No surprise, Toronto schools have joined Peel in shutting down. Having one online and the other in-person didn't compute--Brampton and Mississauga are basically extensions of Toronto.
I have to wonder if the situation in schools is deteriorating faster than they're saying. ("They" meaning the government, I guess.) Erring on the side of caution hasn't exactly been the rule the past year; action is generally taken only when it has to be taken. Shutting down now, rather than holding on for three extra days, only makes sense in that context.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 6 April 2021 19:30 (three years ago) link
Is anyone taking this seriously?
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/conservatives-public-inquiry-covid19-response-1.5976456
If anything, I have more of a problem with our successive provincial governments' cavalier approach to healthcare than I do with the feds.
― pomenitul, Tuesday, 6 April 2021 19:36 (three years ago) link
Just saw Biden give a summary of vaccination progress that makes it clear just how much of a free pass every politician here got for as long as Trump was in charge.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 6 April 2021 20:33 (three years ago) link
The most Canadian thing to do would be to focus on the one thing the Americans have done well for the past ten years at the expense of everything else.
― Van Horn Street, Tuesday, 6 April 2021 21:08 (three years ago) link
I take your point, but at this juncture, won't speeded-up vaccinations make the everything else secondary? I know they're not the whole solution; you have to keep doing everything else. But without vaccinations, there seems to be early evidence that the everything else can't keep up with the variants.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 6 April 2021 21:12 (three years ago) link
Anyway, my main point was that everything is relative, and having Trump as your point of comparison did give Ford and the rest something of a free pass with the press (I'm sure I got lured into that too)--although the damage he did spilled over to us in many other ways.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 6 April 2021 21:18 (three years ago) link
the news the past week: the ICUs are filling up with people under 50!Ford gov't today: we've lowered the vaccine eligibility to 50 and up!!!
Ford gov't today: we've lowered the vaccine eligibility to 50 and up!!!
seriously. I hate him/them so very much. the fact that his approval ratings are good (if declining, verrrry slowwwly) is enraging. this is from less than a month ago:
A new Angus Reid Institute poll this week pegged Ford’s approval rating at 50 per cent. That’s down from a high of 69-per-cent approval in the early summer, but still miles ahead of the dismal 31 per cent Ford had at the start of the pandemic. A Mainstreet Research poll in late February reported that 43 per cent of Ontarians were likely to vote for Ford if an election were held, and the PCs dominated in every age group.
― intern at pepe le pew research (Simon H.), Tuesday, 6 April 2021 21:24 (three years ago) link
Again, there is a direct connection there, I believe, to who he's being compared to--that decline may accelerate quickly.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 6 April 2021 21:25 (three years ago) link
I sure fuckin hope so, and I hope it happens without too much more death. The provincial opposition has been invisible, as well.
― intern at pepe le pew research (Simon H.), Tuesday, 6 April 2021 21:29 (three years ago) link
Biden said today that every American over the age of 18 will be vaccine-eligible by April 19.
1) Does that mean they'll actually get it? The vast majority, probably not.
2) Is a target like that even possible for us? With the vaccines we're getting delivered, probably not--which may be our fault, I don't know anymore.
But it will be hard to maintain that approval rating when you put the over/under-50 announcement next to that, unless the blame gets mostly deflected onto Trudeau.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 6 April 2021 21:33 (three years ago) link
All he had to do last spring was look gravely concerned at his press conferences (he did, and I do believe that was genuine), step aside and let doctors speak when it was a medical question, and shut down everything for the first month (or was it two months? I can't even remember anymore). Trump's daily horror show took care of everything else. We're a long way from all that.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 6 April 2021 21:37 (three years ago) link
https://thetyee.ca/News/2021/04/02/Canada-One-Big-Pandemic-Response-Experiment-Zero-COVID/
― Wayne Grotski (symsymsym), Tuesday, 6 April 2021 23:20 (three years ago) link
eh it's kind of relevant that the provinces that did zero covid are the maritimes, not really a perfectly controlled experiment
― flopson, Wednesday, 7 April 2021 05:33 (three years ago) link
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-stay-at-home-order-covid-19-1.5977646
― Kim, Wednesday, 7 April 2021 11:35 (three years ago) link
Richest postal codes in Toronto have highest vaccination rates, lowest deaths.Poorest postal codes, low vaccination rates, high number of deaths. Thread 👇👇👇 https://t.co/5Jhv06Ap3G— Judy Trinh (@judyatrinh) April 7, 2021
― Sequel to Sadness (Sund4r), Wednesday, 7 April 2021 12:58 (three years ago) link
I can understand a slight discrepancy based on average age, but those numbers are fucking wild.
― intern at pepe le pew research (Simon H.), Wednesday, 7 April 2021 13:07 (three years ago) link
Anyone care to explain why that is?
― pomenitul, Wednesday, 7 April 2021 13:14 (three years ago) link
xps Not an experiment at all, that's a dumb way that they put it
― maf you one two (maffew12), Wednesday, 7 April 2021 13:15 (three years ago) link
Basing the rollout so strictly on age was probably a mistake. (Tbf, they couldn't have predicted the new variants when they made the original plans.) Ottawa did make a point of prioritizing high-risk neighbourhoods at each stage, although age etc is still the primary criterion - not sure what the numbers come out to.
xp without researching, I'm guessing these are factors: average age; accessibility of clinics (as mentioned above); populations getting left out bc of language skills or citizenship/residency status
― Sequel to Sadness (Sund4r), Wednesday, 7 April 2021 13:18 (three years ago) link
Sigh @ people replying on that thread in defence of the situation by emphasizing that there are more old people in the richer and safer neighbourhood, rather than questioning whether age was the best criterion to use.
― Sequel to Sadness (Sund4r), Wednesday, 7 April 2021 13:27 (three years ago) link
Makes sense. I was wondering whether we could add higher rates of vaccine hesitancy to that list, but the data I found doesn't really refer to income:
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/45-28-0001/2021001/article/00011-eng.htm
― pomenitul, Wednesday, 7 April 2021 13:28 (three years ago) link
questioning whether age was the best criterion to use
The assumption that vulnerable groups are 100% rational and will sign up for a shot as soon as a slot is available turned out to be off the mark in Quebec and I'm sure it's the same in Ontario.
― pomenitul, Wednesday, 7 April 2021 13:29 (three years ago) link
Some of the communities in those neighbourhoods aren’t tuned into social media much at all, or regular media for that matter. Will need a localized approach.
― Kim, Wednesday, 7 April 2021 15:29 (three years ago) link
As suggested by Warner upthread (and even Arlene Dickinson!), they should be bringing the vaccines into the factories and workplaces, into these neighbourhoods. It's fucking madness that people in our neighbourhood (which includes lots of immigrants and lower-income people, although there are far rougher) have to get themselves out to Canterbury.
― Sequel to Sadness (Sund4r), Wednesday, 7 April 2021 15:41 (three years ago) link
Naheed Nenshi moves on: https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/calgary-mayor-naheed-nenshi-won-t-seek-re-election-in-october-vote-1.5376844
― Sequel to Sadness (Sund4r), Wednesday, 7 April 2021 15:50 (three years ago) link
As much as I'm sickened by this new stay-at-home order, I do get it--3,200 cases today--and it was made clear to me yesterday, when I went into Stratford and found that thrift stores were open, how meaningless the red-zone move last week really was.
― clemenza, Wednesday, 7 April 2021 16:02 (three years ago) link
I have a UK visa appointment in Ottawa on Monday for dumb and complicated reasons I won't bore you with and if that falls through because of the stay-at-home order it'll set off an extremely unpleasant chain reaction. Fuuuuck.
― pomenitul, Wednesday, 7 April 2021 16:08 (three years ago) link
Hopefully that would be deemed essential...I mean, staying or leaving seems kind of essential to me.
― clemenza, Wednesday, 7 April 2021 16:15 (three years ago) link
The rumour is that non-essential goods in the Ontario big box stores will actually be roped off this time, which I agree with if they are going to close the little stores.
It’s definitely time to prioritize vax for the teachers, despite the “schools are safe” rationale from Ford and Lecce. That same “99% have no cases” doesn’t hold when it comes to retail and everything else, and the thing is, in that small percentage where you do have cases, the teachers are at extreme risk because working with kids is always a higher than average germ exposure job.
― Kim, Wednesday, 7 April 2021 16:22 (three years ago) link
― pomenitul, Wednesday, April 7, 2021 12:08 PM (thirteen minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink
Travel for immigration/visa appointments are supposed to be kosher iirc
― Van Horn Street, Wednesday, 7 April 2021 16:24 (three years ago) link
That teachers weren’t the first vaccinated after the health professionals is so insulting.
― Van Horn Street, Wednesday, 7 April 2021 16:26 (three years ago) link
Ok cool. It was definitely closed last spring though, at the height of the first wave. And why the hell don’t they have one in Montreal? Ugh.xp
― pomenitul, Wednesday, 7 April 2021 16:49 (three years ago) link
One = UK visa application centre, not covid wave lol (we already have that, alas).
― pomenitul, Wednesday, 7 April 2021 16:59 (three years ago) link
They remember the FLQ.
― Van Horn Street, Wednesday, 7 April 2021 17:55 (three years ago) link
And why the hell don’t they have one in Montreal Westmount?
― rob, Wednesday, 7 April 2021 18:00 (three years ago) link
Ok, stay at home order starting at midnight. If they follow through, some of this stuff is good - mobile vaccine clinics for 18+ in hot spots, special education and hot spot teachers to get priority, followed by teachers in general.
― Kim, Wednesday, 7 April 2021 18:55 (three years ago) link
I think I'm eligible because I teach in Peel. I just hope it extends to supply teachers (it should; theoretically we move around, even though I think most are sticking to one school this year).
― clemenza, Wednesday, 7 April 2021 18:57 (three years ago) link
I might be eligible anyway, having been born in '61 (someone told me they go by year, not exact birthday).
― clemenza, Wednesday, 7 April 2021 18:58 (three years ago) link
Not sure about supply teachers, but hopefully - believe they did just say all Toronto and Peel teachers.
― Kim, Wednesday, 7 April 2021 18:59 (three years ago) link
You should be able to book an astra Zeneca one at a pharmacy if any near you offering it? That’s 55+ right now
― Kim, Wednesday, 7 April 2021 19:00 (three years ago) link
Yep, you should definitely go for it, clem.
― pomenitul, Wednesday, 7 April 2021 19:04 (three years ago) link
Ford is being dumb again with this 99% of kids aren’t reporting a case of covid thing - I guess spending a full day with a group of 100 children is fine when just one is sick?
― Kim, Wednesday, 7 April 2021 19:19 (three years ago) link
I'm going to try Kim's AstraZeneca suggestion--there's a whole bunch of pharmacies within an hour that offer it. I just registered with one in Ingersoll, so I'm on the waiting list there. I'll make some phone calls too. (First got some clarification from a friend how rare problems are with AZ--a decimal with many zeros. Also, I have another friend who's had it already.)
I think many teachers though this from the beginning--not insulted, just baffled--but the fact is, government has basically viewed this as a probability problem from the beginning (listening to Ford right now, he still does), and--as crass as this sounds--unless someone dies, they figure things are okay. I remember an early school-related death a year ago, but there was so much going on then, it didn't get a lot of attention. There must have been others since, but I don't remember any.
That one Toronto teacher in an ICU last week (hope he/she is pulling through) was making the rounds on Facebook last week; maybe that helped change things. But mostly it's this new variant, which clearly poses a danger to kids.
― clemenza, Wednesday, 7 April 2021 19:29 (three years ago) link
risks from covid are several orders of magnitude higher than risks of the tentative adverse side effects of astrazeneca
― flopson, Wednesday, 7 April 2021 22:00 (three years ago) link
https://thetyee.ca/News/2021/04/07/How-BC-Fumbled-Third-Wave/
Good roundup of BC's sins here. CW: Amir Attaran is interviewed (and makes pretty fair criticisms of Horgan's govt)
― Wayne Grotski (symsymsym), Thursday, 8 April 2021 17:31 (three years ago) link
That's clear enough, and unfortunate.
― Sequel to Sadness (Sund4r), Thursday, 8 April 2021 19:11 (three years ago) link
Hmmm…
https://m1.quebecormedia.com/emp/emp/170576748_10158569474576549_6549383576524081840_ne66371a0-c824-465b-825c-7b1d74b153ee_ORIGINAL.jpg
― pomenitul, Friday, 9 April 2021 15:07 (three years ago) link
https://www.macleans.ca/news/canada-likely-to-exceed-u-s-infection-rate-in-coming-days/
― Sequel to Sadness (Sund4r), Friday, 9 April 2021 16:40 (three years ago) link
Somewhat more positive than recent news:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/canada-vaccine-rollout-data-1.5980588
― clemenza, Saturday, 10 April 2021 13:07 (three years ago) link
just got a vaccine appointment booked for Monday because I live in a "hotspot"
although I'm still worried they're gonna turn me away or cancel my appt since they said that those 18+ wouldn't be able to book online and also there wasn't an 18+ option available while booking but I've been told by now two sources that they won't turn anyone away once you get a slot since they just want to get as many shots in arms now
IT SHOULD NOT BE LIKE THIS.
― self-clowning oven (Murgatroid), Saturday, 10 April 2021 15:03 (three years ago) link