19 test results in less than an hour.
Ottawa-based Spartan Bioscience, which developed the Spartan Cube, says it is capable of testing for COVID-19 and has received Health Canada approval for distribution.
"You take a swab and you actually take the tip of the swab into this cartridge and then you put into this portable DNA analyzer," Spartan Bioscience CEO Dr. Paul Lem told CTV News. "In less than an hour, you get your COVID-19 test results."
Alberta is spending $9.5 million to bring 250 Spartan Cubes and 100,000 testing kits to the province, while Ontario has purchased 900,000 testing kits.
“They've told us that they're thinking it'll be used in smaller towns, smaller hospitals, remote communities," Lem said. "So it would probably be health-care professionals, so perhaps doctors, nurses medical technicians who will probably run the stuff."
Under current testing models in Canada, swabs must be sent to centres in large cities for testing, which can lead to delays in results and backlogs at laboratories. Lem believes his device will help solve that problem.
“They have to send the results back to whoever ordered the test, so that's why it can take days or even over a week, to get the test results,” he said. “In contrast, with our portable COVID-19 DNA testing device, you're getting results right away.”
Spartan Bioscience estimates it can produce 1.5 million of these tests each month.
www.ctvnews.ca
Published Sunday, April 12, 2020 10:00PM EDT
TORONTO -- A Canadian bioscience firm has received federal approval for production and distribution of a device it claims can produce COVID-19 test results in less than an hour.
Ottawa-based Spartan Bioscience, which developed the Spartan Cube, says it is capable of testing for COVID-19 and has received Health Canada approval for distribution.
"You take a swab and you actually take the tip of the swab into this cartridge and then you put into this portable DNA analyzer," Spartan Bioscience CEO Dr. Paul Lem told CTV News. "In less than an hour, you get your COVID-19 test results."
Alberta is spending $9.5 million to bring 250 Spartan Cubes and 100,000 testing kits to the province, while Ontario has purchased 900,000 testing kits.
“They've told us that they're thinking it'll be used in smaller towns, smaller hospitals, remote communities," Lem said. "So it would probably be health-care professionals, so perhaps doctors, nurses medical technicians who will probably run the stuff."
Under current testing models in Canada, swabs must be sent to centres in large cities for testing, which can lead to delays in results and backlogs at laboratories. Lem believes his device will help solve that problem.
“They have to send the results back to whoever ordered the test, so that's why it can take days or even over a week, to get the test results,” he said. “In contrast, with our portable COVID-19 DNA testing device, you're getting results right away.”
Spartan Bioscience estimates it can produce 1.5 million of these tests each month.
Canadian bioscience firm says it's approved for production of rapid COVID-19 testing device
A Canadian bioscience firm has received federal approval for production and distribution of a device it claims can produce COVID-19 test results in less than an hour.
www.ctvnews.ca
AlbertC
Superstar
Flight of the beekeepers: Nicaraguan workers crucial to Canada’s food supply chain are on their way
To stave off a labour shortage that could impact the food supply chain and hurt the beekeeping industry, the Canadian Honey Council took matters into its own hands. At a cost of roughly $200,000, the council chartered a plane to fly 80 skilled workers from Nicaragua to Canada, touching down first in Calgary, and then continuing east to Saskatoon, Brandon and Toronto.
“I’m expecting 10 guys, and it’s very important that they get here,” said Bryan Ash, a partner at Ash Apiaries, a large family run beekeeping operation that cross-pollinates orchards in B.C., and makes honey in Manitoba. He is one of the three dozen beekeepers who will repay the council for their portion of seats on the flight.
The Nicaraguan labourers are among the upward of 60,000 seasonal farm and other temporary workers who come to Canada each year – an essential infusion of labour into the agriculture sector. The federal government last month allowed the entry of foreign workers, stipulating that they must quarantine for 14 days. But travel has been delayed because visa offices in foreign countries have been closed and commercial flights have become scarce.
www.theglobeandmail.com
To stave off a labour shortage that could impact the food supply chain and hurt the beekeeping industry, the Canadian Honey Council took matters into its own hands. At a cost of roughly $200,000, the council chartered a plane to fly 80 skilled workers from Nicaragua to Canada, touching down first in Calgary, and then continuing east to Saskatoon, Brandon and Toronto.
“I’m expecting 10 guys, and it’s very important that they get here,” said Bryan Ash, a partner at Ash Apiaries, a large family run beekeeping operation that cross-pollinates orchards in B.C., and makes honey in Manitoba. He is one of the three dozen beekeepers who will repay the council for their portion of seats on the flight.
The Nicaraguan labourers are among the upward of 60,000 seasonal farm and other temporary workers who come to Canada each year – an essential infusion of labour into the agriculture sector. The federal government last month allowed the entry of foreign workers, stipulating that they must quarantine for 14 days. But travel has been delayed because visa offices in foreign countries have been closed and commercial flights have become scarce.
Flight of the beekeepers: Nicaraguan workers crucial to Canada’s food supply chain are on their way
At a cost of roughly $200,000, the Canadian Honey Council chartered a plane to fly 80 skilled workers from Nicaragua to Canada, touching down first in Calgary, and then continuing east to Saskatoon, Brandon and Toronto
www.theglobeandmail.com
gabe
Senior Member
My sister lives on the Island she said the same thing to me on the weekend.
A petition asking that access to Vancouver Island is limited to essential services, supplies and residents only during the COVID-19 pandemic has garnered thousands of signatures.
"Vancouver Island residents are worried about their safety amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and we’re still seeing tourists from other provinces and the U.S. driving on our roads here,” the online petition says. “We need to be proactive and protect our residents.”
Petition asking to restrict travel to Vancouver Island garners thousands of signatures
Nearly 30,000 people have signed the petition as of Sunday afternoon
www.vicnews.com