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Northern Light said:
There is a challenge with that...... beyond the obvious.

In reality, based on current published data, Canada has experienced less than 0.1% excess deaths over the course of the pandemic. That's less than 0.04% over the course of any given year.

That simply can't justify perpetual 'crisis management'; in any society.

View attachment 429316

Source: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/...ive-per-100k-economist?tab=chart&country=~CAN

We're currently running at 2 deaths, per day, Canada wide.

View attachment 429317

If one applies the most recent weekly average, to an annualized number you would get ~1,600 deaths per year.

As measured against this chart, showing Covid as the #3 cause of death in the year 2020:

View attachment 429318
Credit noted above

One would assess that Covid is no longer considered a top 10 cause of death in Canada.

That's not to suggest one should be ignorant of the risks, nor inconsiderate to others; but if one is going to take a proportionate response to risk, based on the data, we would
justify a number of crisis-level actions in regards to issues other than Covid.

I find it unlikely the public has an appetite for that level of interventionism.
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You are misreading the data. We are not at 2 deaths per day at all. There were 2 reported deaths yesterday, but the 7-day average is 32. The fact that the death toll has been higher so far than last year has been widely reported in both languages.

A mask mandate would not be onerous at all. That's all I would be asking for.
 
Bayer said:
A mask mandate would not be onerous at all. That's all I would be asking for.
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That would never happen.

That ship sailed months ago and there it will likely not return. The only way a mask mandate will return is if we have 1000 or more cases daily.

Even if a mask mandate was put back into place we would be one of the few jurisdictions globally that had one. It would make no sense and other than a few people it would likely be ignored.
 
The federal restrictions are as good as done. Even the strictest domestic mandates won't matter for new variants if they continue to spread outside of Canada.
Bayer said:
There is no reason why a pandemic should be of any specific duration. Again, that's reality. The virus continues to mutate, and therefore, the vaccines that we thought would put an end to it are less effective than anticipated. While people stick their heads in the sand, hundreds die every day in North America, and caring for the thousands who are hospitalized right here in Canada continues to strain our health resources. We should have at least kept the mask mandate.
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Anecdotally, there were lots of people who stopped listening to the government's health requirements (including masks) after last fall. The mini-lockdown in January destroyed whatever public acceptance there was left. You can't impose whatever health restrictions you want, if the government doesn't want to do it, and the population doesn't want to do it.

Something else that is reality is that COVID measures are not going to be widely accepted anymore, and honestly, the more effective measures are disruptive and cause more harm than good.

COVID statistics and measures don't matter if the population doesn't want to accept it. We need to be balancing the value of a 'normal' (I use that word in quotations marks) society with the benefits of COVID measures.

Three weeks of COVID measures in March 2020 became three years, and the next time a pandemic comes along, apathy will be the defining reaction.
 
Bayer said:
You are misreading the data. We are not at 2 deaths per day at all. There were 2 reported deaths yesterday, but the 7-day average is 32. The fact that the death toll has been higher so far than last year has been widely reported in both languages.

A mask mandate would not be onerous at all. That's all I would be asking for.
Click to expand...

Thank you for that note on the charts, I have corrected my post accordingly.

I further examined the weekly average data from the 7 days ending Sept 26, 2021 vs 2022, and it does show a decline from ~35 to ~32, at low points in the curve.

When looking at this total vs the most recent peak, the number is down from 166 deaths per day on the average.

When comparing this with other causes of death, based on the chart I previously posted, the current total would place Covid at number 6 in causes of death, if annualized.

Of course, should the curve rise again, this will vary.
 
There's a lot of pasture between lockdowns, mandates, etc. and partying like it is 2019. I'm starting to notice more people wearing masks in stores, etc. and it will interesting to see how congregate settings, particularly dense ones like schools, fare. The main goal has to be the protection of our healthcare system, and hospitals are barely treading water as it is, and a flu season is coming up.
 
lenaitch said:
There's a lot of pasture between lockdowns, mandates, etc. and partying like it is 2019. I'm starting to notice more people wearing masks in stores, etc. and it will interesting to see how congregate settings, particularly dense ones like schools, fare. The main goal has to be the protection of our healthcare system, and hospitals are barely treading water as it is, and a flu season is coming up.
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Indeed, the health care system is a shambles at the moment; protecting it would be enough of a reason to reinstate the mask mandate in indoor settings, at least until spring.
 
Mask mandates are good, but what I really want to see is widespread CO2 monitoring and ventilation improvements. I recently learned that CO2 has dramatic effects on cognitive function even at typical indoor levels (pdf link for the curious), so improving ventilation wouldn't just reduce the spread of airborne pathogens, it could actually make us smarter.
 
smably said:
Mask mandates are good, but what I really want to see is widespread CO2 monitoring and ventilation improvements. I recently learned that CO2 has dramatic effects on cognitive function even at typical indoor levels (pdf link for the curious), so improving ventilation wouldn't just reduce the spread of airborne pathogens, it could actually make us smarter.
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The problem with mask mandates at this juncture is that you really have to mandate N95s (nevermind wearing them right) to make a difference. I think we should prioritize improving ventilation, ring-fence healthcare facilities and improve vaccination booster uptake.

AoD
 
Are any of you considering getting the updated vaccine booster? I don't know a single person who has even talked about it.
 
Towered said:
Are any of you considering getting the updated vaccine booster? I don't know a single person who has even talked about it.
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I MIGHT. I want to but the third dose put me out of commission for days. I am not eager to take time off work because of something I can avoid.
 
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