[afransen]

People have been travelling since before the plague. And the new variants are not significantly more deadly based on the very scant evidence there is.

The UK variant seems to be significantly more contagious (unclear if more fatal). But the body count will come from being more contagious. And the degree to which we need to lock down is driven by how infectious the virus is (how strict we need to be to get R < 1). So, we should be doing everything we can to delay the UK variant becoming the dominant strain in Canada. It will save us pain over the longer term, at the cost of inconveniencing a very small number of people who are travelling against recommendations right now.

 

[SunriseChampion]

The UK variant seems to be significantly more contagious (unclear if more fatal). But the body count will come from being more contagious.

Not necessarily. This depends entirely on who is infected.

And the degree to which we need to lock down is driven by how infectious the virus is (how strict we need to be to get R < 1).

Exactly, and the UK variant is known to be here for over a month now and if you look at the above-posted chart, our R0 value continues to drop. This suggests that the presence of the variant is not having a significant impact on case numbers.

So, we should be doing everything we can to delay the UK variant becoming the dominant strain in Canada. It will save us pain over the longer term, at the cost of inconveniencing a very small number of people who are travelling against recommendations right now.

I haven't a problem with people not travelling overseas....I'm saying that if the government is serious they should have implemented this sort of regulation a year ago. As in January 2020.

 

[afransen]

Exactly, and the UK variant is known to be here for over a month now and if you look at the above-posted chart, our R0 value continues to drop. This suggests that the presence of the variant is not having a significant impact on case numbers.

I haven't a problem with people not travelling overseas....I'm saying that if the government is serious they should have implemented this sort of regulation a year ago. As in January 2020.

The UK strain is not the dominant strain here, yet. So you really can't read anything into the current turn in infections. Ideally we'll be able to start relaxing restrictions in a few weeks, get kids back in school, etc. Having people continuing to seed more UK strain infections in Canada is not helpful. And it's better late than never. We should have have mandatory quarantine since early on.

 

[SunriseChampion]

The UK strain is not the dominant strain here, yet. So you really can't read anything into the current turn in infections.

IIRC, they don't test widely for specific strains so I'm not sure if much is known about this idea. I'm not sure how they test for the variants though so....

Ideally we'll be able to start relaxing restrictions in a few weeks, get kids back in school, etc.

Damn right. I've lost my job now, which is fine because I'm sitting on cash and was burnt out anyway but people's homes won't get built and apparently that was a serious "essential".
Builders are stuck waiting for building permits from last year still. One of ours since spring!

Having people continuing to seed more UK strain infections in Canada is not helpful. And it's better late than never.

I guess so, it just all looks so poor form done like this.

We should have have mandatory quarantine since early on.

From literally a year ago.

 

[Johnny Au]

Larry King died of COVID-19:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/larry-king-obituary-1.5885208

 

[PinkLucy]

Right in the article it says “ no cause of death was given”. Yes, he had been hospitalized with COVID, but you can’t definitely state that he died from COVID. It is highly likely that it was a contributing factor, however.

 

[zang]

Right in the article it says “ no cause of death was given”. Yes, he had been hospitalized with COVID, but you can’t definitely state that he died from COVID. It is highly likely that it was a contributing factor, however.

Even without multiple heart attacks and multiple cancers, at 87 his odds against COVID weren’t particularly good to begin with.

 

[Johnny Au]

Right in the article it says “ no cause of death was given”. Yes, he had been hospitalized with COVID, but you can’t definitely state that he died from COVID. It is highly likely that it was a contributing factor, however.

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[tiffer24]

#Ontario blames its inability to vaccinate all #LTC residents on #Pfizer's initial handling requirements. We now learn that Pfizer loosened its guidelines on Dec 18, yet #Ontario took until Jan 5 to move vaccines into homes. This is a scandalous failure:

https://globalnews.ca/news/7588530/ontario-coronavirus-vaccine-rollout-inside-look/

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

From Politico:

Moderna making booster shot to fight Covid-19 variants

New strains of the coronavirus have emerged in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil.

www.politico.com

AoD

 

[Videodrome]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/canada-post-350-employees-mississauga-plant-shift-self-isolation-1.5885785?cmp=rss

This is very bad.

 

[gabe]

#Ontario blames its inability to vaccinate all #LTC residents on #Pfizer's initial handling requirements. We now learn that Pfizer loosened its guidelines on Dec 18, yet #Ontario took until Jan 5 to move vaccines into homes. This is a scandalous failure:

https://globalnews.ca/news/7588530/ontario-coronavirus-vaccine-rollout-inside-look/

Pretty frustrating. Meanwhile in Texas my two friends got vaccinated today at one of those mass vaccine centres. None of them are essential workers, they are both under 40. In and out in less than an hour. 65 and over or that have health problems got to jump the line.

 

[zang]

Pretty frustrating. Meanwhile in Texas my two friends got vaccinated today at one of those mass vaccine centres. None of them are essential workers, they are both under 40. In and out in less than an hour. 65 and over or that have health problems got to jump the line.

The US is having a big issue with distrust in the vaccine, so many are just plain refusing to get it. The doses are perishable, so there are tales of HCWs in smaller communities wandering through stores or on the street asking people in non-priority groups if they want to get it, rather than allow them to go to waste.

 

[PinkLucy]

I have family in New Jersey. Under 40, can get it any time now. Frustrating. Friends in Florida report no luck getting appointments, phone lines can’t keep up. Also frustrating

 

[gabe]

The US is having a big issue with distrust in the vaccine, so many are just plain refusing to get it. The doses are perishable, so there are tales of HCWs in smaller communities wandering through stores or on the street asking people in non-priority groups if they want to get it, rather than allow them to go to waste.

You'll see that here in Canada. Read the comments on social media. At my work my boss already said, eventually he will ask for proof of Covid vaccination when job openings come available. No Covid vaccine = no job interview.