Canadian COVID-19 News

[GordMay]

Ontario Premiere Doug Ford's April 22 Ontario coronavirus update:
Full replay ➥ https://youtu.be/GkP7KvtYprU

➥ https://youtu.be/vMQidos1bWQ

[GordMay]

How a town rallied around a quarantined oil tanker off the Cape Breton coast

"People in Port Hawkesbury, N.S., have rallied together to make sure crew members of a ship quarantined just off the Cape Breton coast are comfortable while they wait to restart their journey.

The STI San Telmo, an oil tanker that was bound for Montreal, had to change course last week and drop anchor off eastern Nova Scotia because of concerns of COVID-19 on the vessel. It has been anchored off Cape Breton since April 11.

Ship operators later confirmed that at least eight crew members were infected with the coronavirus. One crew member was transported to shore for medical care while the rest were ordered by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) to stay put ..."

More ➥ https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-...kage-1.5997662

[Mike OReilly]

No surprise on this one.

CBC: 'More people are catching on': Travellers using U.S.-Canada land border to avoid quarantine hotels
Land travellers have to quarantine but not at a hotel like those travelling by air

[Montanan]

'Proof women are just stronger': Sophie Trudeau refuses PM's hand during COVID-19 vaccination, sparks hilarious reaction online

A cute couple.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/covid-19-...220134773.html

[Montanan]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

No surprise on this one.

CBC: 'More people are catching on': Travellers using U.S.-Canada land border to avoid quarantine hotels
Land travellers have to quarantine but not at a hotel like those travelling by air

I don't understand how someone is allowed to cross the border by taxi, Uber, Lyft if their reason for travel is non-essential. Why are they permitted to reenter Canada from the USA? Why not just refuse their repatriation entry?
Or put the returnees to work building a border wall to keep Canadians out of Canada.




"U.S. taxi and limousine services are seeing a boom in business from customers seeking to enter Canada by land to avoid a restriction on international travel that applies only to air traffic.

While both Canadian land and air travellers are required to take a test within three days of departure, and again on arrival, only those flying to Canada must spend up to three days of the country's 14-day required quarantine period in a hotel.

That has led to a surge of calls for taxi and limousine services from Canadians who fly through U.S. airports in states like New York and then cross over the land border."

https://www.yahoo.com/news/canadians...135845441.html

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by Montanan

I don't understand how someone is allowed to cross the border by taxi, Uber, Lyft if their reason for travel is non-essential. Why are they permitted to reenter Canada from the USA? Why not just refuse their repatriation entry?
Or put the returnees to work building a border wall to keep Canadians out of Canada.




"U.S. taxi and limousine services are seeing a boom in business from customers seeking to enter Canada by land to avoid a restriction on international travel that applies only to air traffic.

While both Canadian land and air travellers are required to take a test within three days of departure, and again on arrival, only those flying to Canada must spend up to three days of the country's 14-day required quarantine period in a hotel.

That has led to a surge of calls for taxi and limousine services from Canadians who fly through U.S. airports in states like New York and then cross over the land border."

https://www.yahoo.com/news/canadians...135845441.html

C'mon ! You've been around long enough not to expect logic from a government

[Eder]

Snowbirds returning have all been vaccinated thanks to our American friends and pose no threat to Canadians on return. Silly laws like this are just theatre...something our PM knows something about.

[Macblaze]

Originally Posted by Eder

Snowbirds returning have all been vaccinated thanks to our American friends and pose no threat to Canadians on return. Silly laws like this are just theatre...something our PM knows something about.

Vaccination. Does. Not. Prevent. You. From. Having. Covid.

And the thinly veiled political insult is both childish and skirting the forum rules.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Montanan

I don't understand how someone is allowed to cross the border by taxi, Uber, Lyft if their reason for travel is non-essential. Why are they permitted to reenter Canada from the USA? Why not just refuse their repatriation entry?
Or put the returnees to work building a border wall to keep Canadians out of Canada.

I know you're not completely serious, but I agree, this is a laughable outcome. Barring a citizen from re-entry is possibly illegal and ethically dubious. But why not treat everyone the same? Why not insist land crossers also wait out their Covid test in a hotel? Or do away with the demand entirely.

The thing that I've never heard explained is why the USA has continued to allow Canadians to cross the border via airplane for non-essential reasons. The joint Canada/USA agreement on the border closure was to halt all non-essential travel. Canada has blocked Americans from coming here via land, sea, and air, but the USA has only blocked land and water crossings. Canadians have continued to fly south with impunity.

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

I know you're not completely serious, but I agree, this is a laughable outcome. Barring a citizen from re-entry is possibly illegal and ethically dubious. But why not treat everyone the same? Why not insist land crossers also wait out their Covid test in a hotel? Or do away with the demand entirely.

The thing that I've never heard explained is why the USA has continued to allow Canadians to cross the border via airplane for non-essential reasons. The joint Canada/USA agreement on the border closure was to halt all non-essential travel. Canada has blocked Americans from coming here via land, sea, and air, but the USA has only blocked land and water crossings. Canadians have continued to fly south with impunity.

If the border does not open by the end of summer, we'll hire a captain to take DIRT FREE to Albany and fly over to pick her up and head south.

[Scorpius]

You can't stop Canadians from returning to Canada in ANY circumstances. However, you can make it difficult and expensive in order to discourage the travel in the first place - which the government has done. And they did it for air travellers because, at first, the vast majority of Canadians returning from sunny vacations were returning by air. Now that people have found away around those restrictions you can expect a government response to block that loophole.

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by Scorpius

Now that people have found away around those restrictions you can expect a government response to block that loophole.

Wouldn't bet on it. They never did stop flights from China.

[Scorpius]

Originally Posted by Macblaze

So a guy from Vancouver "could" visit Grace or Prideaux but not Rosco or Refuge? While a guy from Victoria could settle in at Squirrel but not the Copelands or Lund. Lol.

Be really interesting to see if there actually is any enforcement.

And as I said a lot of the Charter industry is counting on some major bookings this summer—it will be pretty bad if they have to go through all the contortions and reversals that made up last summer. A part of me wishes they would just close up everything until August and then stick to the plan come hell or high water (or even significant improvements). Its the sudden shifts that hurt so much.

The Health Region boundaries were established a long time ago and were based on available transportation routes - which is why parts of the central coast are in the Vancouver Island Health Region. Also they were run through areas of VERY low population density so that neighbours or neighbouring communities were not in different health regions.

Interestingly, for those of you who know the area, Texada Island is in the Vancouver Coastal Health Region (because the ferry to Texada runs from Powell River on the mainland) while Lasquiti Island, only a few hundred metres from Texada, is in the Vancouver Island Health Region - because their ferry runs from French Creek on the Island. So, for the time being, Lasquiti Islanders theoretically can't travel to Texada and vice versa - nor can cruisers.

Boaters are a very small population in the scheme of things and I doubt very much were a factor in drawing health region boundaries - except in some areas of the Central Coast where boats are still the major way residents get around.

Covid cases are already trending down in BC - although hospitalizations and ICU admissions (which lag infections by several weeks) are up. I expect the authorities are moving proactively to stop another surge emanating from the May long weekend. With vaccinating proceeding at a good pace I expect these restrictions will not be extended beyond that holiday weekend and this summer vacationers, including boaters, will be free to visit all of BC.

Personally I'm still planning to circumnavigate Vancouver Island this summer even though I live in Vancouver Coastal Health region. However we'll see. If the ban isn't lifted (The lower mainland and Fraser valley are the hotbed of Covid activity in BC and I believe these restrictions were put in place to limit the spread of the variants from there) I guess my plans will change and I'll be cruising the mainland side and the Central Coast again - although re-supplying and refueling without access to Port McNeil or Port Hardy will be interesting.

[Stu Jackson]

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/202...gn=recommended




Get this through your head: #COVID19 is deadlier and more contagious than #POLIO. At times during this pandemic the US has seen more COVID cases and deaths in a single day than polio caused in it's worst years. From npr:

In 1952 alone, nearly 60,000 children were infected with the virus; thousands were paralyzed, and more than 3,000 died. Hospitals set up special units with iron lung machines to keep polio victims alive. Rich kids as well as poor were left paralyzed.

So far, just in April 2021, there have been over 1,470,000 cases reported in the US, and over 18,000 deaths. On February 12, 2021 — a single day — there were 99,565 cases and 5,463 deaths reported.
We talk about it now quiet tones and hushed awe, but Polio scared the CRAP out of us. Those of us old enough to remember can talk about lining up at school to get the vaccine and how we were attempting to wipe it off the face of the planet. I can remember as a child collecting money for the March of Dimes as part of my Halloween trick-or-treating.
When people like Senator Ron Johnson and “Doctor” Rand Paul start talking about how we’ve done enough, and we can relax now I just want to punch these idiots in the throat. Every time that they want to “relax” the mask mandates and re-open everything before enough of us have been vaccinated I feel the same. They have forgotten how bad it can be — and I’d bet they know of no one who needed an Iron Lung.
Or more likely they’ve never understood how bad it can be. They’ve forgotten. I would wager that most people you ask that they would believe that Polio was much worse than COVID-19. The truth is that COVID is horrifically worse. Comparing the two is almost comical.

[Eder]

Originally Posted by boatpoker

If the border does not open by the end of summer, we'll hire a captain to take DIRT FREE to Albany and fly over to pick her up and head south.

You can enter yourself on a sailboat.


At any rate their is a lot of pressure on Biden from northern governors to open te Canadian border to entry..Mexico has never really closed.