News   Apr 23, 2024
Avontuura's Wanderer Guides Designed For Architecture Buffs to Geek-out in Toronto, and Worldwide
 291     0 
News   Apr 23, 2024
Queen's Cross Food Hall Brings Global Flavours to Toronto Eaton Centre
 879     0 
News   Apr 23, 2024
News Roundup for April 23, 2024
 490     0 

Novel Coronavirus COVID-19 (nCoV-2019)

NEW: Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he will accept offer from @JustinTrudeau for military medical teams to come back into hardest-hit nursing homes. Details up to the the long-term care ministry.
 
I remember a few weeks ago news outlets in China were showing the world how things were back to normal. People walking around no masks, no social distancing . Well that workd out well.

www.cnbc.com

More parts of China lock down as virus cases spike ahead of WHO visit

Langfang city, located about 1.5-hours south of downtown Beijing, told its nearly 5 million residents on Tuesday to stay home for the next seven days.
www.cnbc.com www.cnbc.com
 
I was wondering about the restrictions in the construction sector, and they have just been published. They are incredibly strict and clear as crystal. The list below is what is permitted. :rolleyes:

• Permitted construction activities or projects and related services, including land surveying and demolition services.
• Construction projects and services associated with the healthcare sector and long-term care, including new facilities, expansions, renovations and conversion of spaces that could be repurposed for health care space.
• Construction projects and services required to ensure safe and reliable operations of, or to provide new capacity in, provincialand municipal infrastructure, including transit, transportation, energy, mining and justice sectors beyond the day-to-day maintenance.
• Construction projects and services that support the operations of, and provide new capacity in schools, colleges, universities, municipal infrastructure and child care centres within the meaning of the Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014.
• Construction projects under the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program
• Construction projects and services that support the operations of Broadband internet and cellular technologies and services.
• Critical industrial construction activities required for,
the maintenance and operations of petrochemical plants and refineries,
significant industrial petrochemical projects where preliminary work has already commenced,
industrial construction and modifications to existing industrial structures limited solely to work necessary for the production,maintenance, and/or enhancement of Personal Protective Equipment, medical devices (such as ventilators), and other identified products directly related to combatting the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Construction projects that are due to be completed before July 2021and that would provide additional capacity in the production, processing, manufacturing or distribution of food, beverages or agricultural products.
• Construction projects that were commenced before January 12, 2021, and that would,
i.provide additional capacity for businesses that provide logistical support, distribution services, warehousing, storage or shipping and delivery services, or
ii.provide additional capacity in the operation and delivery of Information Technology (IT) services or telecommunications services.
• Residential construction projects where,
a footing permit has been granted for single family, semi-detached and townhomes
the project is a condominium, mixed use or other residential building, or
the project involves renovations to residential properties and construction work was started before January 12, 2021.
• Construction to prepare a site for an institutional, commercial, industrial or residential development, including any necessary excavation, grading, roads or utilities infrastructure.
• Construction and maintenance activities necessary to temporarily close construction sites that have paused or are not active andto ensure ongoing public safety.
• Below-grade multi-unit residential construction projects, such as apartments and condominiums. The Ontario government also provided that businesses must follow public health measures and should review the workplace safety guidelines.
Construction on any project intended to provide either,
affordable housing, or
shelter or supports for vulnerable persons,
If the project is being funded in whole or in part by, or is being undertaken by, any of the following:
A. the Crown in right of Canada or in right of Ontario,
B. an agency of the Crown in right of Canada or in right of Ontario,
C. a municipality,
D. a service manager as defined in theHousing Services Act, 2011, or
E. a registered charity and not for profit within the meaning of theIncome Tax Act(Canada).

Enhanced with:

Workplace testing
Additional enforcement to ensure compliance
 
Max Sterling said:
I'm not saying you can 100% keep the virus completely out of all LTCs, but the government certainly could've taken simple steps to significantly reduce the number of cases and deaths in LTC patients though. Things like not allowing any outsiders other than workers into the homes early on or at least only allowing only a couple of people close to those patients so that they can visit and help take care of them, making sure workers only work at a single facility the whole time, immediately isolating patients and workers away from everyone else as soon they test positive among other things.

My mother told me about her friend who had her father in an LTC back in February and she was appalled at how little care her dad was getting from the workers and she had to do alot of the work herself in taking care of him in his final few weeks of life. Also during this time when the virus wasn't such an issue, the workers at that home would actually STOP HER from letting her dad wear a mask that she bought herself because they thought it would cause panic among other patients if they saw her dad wearing one.

Its crap like that that helped spread the virus among LTCs during the 1st wave and these are lessons that should've been learned so that in the 2nd wave LTCs would be better prepared, protected and be impacted less, but unfortunately that doesn't seem to have happened.
Click to expand...

So, do tell, what's the reason it's spreading so rapidly yet again in LTC? With all the knowledge, additional PPE, etc. You can't simply just declare you'll "protect LTC" unless it is 100% complete isolation. Workers will bring it in, eventually. That was my point about hospitals. They can't even safely protect themselves, even those young and healthy, from contracting the virus. By comparison, Covid in LTC is a spark in a barn full of straw in the middle of August. All it takes is one person to carry it in, and unless you're going to put every single person in a positive pressure hazmat suit, it's gonna go like wildfire.

As for lack of care in LTC, that was happening LONG before Covid. Quality of Life in LTC is shamefully abysmal.

Max Sterling said:
As I said during the ENTIRE pandemic so far, only about 1,400 seniors over 70 years old have died in Ontario outside of LTCs out of ALMOST 3 MILLION seniors in the province. Probably at least a couple of hundred seniors die daily of various causes in Ontario, but apparently THOSE grandpas and grandmas don't matter to you because they didn't die to covid so no care right?

How odd is it that the reason a person dies matters more than the actual fact that they died? Again in any given year almost 300 people die daily in the province and no one bats an eye and every one goes on living their lives. However if almost 300 people were dying of covid everyday our government would be going insane and the entire province would be in permanent lockdown until everyone got vaccinated. Funny how different the reaction would be even though the same number of people died daily, just to different causes.

Also if the government REALLY wanted to 'flatten the curve' and not overburden hospitals with patients, they would get people to eat healthier and exercise more or maybe even mandate it. People eating right and exercising equals a more healthier population which means less ailments and less people needing hospital care. That would have a MASSIVE effect on Ontario's hospitals and it would have a much more long term benefit of keeping beds free for other things than people in hospitals for bad lifestyle choices.
Click to expand...
I see. You're one of "those" people. All you have to do is eat correctly and exercise and your immune system will be able to resist the virus.

You like to talk about Japan. The Japanese have arguably one of the healthiest diets on the planet. They also have a 4.4% COVID hospitalization rate. Not all that much different than our 4.8% rate. Is a difference of 4/1000ths "MASSIVE"?

"so far, only about 1,400 seniors over 70 years old have died in Ontario outside of LTCs out of ALMOST 3 MILLION seniors in the province".

"Only". Well, I guess that's okay then. Especially considering less than 0.2% of the population has actually contracted it.

Max Sterling said:
So Japan has a relatively brief regional shutdown back in April during the 1st wave, before opening things back up and allowed people to live mostly a normal life before just now declaring a 2nd state of emergency that involves:

'The new announcement expands the order to Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo, Aichi, Gifu, Tochigi and Fukuoka, covering much of Japan's main island of Honshu. Eleven prefectures in total are now under emergency measures.

The state of emergency orders companies to encourage their staff to work from home and reduce office populations by 70%. Residents of the affected areas are also urged to avoid non-essential outings and restaurants have to stop serving alcohol by 7 p.m. and close by 8 p.m.'

www.cnn.com

Japan expands state of emergency and bans entry of foreign nationals as coronavirus as infections climb | CNN

Japan will expand its state of emergency to seven more prefectures and ban all foreign nationals from entering the country, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Wednesday.
www.cnn.com www.cnn.com

Yeah I think I'd MUCH rather live with the Japanses government's response to the pandemic than with Ontario's. Allowing businesses to stay open even with reduced hours would've been a godsend for many owners in the province, but unfortnately no our government just had to punish everyone because of their messed up response to the pandemic. Gotta double down on their mistakes and make people's lives even more miserable and cause even more debt to the province that we'll be paying for who knows how many generations.
Click to expand...
A month lockdown is not "relatively brief". Stop trying to manipulate things to suit your argument. You're also comparing a different stage of the rise in cases.

Japan's presenting 2 cases per 100,000, the highest per-capita to date. We're presenting 16 per 100,000. The last time Ontario was below 2 cases per 100,000 was on September 18th. You wanna compare our restrictions then to what Japan's doing right now? Restaurants and stores were open, limited get togethers were allowed, etc. Meanwhile, we'd go on to sit on our thumbs for a few more months before doing anything about it.

Japan's culture is vastly different. Vast numbers of businesses voluntarily closed after the first lockdown. Early on, pachinko clubs that defied closure orders were named and shamed all over the media. Anti-maskers are unheard of there. We govern with law, they govern with shame because it holds so much more weight there. The owners of those pachinko parlours are ruined. Period. They will never run another club. Their chances of getting credit or starting another business are gone. You defy the society, you are *shamed* into social non-existence. Japan has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, a lot of that driven by public shame. Husbands will often take their wives last name simply because theirs holds shame from generations back, or it's a regional name from a shameful (poor) area, etc.

They don't need to be governed so much by law because they govern themselves through shame and caste.

Stop comparing apples and oranges. You have no idea what you're talking about.
 
Last edited:
Meanwhile, in California...

California allows everyone 65 and older to get COVID-19 vaccine​


From link.

California officials on Wednesday announced a major expansion of vaccination eligibility guidelines, allowing all residents 65 and older to more quickly qualify for COVID-19 vaccinations in response to new guidance from the Trump administration aimed at speeding up vaccine rollouts across the country.

The move signals a fresh urgency to increase access to the vaccine amid surging caseloads. Officials in Orange County were the first to adopt the new rules on Tuesday.

“There is no higher priority than efficiently and equitably distributing these vaccines as quickly as possible to those who face the gravest consequences,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday. “Individuals 65 and older are now the next group eligible to start receiving vaccines. To those not yet eligible for vaccines, your turn is coming. We are doing everything we can to bring more vaccine into the state.”

California officials have struggled thus far to distribute its allotment of vaccine doses. As of Monday, California had received more than 2.4 million doses of vaccine, but less than one-third had been administered. There has been lower than expected demand from the healthcare and nursing home workers who have highest priority to receive the vaccines, with up to 40% declining the initial opportunity to be vaccinated.

In response, state officials expanded access last week to all healthcare workers and relaxed guidelines for unused doses.

Newsom last week set an ambitious target of vaccinating an additional 1 million people over the course of 10 days ending Jan. 17.
Click to expand...

Ahead of the state announcement in Los Angeles County, pop-up messages were added to the vaccine registration site warning people not to make appointments unless they were eligible to do so. As of last week, L.A. County had received more than 490,990 vaccine doses, administering over 145,620 first doses and more than 6,150 second doses.

California’s massive surge in COVID-19 cases has focused attention on the state’s handling of vaccine supplies. Los Angeles County is nearing 1 million confirmed coronavirus cases, meaning 1 out of every 10 in the county has been infected at some point during the pandemic. Statewide, more than 2.7 million Californians have tested positive.

Federal officials said the decision to open up eligibility was an attempt to get states to take swifter action. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Tuesday that states had simply moved too slowly and that lifesaving vaccine should be doled out immediately.

“That is the most effective way to save lives now,” Azar said, “and some states’ heavy-handed micromanagement of this process has stood in the way of vaccine reaching a broader swath of the vulnerable population more quickly.”

The federal guidelines call for anyone 65 and older to qualify now for the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. In addition, the federal guidelines say anyone 16 to 64 years old with a documented medical condition should also qualify now.
Click to expand...
Azar said state regulations limiting who was eligible had “obstructed speed and accessibility” of the vaccines.

To push states into making vaccines more readily available, Azar said the federal government was providing two weeks’ notice that future doses would be released to states based on how effectively each used its existing supplies.

“It gives states a strong incentive to ensure doses are going to work protecting people, rather than sitting on shelves or in freezers,” Azar said. “With the case counts we face now, there is absolutely no time to waste.”

The federal push appears to have prompted state officials to reconsider their plans. Previously, the state planned to allow individuals in certain job sectors, such as education and agriculture, along with adults 75 and older, to be vaccinated next, followed by individuals 65 to 74. Under the new guidelines, the state lowers the age threshold to 65 years and older, bumping that group up to priority access.
Click to expand...
The state, however, would wait until the next tier to allow individuals 16 to 65 with medical conditions to be eligible for the vaccine.

The state’s restrictions on who qualifies for the vaccine and when were intended to ensure the limited supply was properly prioritized and that people could not buy their way to the front of the line. Newsom announced last week that the state would ease restrictions to ensure that vaccine could be offered to those in other lower-tier groups, such as teachers, child-care workers and people over the age of 75, if there was a risk of the vaccine expiring.

Wednesday’s eligibility expansion poses significant challenges. California counties are scrambling to find more healthcare professionals who can administer the shots, large facilities where inoculations can be offered, and more of the vaccines themselves.

In Santa Clara County, officials say they have been so successful at distribution of the vaccine that they need more doses. The county asked the state for 100,000 more vaccine doses but was told this week it would receive 6,000, said Dr. Jeff Smith, county executive. That will affect the county’s goal, starting next week, of 35,000 weekly vaccinations, he said.
Click to expand...
The shifting pool of who is eligible has complicated the county’s plans on how to distribute the vaccines.

“We’re getting confusing and inconsistent messaging,” Smith said.

Some members of the state’s vaccine advisory committee expressed concern in a meeting Tuesday that, with the focus on age, individuals who might face other vulnerabilities could be lost in the shuffle. Others have raised concern that at-risk individuals, including essential workers, could be overlooked as the doors open for a wider pool of eligible vaccine recipients.

“When you add this big group of people, you end up with not enough vaccine,” Carol Green of the California State Parent Teachers Assn. said at the meeting.
Click to expand...

Meanwhile, in Ontario...
1610572446077.png

From link.
 
zang said:
Japan's culture is vastly different. Vast numbers of businesses voluntarily closed after the first lockdown. Early on, pachinko clubs that defied closure orders were named and shamed all over the media. Anti-maskers are unheard of there. We govern with law, they govern with shame because it holds so much more weight there. The owners of those pachinko parlours are ruined. Period. They will never run another club. Their chances of getting credit or starting another business are gone. You defy the society, you are *shamed* into social non-existence. Japan has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, a lot of that driven by public shame. Husbands will often take their wives last name simply because theirs holds shame from generations back, or it's a regional name from a shameful (poor) area, etc.
Click to expand...

Indeed - and westerners generally do not know that Japan still have a vestigial caste system:

www.bbc.com

Japan's hidden caste of untouchables

The workers who suffer discrimination because of their feudal ancestors.
www.bbc.com

AoD
 
DSC said:
Rules around work carried out in private properties will also be tightened - with only work for "maintenance, upkeep and functioning" to be allowed, rather than for example painting and decorating.
Click to expand...

Not vague at all.

Painting IS upkeep.

Functioning? I need these new drapes for proper home functionality.

As uselessly vague as our own prohibitions on manual labour.
 
Northern Light said:
Sum up: Approximately 80% vaccination rate by August Holiday Weekend.
Click to expand...

Bacchanal!

Though, I'm slated to be vaccinated by April or whatever so bacchanal come early round here. Pretty stoked to be allowed out of house arrest. Sorry, I forgot, I'm currently allowed to continue building homes for those who spent their holidays abroad so I guess it's not real house arrest. Noted. :p
 
Bayer said:
I was wondering about the restrictions in the construction sector, and they have just been published. They are incredibly strict and clear as crystal. The list below is what is permitted. :rolleyes:

• Permitted construction activities or projects and related services, including land surveying and demolition services.
• Construction projects and services associated with the healthcare sector and long-term care, including new facilities, expansions, renovations and conversion of spaces that could be repurposed for health care space.
• Construction projects and services required to ensure safe and reliable operations of, or to provide new capacity in, provincialand municipal infrastructure, including transit, transportation, energy, mining and justice sectors beyond the day-to-day maintenance.
• Construction projects and services that support the operations of, and provide new capacity in schools, colleges, universities, municipal infrastructure and child care centres within the meaning of the Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014.
• Construction projects under the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program
• Construction projects and services that support the operations of Broadband internet and cellular technologies and services.
• Critical industrial construction activities required for,
the maintenance and operations of petrochemical plants and refineries,
significant industrial petrochemical projects where preliminary work has already commenced,
industrial construction and modifications to existing industrial structures limited solely to work necessary for the production,maintenance, and/or enhancement of Personal Protective Equipment, medical devices (such as ventilators), and other identified products directly related to combatting the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Construction projects that are due to be completed before July 2021and that would provide additional capacity in the production, processing, manufacturing or distribution of food, beverages or agricultural products.
• Construction projects that were commenced before January 12, 2021, and that would,
i.provide additional capacity for businesses that provide logistical support, distribution services, warehousing, storage or shipping and delivery services, or
ii.provide additional capacity in the operation and delivery of Information Technology (IT) services or telecommunications services.
• Residential construction projects where,
a footing permit has been granted for single family, semi-detached and townhomes
the project is a condominium, mixed use or other residential building, or
the project involves renovations to residential properties and construction work was started before January 12, 2021.
• Construction to prepare a site for an institutional, commercial, industrial or residential development, including any necessary excavation, grading, roads or utilities infrastructure.
• Construction and maintenance activities necessary to temporarily close construction sites that have paused or are not active andto ensure ongoing public safety.
• Below-grade multi-unit residential construction projects, such as apartments and condominiums. The Ontario government also provided that businesses must follow public health measures and should review the workplace safety guidelines.
Construction on any project intended to provide either,
affordable housing, or
shelter or supports for vulnerable persons,
If the project is being funded in whole or in part by, or is being undertaken by, any of the following:
A. the Crown in right of Canada or in right of Ontario,
B. an agency of the Crown in right of Canada or in right of Ontario,
C. a municipality,
D. a service manager as defined in theHousing Services Act, 2011, or
E. a registered charity and not for profit within the meaning of theIncome Tax Act(Canada).

Enhanced with:

Workplace testing
Additional enforcement to ensure compliance
Click to expand...

Yeah, so everything is allowed and they'll have even more labour inspector harrassment of workers than usual.

Super excited to be contributing to society as an "essential" whatever.
I don't want to be essential, especially not to people who don't care about my personal wellbeing in terms of mental health. What do I get out of it? A flippin gold star on my Notice of Assessment?
Nope, not even that.

Can't even go relax out in the wild because I'm only allowed to work and not relax outdoors. Sounds a bit like.......

It's all getting quite dystopic. Today, at Metro, the sing-song voice of some pre-recorded announcement going on about how we're all in this together and it's all going to be ok was a bit much. Like some creepy post-techno-apocalyptic totalitarian setting. I mean, we're probably heading that way anyway, but I didn't need a reminder as I was trying to feed my "essential" ass.
 
zang said:
"Only". Well, I guess that's okay then. Especially considering less than 0.2% of the population has actually contracted it.
Click to expand...

This is untrue and you know it. The vast majority of infections are asymptomatic or of mild symptom. It's been surmised for months now (by epidmiologists and other medical professionals) that the actual case numbers are multiples higher than confirmed cases.


Which actually makes me ask, yet again, what the hell is up with antigen testing here? Why isn't it available? Or is it?

In Europe, my entire family has been able to get antigen testing....that's how they discovered they all had it without knowing because......[see above]. ;)
 
Stats Can is currently sending out kits to random people to do antibody testing. Angus Reid in conjunction with St Mike’s hospital did a survey with 10000 people in the summer and are now doing Phase 2. Otherwise, you can pay for testing if you are curious.
 
gabe said:
Why it's so important for people to stay home and not travel to your favorite trail for a hiking or even cottage. Smaller city hospitals can't handle visitors if they get in an accident or suffer a medical emergency.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1349373391229362176



.
Click to expand...

Well then why am I allowed to work in construction then?

It's complete rubbish.

Go to work in a dangerous occupation but hell no are you allowed to go out of town for a few days to relax in the wild.

I'm exponentially more likely to injure myself to the point of requiring hospitalisation at work than I am during leisure up north.

It's a farce. Protecting certain groups of people on the backs of others.
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top