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**GordMay** · 04-04-2021, 02:26

More than 150 intensive care physicians have signed an open letter, to the Ontario government, released Thursday, that warns of exponential growth of variant COVID-19 infections, that could overwhelm ICUs.

Lake-Effect · 04-04-2021, 07:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by GordMay

More than 150 intensive care physicians have signed an open letter, to the Ontario government, released Thursday, that warns of exponential growth of variant COVID-19 infections, that could overwhelm ICUs.

... and the brakes have been applied. This article notes that the new illnesses and deaths are no longer the vulnerable in institutions and rest homes (thanks to vaccinations), but younger people, most of whom are the low-paid "essential" workers keeping the rest of us fed and happy.

NaClyDog · 04-04-2021, 11:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lake-Effect

... and the brakes have been applied. This article notes that the new illnesses and deaths are no longer the vulnerable in institutions and rest homes (thanks to vaccinations), but younger people, most of whom are the low-paid "essential" workers keeping the rest of us fed and happy.

They say the brakes have been applied but that is not what is really going on. You are still free to go out and shop anywhere. The only people affected are gyms and hair salons. Have you seen the videos from inside the Yorkdale mall yesterday?

The Ontario government has failed miserably in this third wave.

Does this look like the "brakes are applied"?

https://twitter.com/blogTO/status/1378715513581359108

Lake-Effect · 04-04-2021, 11:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by NaClyDog

They say the brakes have been applied but that is not what is really going on. You are still free to go out and shop anywhere. The only people affected are gyms and hair salons. Have you seen the videos from inside the Yorkdale mall yesterday?

The Ontario government has failed miserably in this third wave.

Does this look like the "brakes are applied"?

https://twitter.com/blogTO/status/1378715513581359108

Yeah, not great. I know that many people are voluntarily taking more precautions because of the new restrictions. Maybe the young consumer class are more resistant (or just think they are). Maybe masks plus distancing will keep the malls relayively safe...? I guess we'll see from the oncoming stats whether more action should have been taken. Just a few more months, people...

Montanan · 05-04-2021, 11:53

Meanwhile in Canada:

Canada's third wave.

The third wave of the coronavirus has mainly struck the provinces of Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia, prompting all three to implement new restrictions to stop the spread.

Canada's chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, recently announced a 64% increase in new cases involving coronavirus variants - 90% of which involved the B.1.1.7 variant first found in the United Kingdom in September.

Ontario, in particular, has reported an influx of much younger patients in ICUs. Nearly half of the province's COVID-19 ICU patients are under the age of 60, officials announced this week.

"It's getting pretty alarming here. It's spreading quickly, and it's much faster than the last two waves," Dr. Kashif Pirzada, an emergency physician in Toronto, told CNN. "The people filling the ICU right now are all in their 30s, 40s, and 50s."

Canada has had a remarkably slow vaccine rollout, mainly because of delays in importing doses. The country lacks the capacity to manufacture its own vaccines. As of April 1, just 1.75% of the population was fully vaccinated, and just 11.86% had received at least one dose.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/canadas-3...035116901.html

Pelagic · 06-04-2021, 09:11

"Canada has had a remarkably slow vaccine rollout, mainly because of delays in importing doses. The country lacks the capacity to manufacture its own vaccines. As of April 1, just 1.75% of the population was fully vaccinated, and just 11.86% had received at least one dose. "
Unquote.

As a Canadian, I found this paragraph very sad and incredbly embarassing for the leaders of this first world country who seem to have forgotten what their primary responsibilities to their people are.

All politics asside,...
Canada's voter apathy has been my concern for many years, but as a non resident, forgot about.its implications .

I hope Canadians demand better representation in the future.

Mike OReilly · 06-04-2021, 09:39

For me, the key line is: "The country lacks the capacity to manufacture its own vaccines." This is the central problem with our lacklustre vaccination response.

Canada used to be a world leader in vaccine development and production. But our Prime Minister of the day (Brian Mulroney) allowed our world-leading facilities to first be privatized, and then sold off to foreign companies which promptly moved all capacity out of our country.

We're now scrambling to rebuild this capacity, but we are the only large developed nation without our own vaccine facilities. THIS is why Canada has been slow off the mark (compared to our peer countries ... not compared to most of the world).

Lake-Effect · 06-04-2021, 09:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pelagic

"Canada has had a remarkably slow vaccine rollout, mainly because of delays in importing doses. The country lacks the capacity to manufacture its own vaccines. As of April 1, just 1.75% of the population was fully vaccinated, and just 11.86% had received at least one dose. "
Unquote.

As a Canadian, I found this paragraph very sad and incredbly embarassing for the leaders of this first world country who seem to have forgotten what their primary responsibilities to their people are.

There was a press conference just an hour ago - Trudeau giving an update. The gist of it isn't yet on the CBC website, but on the radio news it was briefly summarized.

Vaccine supply was mentioned. The federal government is saying that they're about two weeks ahead of the original schedule for receipt of vaccines. Apparently, most provinces have a stockpile of vaccines now, so the current slowdown is mainly the last mile - making appointments and giving the shots. So the provinces and cities need to shift into a higher gear.

I was able to make appointments for us for 4 days from the date I went online. That suggests that there's more capacity now, so it's maybe just down to driving more people to sign up. If they can get the speed up, and keep it up, they will have given most Canadians their first shot ahead of the originally proposed timetables.

I'm not thrilled by the apparent lag, but then again Canada is pretty close to Europe in terms of rollout, and they can make the stuff

Montanan · 06-04-2021, 09:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

For me, the key line is: "The country lacks the capacity to manufacture its own vaccines." This is the central problem with our lacklustre vaccination response.

Canada used to be a world leader in vaccine development and production. But our Prime Minister of the day (Brian Mulroney) allowed our world-leading facilities to first be privatized, and then sold off to foreign companies which promptly moved all capacity out of our country.

We're now scrambling to rebuild this capacity, but we are the only large developed nation without our own vaccine facilities. THIS is why Canada has been slow off the mark (compared to our peer countries ... not compared to most of the world).

To tweak and borrow an American expression: Make Canada Great Again!

Macblaze · 06-04-2021, 12:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Montanan

To tweak and borrow an American expression: Make Canada Great Again!

Don't. Just... don't.

Montanan · 06-04-2021, 17:46

Toronto will cancel all in-person learning at elementary and secondary schools as of Wednesday, health authorities said as Canada deals with a variant-driven third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, which has hit the younger population hard.

Canada's largest school district, serving around 247,000 students, will move to remote learning until April 18, with the potential to extend based on case trend data. It follows a similar move by another school board in Ontario province on Monday.

"Schools should be the first places in our community to open, and the last to close," Toronto Public Health said in a statement on Tuesday. "Unfortunately, current circumstances require that difficult decisions must be taken locally to protect all those in our school communities."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned of a "very serious" third wave facing the country which is pushing up hospitalizations and rapidly filling up intensive care beds.

"Around the world, countries are facing a very serious third wave of this pandemic," Trudeau told reporters in Ottawa. "And right now, so is Canada."

Montanan · 06-04-2021, 17:56

As many as one in three people infected with Covid-19 have longer term mental health or neurological symptoms, researchers reported Tuesday.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/06/healt...ess/index.html

They found 34% of Covid-19 survivors received a diagnosis for a neurological or psychological condition within six months of their infection, according to the study published Tuesday in the journal Lancet Psychiatry.
The most common diagnosis was anxiety, found in 17% of those treated for Covid-19, followed by mood disorders, found in 14% of patients.
And while the neurological effects are more severe in hospitalized patients, they are still common in those who were only treated in an outpatient setting.

desodave · 06-04-2021, 21:31

It doesn't look hopeful for those of you wanting to come to BC to cruise our coast this summer. There were 4,000 new cases over the long weekend with the effects of too much weekend travel still to come. Of particular concern is the presence of the variants, especially the Brazilian P1 in the Lower Mainland(plus Whistler).
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...il-6-1.5977174
ICU cases are the highest they've been with overall hospitalizations just below the Jan 6th peak - funny about that date. Only good part of it is that deaths have been reduced from previous peaks as LT care residents have been vaccinated. Small community vaccinations are progressing - for all residents - so that might positively affect the likelihood of summer cruising.