Canadian COVID-19 News

[NaClyDog]

Originally Posted by desodave

No cruise ships are big issues in both Vancouver and Victoria. There are significant numbers of jobs and businesses that come from that sector, so it is a Canadian issue too.

What the government in AK does or doesn't do has no relevance to the cruise industry in Canada. When we reopen our borders, the ships will come if they choose to come.

[Montanan]

Okay so just when it seems we might be getting the upper hand on Covid-19 there is this news.

A new coronavirus might be from dogs

Eight people hospitalized with pneumonia in Malaysia several years ago had evidence of infection with a coronavirus that might have been caught from dogs. A test designed to detect all coronaviruses — even unknown ones — picked up the genetic signature of a canine coronavirus in samples from the people. It’s the first time that a canine coronavirus — which the researchers have named CCoV-HuPn-2018 — has been found in a person with pneumonia. It is not known whether the virus caused the people’s illness, and there’s no evidence that it can pass from person to person. If it is confirmed that the virus causes disease in humans, it will be the eighth unique coronavirus known to do so; others include those that cause some common colds, and SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19.

NPR | 6 min read https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsan...1bc5f-45326354

Reference: Clinical Infectious Diseases paper

https://academic.oup.com/cid/advance...iab456/6278597

Conclusions
This is the first report of a novel canine-feline recombinant alphacoronavirus isolated from a human pneumonia patient. If confirmed as a pathogen, it may represent the eighth unique coronavirus known to cause disease in humans. Our findings underscore the public health threat of animal CoVs and a need to conduct better surveillance for them.

WHO let the dog's out, WHO?

[Macblaze]

Originally Posted by NaClyDog

What the government in AK does or doesn't do has no relevance to the cruise industry in Canada. When we reopen our borders, the ships will come if they choose to come.

That's not quite true. Many cruise ships stop in Canada purely to satisfy the Jones act that states foreign ships can not sail port to port within the US. A stop at Victoria satisfies that requirement and allows all those foreign flagged cruise liners to work the lucrative Alaska cruise season. A win/win for Canada and the US.

If this law is not temporary then there is a fear that Victoria, Nanaimo, Rupert etc will lose million of dollars. Its quite a big deal to those centres.

[AK_sailor]

Originally Posted by Macblaze

That's not quite true. Many cruise ships stop in Canada purely to satisfy the Jones act that states foreign ships can not sail port to port within the US. A stop at Victoria satisfies that requirement and allows all those foreign flagged cruise liners to work the lucrative Alaska cruise season. A win/win for Canada and the US.

If this law is not temporary then there is a fear that Victoria, Nanaimo, Rupert etc will lose million of dollars. Its quite a big deal to those centres.

According to the ALASKA VISITOR VOLUME REPORT, in the summer of 2019 there were 1,331,600 cruise ship passengers to Alaska. The vast bulk of them traveled on the big, non-US flag ships, which had to make at least one stop in Canada to comply with US law. I suspect this had a significant impact on the economies of several BC coastal communities. I believe at least some of those voyages originate/end in Vancouver, which means there was also an impact from tourists flying into town, and spending at least some time (and money) before they get on, or after they get off of their ship.

The halting of tourist travel due to the covid19 land border closure has also had a significant economic impact on certain smaller communities, but maybe not so much on other larger cities. I recently drove up the Alcan, under the Alaska exemption. I tried very hard to follow both the letter and the spirit of the travel restrictions, so I had very few interactions with locals on the trip. However, even based on the limited contact I did have, I noticed a distinctly different vibe once I got north of Fort Nelson. In places like Watson Lake, Teslin, and Haines Junction, many small businesses are really hurting. Other than tourism and mining, there aren't a lot of ways to make a living up there, and many people are very dependent on summer tourist dollars.

The main point is that the travel and tourism industry (in all countries) is one of the main groups pushing to open up borders (both international and internal). This is true both in Canada and the US. Some sort of way of verifying one's vaccination status, whether you call it a passport or app or whatever, is the most obvious way to open up travel but still contain covid. My guess is that the pressure is for an app or passport is going to get much stronger this summer. Your guess may differ.

[Scorpius]

Originally Posted by NaClyDog

What the government in AK does or doesn't do has no relevance to the cruise industry in Canada. When we reopen our borders, the ships will come if they choose to come.

It's true that what the government in Alaska does is irrelevant - except for lobbying in Washington, DC for a temporary or permanent suspension of the Jones Act - which states that any commercial vessel carrying passengers or freight between two US ports must be American flagged and crewed by Americans. However, it is a federal law and only the feds can repeal, suspend, or change it.

There's no way the cruise lines are going to flag their ships in the US and replace their largely Philipino, Indonesian, etc. crews with Americans at American wages. Hence, to sail to Alaska, according to the Jones Act, they MUST stop in a foreign country enroute - and Canada is kinda convenient.

There's a HUGE industry in Vancouver supporting the cruise industry (at least in non-Covid years) as many, many Alaska cruises originate here. A big part of it is that it is possible to do a cruise from Vancouver to southern Alaska in one week - which is very nice for scheduling: embark the passengers and leave Vancouver every Sunday afternoon, cruise to Alaska and back, arrive back in Vancouver Saturday, disembark everybody, clean all the cabins (external contractors!), reprovison, rewater, refuel, etc., embark a new load of passengers on Sunday and head out again. It's a dream schedule. You can do it from Vancouver. It's much more difficult to do it from Seattle - particularly if you want to go up the Inside Passage and have to deal with Seymour Narrows.

On the other hand, in my time living in the US I encountered A LOT of people who would rather not leave the US to vacation - even to Canada! (I don't understand it either - but that's how they feel). So, if the Jones Act were repealed or suspended, a lot of the industry just might move operations from Vancouver to Seattle - and the ships currently based in Seattle would no longer have to stop in Victoria or somewhere else on the BC coast in order to stay legal. We would lose a lot of revenue and employment.

THAT'S the big fear on this coast.

[NaClyDog]

Originally Posted by Scorpius

It's true that what the government in Alaska does is irrelevant - except for lobbying in Washington, DC for a temporary or permanent suspension of the Jones Act - which states that any commercial vessel carrying passengers or freight between two US ports must be American flagged and crewed by Americans. However, it is a federal law and only the feds can repeal, suspend, or change it.

There's no way the cruise lines are going to flag their ships in the US and replace their largely Philipino, Indonesian, etc. crews with Americans at American wages. Hence, to sail to Alaska, according to the Jones Act, they MUST stop in a foreign country enroute - and Canada is kinda convenient.

There's a HUGE industry in Vancouver supporting the cruise industry (at least in non-Covid years) as many, many Alaska cruises originate here. A big part of it is that it is possible to do a cruise from Vancouver to southern Alaska in one week - which is very nice for scheduling: embark the passengers and leave Vancouver every Sunday afternoon, cruise to Alaska and back, arrive back in Vancouver Saturday, disembark everybody, clean all the cabins (external contractors!), reprovison, rewater, refuel, etc., embark a new load of passengers on Sunday and head out again. It's a dream schedule. You can do it from Vancouver. It's much more difficult to do it from Seattle - particularly if you want to go up the Inside Passage and have to deal with Seymour Narrows.

On the other hand, in my time living in the US I encountered A LOT of people who would rather not leave the US to vacation - even to Canada! (I don't understand it either - but that's how they feel). So, if the Jones Act were repealed or suspended, a lot of the industry just might move operations from Vancouver to Seattle - and the ships currently based in Seattle would no longer have to stop in Victoria or somewhere else on the BC coast in order to stay legal. We would lose a lot of revenue and employment.

THAT'S the big fear on this coast.

I don't want to get into politics (for obvious reasons). What the US or any US state does related to the cruise industry has absolutely nothing to do with Canadian COVID-19 News.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by NaClyDog

I don't want to get into politics (for obvious reasons). What the US or any US state does related to the cruise industry has absolutely nothing to do with Canadian COVID-19 News.

As long as the discussion remains focused on the Canadian implications around a Covid-related decision or action, I'd say it is relevant. Regardless of where the decision originates, it's still Covid-19 news that affects Canadians.

[Pelagic]

As far back as 1985 there was I believe 14 - 18 cruise ships docking weekly at Pacific Place and Balantyne Pier.
Huge business even then for us as we supplied the support craft in water taxis to handle late passengers and landing craft for their luggage as the ships had to depart their berth on time or face longshoremen ad Port surcharges

Often busloads were late, coming from Seattle and the cruise ships would hold in English Bay until we delivered the passengers.

More ships each year but after Expo, I went to Asia, so no idea how big it got

[AKA-None]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Wouldn't that be amazing?!? I've given up any hopes of launching this year, but I desperately want to get to the boat and make sure it's doing OK. I've been planning for a trip later in the summer, perhaps early fall. But if they open up sooner I might make a run for it earlier.

Still can't get our hopes up though. This is merely a recommendation from the Tourism task force, so it's no surprise they want things open soon.

But hey, my cousin (Brenda O’Reilly), who is on the provincial committee and is also Chair of Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador, wouldn't lie .

Not Canadian related but I finally got to my boat a couple weeks back sinc October of 19 and found unexpected net new work
Sigh

So plan for the unplanned

[Scorpius]

Originally Posted by NaClyDog

I don't want to get into politics (for obvious reasons). What the US or any US state does related to the cruise industry has absolutely nothing to do with Canadian COVID-19 News.

You mean other than the fact that Canada banned cruise ships from our ports for this summer because of COVID-19 concerns? Yes, it's a Canadian story (affecting hundreds if not thousands of Canadian jobs), and it's a Covid-19 story. And political? Hardly. It's a public health issue.

[Scorpius]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

As far back as 1985 there was I believe 14 - 18 cruise ships docking weekly at Pacific Place and Balantyne Pier.
Huge business even then for us as we supplied the support craft in water taxis to handle late passengers and landing craft for their luggage as the ships had to depart their berth on time or face longshoremen ad Port surcharges

Often busloads were late, coming from Seattle and the cruise ships would hold in English Bay until we delivered the passengers.

More ships each year but after Expo, I went to Asia, so no idea how big it got

In 2019 there were in the order of 250 cruise ship "visits" to Vancouver and over one million passengers were embarked/debarked. Not only were there a great many jobs associated with the industry itself, there were many spin-off benefits as the passengers generally spent several days in the Vancouver area either before or after their Alaska cruise.

Our shuttering of the cruise ship industry due to the Covid-19 pandemic (just to ensure I stay on topic) here (in British Columbia, CANADA) has had an ENORMOUS negative economic impact on the economy. We didn't do it for fun.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by AKA-None

Not Canadian related but I finally got to my boat a couple weeks back sinc October of 19 and found unexpected net new work
Sigh

So plan for the unplanned

That's what I'm afraid of . Glad to hear you got to your boat though. Glad to hear any good news these days .

[nwdiver]

Cruise ships are a billion dollar business for Vancouver, but so are conventions which can’t be held in Vancouver during the cruise season, loss one one cranks up the other......

[alctel]

Originally Posted by NaClyDog

What the government in AK does or doesn't do has no relevance to the cruise industry in Canada. When we reopen our borders, the ships will come if they choose to come.

A lot of people in Victoria (where I live) have no wish to see the cruise ships back.

Giant, ugly, polluting things, they basically just are a moneymaker for the owners of shops of cheap crap near the terminal and the row of terrible restaurants nearby. Not surprising, since the tourists only have a few hours in town and basically get shuttled around to all the places by the tour company (who gets a cut).

[Montanan]

Hurrah. So wish the vaccines had been approved earlier for adolescents, a cousin of mine who is a senior in High School has missed four months of school from being ill with Covid. She is [read, was] a healthy vibrant young lady and the disease has taken a long haul upon her. Hoping that it does not leave underlying damage and that she gets to feeling fully recovered and well. For those that think Covid only hits elderly people or those with underlying illnesses, well think again, it can hit anyone hard.

Moderna announced Tuesday that its vaccine was 93% effective after the first dose in children 12 to 17, and 100% effective two weeks after the second dose.

The trial, which involved more than 3,700 adolescents, also identified no serious safety concerns, data from Moderna said. The company expects to apply for emergency use authorization for its vaccine from the Food and Drug Administration to allow children as young as 12 to receive it.

Currently, the only vaccine approved for kids as young as 12 Pfizer and BioNTech's vaccine, which was approved in early May. Moderna previously faced issues enrolling enough teens into the trial. But depending on when the FDA application is made and how quickly it is processed, it could offer families more choices for vaccinating children over the summer vacation and before the 2021-22 school year begins.