Canadian COVID-19 News

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Montanan

It is disheartening to consider that Dr. Fauci felt the need to say this regarding the lack of willingness of some to follow the most basic of Covid prevention protocols and their apparent lack of disregard for the well being of others.

Stay safe, stay healthy.

Yes indeed, but it's certainly evident from some of the comments here on CF.

As I keep saying, once the dust all settles on this pandemic and we've had a chance to digest all the data, I believe we'll see that societies that can act collectively will have done much better than those that are more individualistic.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Macblaze

I think it falls under the category of "if you give people an inch..."

I'm sure you're right. If the congregants behaved, it should be no problem, but would they .

[TrentePieds]

As for Pallister — my reaction, when I watched him say it, was "Wow! This is not a guy you [as the old saying went] would like to have next to you in a fox hole."

He came across as totally panic stricken. However right (in the sense of "useful") his message may have been, I should think the vast majority of viewers would have dismissed him as being of no use whatever as a leader, and not worth listening to.

Despite our doing rather well in BC initially, those days appear to be over because for several months now, fun has trumped caution, as it always will. I came to the conclusion back in early March that the only way to avoid the virus is to not breathe air that has already been through someone else's lungs!

I will continue to avoid doing so until the vaccine proves out "in the field". The only thing that niggles me is that, being Auntie Bonnie's good little boy, I can't get to the boat where there is no-one's used air to breathe.

TP

[sv_pelagia]

Originally Posted by TrentePieds

Despite our doing rather well in BC initially, those days appear to be over because for several months now, fun has trumped caution, as it always will. I came to the conclusion back in early March that the only way to avoid the virus is to not breathe air that has already been through someone else's lungs!

TP

Yes and no... we did well here in BC in the Spring, and are still doing "reasonably well" compared to our Prairie neighbours and Quebec (even Ontario, given its more-severe restrictions and filling hospitals).

~700/day isn't great, but it sure is far far better than Alberta's 1800+/day

We live in Whistler... tourist #s have dropoed substantially the past 2 weeks; still, we are getting too many visitors.

[Capn Jimbo]

Originally Posted by sv_pelagia

Yes and no... we did well here in BC in the Spring, and are still doing "reasonably well" compared to our Prairie neighbours and Quebec (even Ontario, given its more-severe restrictions and filling hospitals).

~700/day isn't great, but it sure is far far better than Alberta's 1800+/day

We live in Whistler... tourist #s have dropoed substantially the past 2 weeks; still, we are getting too many visitors.

This is like the WWII Parisians taking heart that the German invasion was much worse in Belgium. It was...for a bit. It's a virus, not a kettle of heating water... indeed, visitors are a major vector...

[sv_pelagia]

Jimbo:

Not sure if you are aware of COVID history here in Canada, and the very real differences between provinces' approaches, especially between Alberta and BC.

[Scorpius]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

Wow Alberta has a very tough set of restrictions

Yeah, but they're 'way too late. Covid-19 is pretty much out of control there - very much like in most of the states.

[Macblaze]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

Wow Alberta has a very tough set of restrictions

Originally Posted by Scorpius

Yeah, but they're 'way too late. Covid-19 is pretty much out of control there - very much like in most of the states.

And I repeat, not so tough. Unless you are a single person, and then heck, you can just spend your days at bingos, casinos, bars and churches...

These half measures are making me crazy. As Yoda famously said "Do or do not..."

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Scorpius

Yeah, but they're 'way too late. Covid-19 is pretty much out of control there - very much like in most of the states.

It's bad, and getting worse up here, but lets keep things in perspective. ALL Canadian provinces are doing much better than virtually ALL the US states. Here's an ordered list showing where provinces and states rank in cases/million.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/corona...ates-1.5051033

Alberta, which is currently our worst province, comes in at 45th on the list. Manitoba and Saskachewan come 49th & 50th. The rest of our provinces are better than all the US states except Hawaii.

So yeah... things are bad, and getting worse up here. But it's not (yet) like most US states.

[TrentePieds]

Quote: "Not sure if you are aware of COVID history here in Canada"

I would think that it is not entirely fair to expect, let us say a Floridian, to be aware of, let alone care about, Canada's regional differences or, indeed, of the practicalities of Canadian governance as they differ from province to province.

Dockhead has argued adducing the Baltic countries, that voluntary compliance with requests from "authority" trumps threats of compulsion. I have taken a similar position pointing to social cohesiveness as a function of underlying ethos. IMO, therefore, the ethos of the functionary delivering the request must be of great significance for its acceptance. Not to put too fine a point on it, then, the differences in compliance, and therefore in infection rates, between BC and Alberta in the early days of the pandemic was, it may be argued, due to people's response to Dr. Bonnie Henry being "As you wish, Ma'am" and to Jason Kenny being "Chuck off, Farley!"

That BC has a different ethos from Alberta is patently clear to Canadians thanks to the way our "media" function, but why would a Floridian know that, let alone understand it? Or even care about it?

As a small step towards rectifying that deficiency of understanding let us just mention that four score (and four) years ago the FEDERAL government of Canada created a Crown Corporation, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, with the specific mandate to 1) "Unify" the provinces and northern territories and 2) provide a countervail to "American influence" (sic) emanating from American high powered radio stations broadcasting into Canada, and 3) provide a disincentive to American private sector broadcasters' ongoing predation of small Canadian "private" broadcasters. The "political stripe" of the government that created this Crown (publicly owned) corporation, and issued this mandate, was one that today we would consider shockingly conservative, not to say reactionary.

That the Alberta government's response to the pandemic has been different from BC's has very directly to do with the fact that since the discovery of oil at Leduc in 1947, Alberta has been unable, try though she did, to resist the importation of American notions of social organization and governance. The ghost of Jimmie Monroe walks among us :-)!

TP

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by TrentePieds

That the Alberta government's response to the pandemic has been different from BC's has very directly to do with the fact that since the discovery of oil at Leduc in 1947, Alberta has been unable, try though she did, to resist the importation of American notions of social organization and governance. The ghost of Jimmie Monroe walks among us :-)!

Alberta, and to a slightly smaller extent Manitoba and Saskatchewan, are all governed by ideologically-right leaders right now. This does indeed offer an interesting experiment or contrast in approaches to the pandemic.

[sv_pelagia]

"That BC has a different ethos from Alberta is patently clear to Canadians thanks to the way our "media" function, but why would a Floridian know that, let alone understand it? Or even care about it?"

Agreed.

Except Jimbo posted a comment in response to my note comparing BC to ROC (esp Alberta), thus it seemed (to me) he cared about it....

[sv_pelagia]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Alberta, and to a slightly smaller extent Manitoba and Saskatchewan, are all governed by ideologically-right leaders right now. This does indeed offer an interesting experiment or contrast in approaches to the pandemic.

Yes, indeed.

[Scorpius]

Alberta is sometimes called "Texas North" - and it's not just because they have oil.

[TrentePieds]

Quote: " This does indeed offer an interesting experiment or contrast in approaches to the pandemic"

There's a cheap PhD thesis here for somebody. But I've got to the point in my life that I'd rather go sailing :-)!

TP