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The bees/wasps seem particularly numerous this year. But hey, it's 2020. We hung some fake wasp nests in our yard and that seems to have solved the problem.
 
Today Ontario is reporting 232 cases of #COVID19 as over 35,000 tests were completed. Toronto is reporting 77 cases with 62 in Peel and 27 in Ottawa. Like yesterday, 67 per cent of today’s cases are in people under the age of 40.
 
tiffer24 said:
Today Ontario is reporting 232 cases of #COVID19 as over 35,000 tests were completed. Toronto is reporting 77 cases with 62 in Peel and 27 in Ottawa. Like yesterday, 67 per cent of today’s cases are in people under the age of 40.
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I know it is a controversial opinion but if we hit 300 or more daily cases regularly I'd fully support a rollback to Stage 1.
 
The numbers will steadily keep rising. Cases from the Labour Day weekend are continuing to accumulate, with the full impact to be felt in the coming week or two. While school will add onto that as well once things are in full swing.
 
tiffer24 said:
Today Ontario is reporting 232 cases of #COVID19 as over 35,000 tests were completed. Toronto is reporting 77 cases with 62 in Peel and 27 in Ottawa. Like yesterday, 67 per cent of today’s cases are in people under the age of 40.
Click to expand...

Interestingly, not to diminish the concern over new cases, but hospitalizations are actually declining again.

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https://twitter.com/x/status/1304789779247247360

Also of note: 89.7% of cases are now considered resolved.

The positive test rate is 0.6%

This is slightly above our low point, but not all that much.

1599924953193.png



I'm not unconcerned about the rising case total; but I am pleased by these other numbers and will continue to keep a close eye on all of them.

For the moment, I'm open to the idea we may have an absolute rise in cases; or this may be a function of greater testing which has clearly risen.
 

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In my opinion rising positivity rates and cases are forward looking numbers. I would also put rising cases in young people in that category as forward looking sentinels for community spread. These are telling us where we are going.

Hospitalizations, deaths, and ICU numbers are backward looking statistics telling us how we were doing a week or several weeks ago.
 
I manage a Condominium Downtown and yesterday we had Short Term Rental residents wandering about my building while telling the Concierge they were in quarantine for 14 days (without giving specifics).

When I called TPH I was told that because I did not have their information specifically they could not do anything about the persons violating quarantine. I then reminded them that it was a violation of the city-bylaws and federal Quarantine Act but was told there was nothing they could do about the situation.

I find it sad that Public Health officials would let persons who are violating federal law and may be infected with Covid violate Quarantine orders.
 
More bad news on the baseball front:

www.mlbtraderumors.com

Giants Player Tests Positive For COVID-19; Friday's Game Vs. Padres Postponed

SEPTEMBER 13, 10:19 am: Major League Baseball has officially confirmed today's doubleheader. Given most recent test results, the league has …
www.mlbtraderumors.com www.mlbtraderumors.com

This time, a San Francisco Giants player tested positive for COVID-19, necessitating the postponement of a game versus the San Diego Padres.
 
https://www.thestar.com/amp/news/gt...many-residents-return-to-work-and-school.html

The article sensationalizes the issue but it’s right to point it out. I identified this issue months ago in this thread that the fall would necessarily bring a tsunami of demand for testing. We’re not talking a 50% increase in testing demand we’re talking like a 5 times increase in testing demand. What’s the plan? Because if there is no plan people will be forced to not get tested and community spread will explode leading to an increase in test positivity.
 
I have a friend who went to have a Covid test done at Toronto Western Hospital on Bathurst & Dundas during the week, and she was in line for a solid 2-3 hours during the afternoon. She didn't have symptoms but needed to complete the test for her current job. The tests run until 8pm, but at certain points they'll turn people away based on projected timelines, and it's not uncommon for people to just leave and perhaps come back on a different day.
 
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AlbertC said:
I have a friend who went to have a Covid test done at Toronto Western Hospital on Bathurst & Dundas during the week, and she was in line for a solid 2-3 hours during the afternoon. She didn't have symptoms but needed to complete the test for her current job. The tests run until 8pm at certain points they'll turn people away based on projected timelines, and it's not uncommon for people to just leave and perhaps come back on a different day.
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Toronto COVID-19 test centres see big lineups, and some people turned away, as many residents return to work and school

From link.

COVID-19 test centres across the city are reporting a spike in demand over the past two weeks, with reports of long lines, and some people even being turned away.

The increase coincides with families gearing up to send their children back to school for the first time since March Break and others returning to work in person.
Banuta Rubess wasn’t able to get tested this week despite visiting two separate sites on both Thursday and Friday due to long wait times.

“These lineups were scary,” Rubess said.

She first visited the Toronto Western assessment centre at Bathurst and Dundas on Thursday evening, but after lining up for half an hour, she was nowhere near her turn, and said she was told she wouldn’t get in.

She then tried her luck at St. Joseph’s testing site at around 6:45 p.m. When she arrived at that site, which operates every day until 8 p.m., she was sent away by security due to overwhelming demand. People were still arriving by the handfuls, she said.

Rubess didn’t give up and tried again to get tested the following day. But when she arrived late on Friday morning, she was met with the same long lineups at both locations and decided to go home because she couldn’t wait that long.

“It was a bigger sinking feeling,” Rubess said, disappointed she wasn’t able to get tested two days in a row.

Gillian Howard, a spokesperson for University Health Network, said they are “experiencing long lines” at the Toronto Western site.

“When the lines are long, we do give people in the lines an idea of how long they will wait,” she said. “Towards the end of the day we also stop people from lining up at the approximate point where we can do all of the swabs for those lined up.”

To extend hours they would need “additional funds and staff,” she said, and will “work with Toronto Public Health and Ontario Health to determine whether the funds are available.”
Jennifer Stranges, a spokesperson for the testing sites at St. Joseph’s and St. Michael’s hospitals, said that similar to other COVID-19 testing centres in the city, both sites have seen an increase in demand.

On Thursday, 424 people were tested at the St. Joseph’s location, Stranges said. This is in contrast to 242 people tested a month prior on Aug. 7.

“Anecdotally, more people are coming in for tests who are returning to work, people that have received alerts through the new app and people who are visiting the elderly, immunocompromised or new babies,” Stranges said in an email.

Keeley Rogers, spokesperson for Trillium Health Partners, said their COVID-19 assessment centres have also seen increased volumes in the past two weeks, beginning the week before Labour Day weekend.

Rogers and Stranges both said that if people are still in line to get tested as centres close, they’re asked to return the following day. They can also book an appointment online for Trillium Health’s Drive-Thru assessment centre.

The province’s COVID-19 data shows the number of tests processed in Ontario spiked significantly on Wednesday, when around 25,000 samples were processed provincewide, marking a 40 per cent increase from the previous day.

On Thursday, around 32,500 were processed — another spike of 31 per cent in the span of 24 hours. That’s the biggest single-day increase in the percentage of tests completed since July 28 and Aug. 5. Testing seems to spike around long weekends.

Dr. Erin Bearss, medical director of the COVID-19 Assessment Centre at Mount Sinai Hospital, said they’ve seen biggest spike in volume in the pandemic so far over the last couple of weeks.

“I would say we’re probably up by a third, maybe even double,” she said.

The assessment centre is only open in the mornings, but they were doing about 100 tests a day over the summer and are now averaging around 200.

It’s not clear why more people are coming in.

“I think people are out and about more,” she said. “I wonder if hearing that the numbers are going up has increased anxiety in some ways, if people are lowering their threshold to get tested just because they’re hearing that there’s more COVID around.

“We’ve been able to manage it quite well,” Bearss said, mentioning increased staffing to respond to the volume, drawing on a pool of staff physicians who can pitch in when needed.

They are also “troubleshooting” options to increase capacity, which could include extending hours, and increasing the space so more people can be swabbed at once....
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West Toronto strip club closed after 7 COVID-19 cases: officials

Sept 13, 2020

Toronto Public Health says six employees and one patron who visited a west Toronto strip club in the past three weeks have tested positive for COVID-19, prompting officials to urge anyone who went there recently to self-monitor for symptoms.

Officials say the seven cases were detected at Club Paradise, at 1313 Bloor Street West, since Sept. 4.

www.cp24.com

West Toronto strip club closed after 7 COVID-19 cases: officials

Toronto Public Health says six employees and one patron who visited a west Toronto strip club in the past three weeks have tested positive for COVID-19, prompting officials to urge anyone who went there recently to self-monitor for symptoms.
www.cp24.com www.cp24.com
 
AlbertC said:
West Toronto strip club closed after 7 COVID-19 cases: officials

Sept 13, 2020

Toronto Public Health says six employees and one patron who visited a west Toronto strip club in the past three weeks have tested positive for COVID-19, prompting officials to urge anyone who went there recently to self-monitor for symptoms.

Officials say the seven cases were detected at Club Paradise, at 1313 Bloor Street West, since Sept. 4.

www.cp24.com

West Toronto strip club closed after 7 COVID-19 cases: officials

Toronto Public Health says six employees and one patron who visited a west Toronto strip club in the past three weeks have tested positive for COVID-19, prompting officials to urge anyone who went there recently to self-monitor for symptoms.
www.cp24.com www.cp24.com
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I'll volunteer to do a search of the performers.

 
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