Canadian COVID-19 News

[Scorpius]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Indeed, the causation could be any number of factors. The article is silent here. All it finds is that wealthy people restrict their movements during these lockdowns, while poorer folks don't. I assume the researchers are working on the "why?" question.

The more valuable finding to me is the first one: that there was not a significant uptick in people leaving locked-down areas and travelling to nearby un-locked-down areas. This, to me, has useful public policy implications.

Yes, but did the wealthy reduce their traveling from "lots" to "some" and the poor reduce theirs from "a little" to "very little". Yes, the wealthy reduced their travel substantially (by and large locked in their country, region, or province) but my take is that they still traveled much more than the poor who mostly didn't go anywhere but home and work.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Scorpius

Yes, but did the wealthy reduce their traveling from "lots" to "some" and the poor reduce theirs from "a little" to "very little". Yes, the wealthy reduced their travel substantially (by and large locked in their country, region, or province) but my take is that they still traveled much more than the poor who mostly didn't go anywhere but home and work.

I guess you'd have to read the full study to get those details. But to be clear, the report about the study says wealthy folks reduced their travel, while the poor demographics did not reduce their travels.

As to what kind of travel each group was or wasn't doing, I think that remains unknown. The authors appear to speculate that it is as you suggest, but my reading of this report says this detail was outside the study.

[Mike OReilly]

G&M: Liberal government moves to criminalize intimidation of health care workers, introduce 10 sick days for federally regulated workers

The Liberal government introduced legislation on Friday that proposes enhanced protections for health care workers in the face of violence and intimidation along with individuals seeking medical care, as well as 10 days of paid sick leave for federally regulated workers.

Interesting development on the same day as the WHO names a new Variant of Concern: Omicron.

[CFS Klopas]

I just noticed that the US CBP is now allowing foreigners to do cruising license reporting through the ROAM app rather than calling in. I can't promise you won't continue to run into surly border folks, but it should be good enough to avoid severe consequences.

https://www.cbp.gov/travel/pleasure-...-overview/roam

[Paul L]

Not sure this really has anything to do with Covid, but the CNN Breaking News headline caught my eye:

Facing shortages, Canada taps its strategic reserves of maple syrup

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/11/28/b...age/index.html

[Scorpius]

Originally Posted by Paul L

Not sure this really has anything to do with Covid, but the CNN Breaking News headline caught my eye:

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/11/28/b...age/index.html

Love it!

[Scorpius]

From CBC News this Morning:

Canada's 1st cases of the omicron coronavirus variant confirmed in Ottawa

There are two confirmed cases of the omicron variant of the coronavirus in Ottawa, the Ontario government announced Sunday. The province said both cases were reported in individuals with recent travel from Nigeria, and that the patients are in isolation.

These are the first cases of the omicron variant confirmed in Canada, coming just days after the country implemented new travel restrictions on foreign nationals who had visited several countries in southern Africa over the preceding two weeks. Those travel restrictions went into effect on Friday. The omicron variant was first identified by South African researchers and has provoked global concern.

Little is known about the new variant, dubbed omicron by the World Health Organization and labelled as a variant of concern. It is being linked to a rapid rise of cases in a South African province. It is not known at this time whether the variant is more transmissible, or more dangerous to the health of those who are infected by it, than other coronavirus variants.

"The best defence against the omicron variant is stopping it at our border. In addition to the measures recently announced, we continue to urge the federal government to take the necessary steps to mandate point-of-arrival testing for all travellers irrespective of where they're coming from to further protect against the spread of this new variant," Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott and Dr. Kieran Moore, the province's chief medical officer of health, said in a statement.

The provincial government urged residents to get vaccinated, including with booster doses, and to continue following public health guidance.

In a statement released Sunday, federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said the confirmation of two omicron cases is a signal that the country's monitoring system is working but to expect more cases of the variant.

In a separate statement, the Public Health Agency of Canada said border measures could change as the situation develops.

Reacting to the news, epidemiologist Dr. Christopher Labos emphasized the lack of information the world has so far about the omicron variant, noting that some other variants failed to take hold and out-compete the dominant strain.

[Mike OReilly]

Damn straight! Doesn't every nation have a Strategic Maple Syrup Reserve?

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Scorpius

From CBC News this Morning:

Canada's 1st cases of the omicron coronavirus variant confirmed in Ottawa

Certainly brings into question the wisdom of travel bans. At this point I'd rather see a focus on testing and contact tracing, along with vaccination (of course), rather than trying to rebuild our walls.

[Macblaze]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Damn straight! Doesn't every nation have a Strategic Maple Syrup Reserve?

But do we?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_...le_Syrup_Heist

Do we know if it's still there or not?

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Macblaze

But do we?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_...le_Syrup_Heist

Do we know if it's still there or not?

Damn... better call Dudley.

[GordMay]

With about 3,000 staff unvaccinated, AHS delays jab mandate, introduces rapid testing in some areas

Rapid testing will only be an option beginning Dec. 13 for unvaccinated employees in a “small number” of clinical workplaces where there would be a “significant risk of service disruption” if staff were put on a leave of absence.

Alberta Health Services is delaying the implementation of its COVID-19 vaccine mandate and introducing a rapid testing program in areas where the vaccine requirement could cause staffing shortages.

Overall, more than 96 per cent of AHS staff and 99.6 per cent of physicians had provided proof they are fully immunized against COVID-19 as of Monday.

She [AHS CEO Dr. Verna Yiu] said rapid testing will only be available as a temporary alternative to immunization in a very limited scope of workplaces. As an example, she said rapid testing would be offered at a site where a sole specialized technician has chosen not to be immunized and no other staffing options are available.

More ➥ https://calgaryherald.com/news/local...e-until-dec-13


BTW:
Q: Why is Alberta known as the Texas of Canada?
A: Because Canadians don't know about Arkansas.

[AiniA]

The Toronto Star has a graphic each day showing the percent vaccinated. It was showing about 86% with two shots and then vaccinations for 5 to 11 started and the number dropped to 75% and is now creeping back up. Not sure if 0 to 4s will get their at some point or not.

[danstanford]

I recently read a post somewhere from someone in England saying it was becoming common practice to buy and use a quick test prior to going to social gatherings so everyone present could be assured those around them were safe. Assuming these could be bought easily and for a reasonable price it would really help to get back to a more normal world while mitigating the risks in a big way.
I have to say that where I live it is the rare case where people come to the door in a mask despite seeing me with one on. Most will ask if I would be more comfortable if they masked up.

[pcmm]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Certainly brings into question the wisdom of travel bans. At this point I'd rather see a focus on testing and contact tracing, along with vaccination (of course), rather than trying to rebuild our walls.

I agree, I'm not sure that travel bans really work other than to attempt to solw things down and "buy some time". I think globally we need to shift our focus to helping (in a big way) the more vulnerable countries get as vaccinated as possible. The battle as I see it now is to try to catch up/get ahead of the "variants of concern" That's not really going to happen until places like Africa where the vaccination rate is as low as 10% gets addressed.