Re: Coronavirus
 

https://www.newsweek.com/wuhan-covid...uggest-1494914

Concealing the true scale of the problem and then implementing a savior initiative including sending duff supplies to Spain/Italy isn't likely to gain trust.

Re: Coronavirus
 

Agreed, sometimes its best to be in a backwater. Canada is probably quite socially distant generally, certainly compared to places like Italy and Spain where close social contact seems to be much more central to the culture.

Re: Coronavirus
 

I think testing can prevent spread particularly when you pick up milder cases and so ensure those people aren't out spreading. Personally I think agressive and very widespread testing/isolation is the key. I think countries like Canada, the UK etc aren't testing enough due to capacity and perhaps cost. I think it's a mistake. Or could be.

Re: Coronavirus
 

43 new cases in BC.

Total cases 1,013

Health Minister says zero chance of orders being lifted before May, health officer hopes to return to more normal life by summer. Province would still monitoring the virus and prepare for a 2nd wave in fall, but this isn't known, seems what they are aiming for.

death total is up to 24.

128 now in hospital, 61 in ICU

Outbreaks in 19 care homes now.

Re: Coronavirus
 

Yes, I agree. Test everyone, require everyone testing positive to isolate or immolate.

Re: Coronavirus
 

BC has a testing capacity of 3,500 per day I believe, last report I saw anyhow.

So could do about 105,000 a month at current capacity.

Re: Coronavirus
 

Was bound to happen at some point, life labs sent an email and they are closing some locations and reducing hours at the locations that remain open in an effort to conserve PPE for front-line workers due to shortages, and to free up lab capacity for COVID testing.

Re: Coronavirus
 

At least some property management/rental companies are understanding the situation and willing to work with tenants.

Re: Coronavirus
 

I was reading that South Korea was doing or does 10,000 tests per day. Its curve is flatter than others.

There'll be many more in e.g. BC who have C19 but are so mild or don't meet testing criteria so rhe number of cases probably isn't that accurate.

Re: Coronavirus
 

It would seem that research in Iceland reveals that 50% of people tested positive displayed no symptoms, which is pretty frightening....given that testing the entire population of many countries would me a mammoth task.

Researchers did not say what percentage of that 50% went on to display symptoms after testing.

All the more reason for everyone, other than essential workers to exercise physical distancing....

Re: Coronavirus
 

For a country with 1,000 residents, I agree. For a country with 35,000,0000 +, I don't. I thought the plan was not to overwhelm the healthcare system.

Re: Coronavirus
 

Well aggressive testing seems to have flattened the curve in South Korea .... population 51 million.

In my opinion testing avoids overwhelming the health system with much worse than processing tests. You only have to look at the US, Italy ....

Re: Coronavirus
 

Has everyone there been tested and, if so, how were they able to do it without overwhelming their healthcare system?

I thought the received wisdom was that South Koreans are used to doing what they are told and less likely to flaunt the system than their western counterparts.

My regular 3 month blood test to assist with my management of diabetes has been cancelled due to the fact they need to "...make room for C-19 testing..." I shudder to think what would happen if everyone needed to be tested in Canada. Does Canada have anything like that many tests available?

From what I have seen reported here, only those that are exhibiting symptoms are being tested.

I agree that everyone should be tested. Those that are positive are kept away from those that aren't, and those that aren't can then return to their normal lives. Of course, that would then require sealing of borders or a sensible work around.

Re: Coronavirus
 

See for example this article
https://www.itv.com/news/2020-03-31/...ing-programme/


OR this
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/03/26/821688981/how-south-korea-reigned-in-the-outbreak-without-shutting-everything-down

Re: Coronavirus
 

I am aware of the articles regarding their testing and the steps they have taken but their testing seems to have been very focused rather than simply testing the entire population.

Re: Coronavirus
 

Not good news for those in Ontario

https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/mobile/da...pain-1.4877206

Re: Coronavirus
 

Good thing to have in times like this, electricity company being a crown corporation, the government can do more directly.

Reducing rates for everyone by 1%.

Residential customers who have lost their job or income reduced due to COVID will get a three month bill credit worth three times their average monthly bills over the past year that doesn't need to be paid back.
Small businesses that have been forced to close will have their April to June bill forgiven.
three-month deferment to large businesses
Major industry partners such as pulp mills will be able to defer 50% of their bill for 3 months.

Residential customers are also eligible to apply for assistance from the existing Crisis Fund, BC Hydro has had in place prior to COVID.
service disconnections for non-payment have been suspended.

BC Utilities Commission is in discussions with FortisBC which is a private utility company that provides natural gas and some customers have for electricity to see what they can offer their customers.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...sses-1.5517900

Re: Coronavirus
 

Check your CRA account, under benefits and credits, my account now shows a payment is occurring on April 9

Re: Coronavirus
 

BC update for Wed.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...-p-m-1.5517966

Re: Coronavirus
 

Yep...me too.
(in addition to the usual payment 3rd April)

Re: Coronavirus
 

They don't show the April 3 payment for me anymore, it was there but now it's gone and only shows the April 9 payment. Others online I have seen some say they have both 3rd and 9th and others are like mine and only show the 9th.


Maybe time to shut transit down for a couple weeks? I imagine other drivers likely have it and don't know it.

https://www.citynews1130.com/2020/04...-for-covid-19/

Re: Coronavirus
 

Lots of lay offs have arrived and there's talk of giving up rented office space implying that rehiring this year isn't expected. Ontario has implemented a sus law so it's not sate to go our. I'm feeling increasing like one of the pilots in the attic in Allo Alllo.

Re: Coronavirus
 

I can relate. I just changed the insurance on my putt-putt back and forth to work car to storage insurance only now I’m working at home. Whats nice is ICBC has an honour system for returning the plates right now due to Covid so my car still looks fully insured in the apartment parking garage. I don’t think this is going to be over any time soon.

Re: Coronavirus
 

Well blow me down with a feather. One of my favourite shows in the 80's.

https://news.sky.com/story/coronavir...pital-11967427

Re: Coronavirus
 

We live in the era of smart phones and stupid people. This is in LA where there is a stay at home order.

Re: Coronavirus
 

Always knew the US was going to be bad, but I think it is going to be an even bigger disaster than I first thought.

Re: Coronavirus
 

I'm not excusing their behaviour, which is clearly idiotic, but that video is a perfect example of what happens when sections of society are marginalised/ghettoised. "Why do we always have to do what *they* tell us to do?" You end up with resistance to, and rejection of, authority, even when it is for their own benefit. (Because, so often, the authority is not for their benefit but for other people's benefit.)

Boris Johnson, although a bit late to the party, has at least partially recognised that we are one society rather than a collection of individual subsets each with their own agendas.

Re: Coronavirus
 

White police versus black citizenry.. and a lot of police for just one street.
It's a powder keg waiting for someone to light the fuse. Not in this case but someone will somewhere.
And... in the same city...
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52108162
This 'stay at home and lock the doors' advice is becoming an essential feature of life.

Re: Coronavirus
 

TORONTO -- Ontario health officials have confirmed 401 more cases of COVID-19, including 16 more deaths, bringing the provincial total to 2,793 patients.

Re: Coronavirus
 

Some time back I started a thread about secrecy and the lack of openness from provincial government and now some of it is relevant to the current state of affairs.
There have been five or six flights into Moncton where at least one person on each flight was quickly confirmed as having a positive test. The province has either kept quiet or cited 'privacy' while PEI government (one passenger was resident there), airport and airline have since been more forthcoming.

When it first happened - the province's first case, IIRC - the government said they had traced potential contacts and, sure enough, the subsequent 'cases' had a close connection. That was sort of reassuring, but they were not other passengers.

Now maybe other passengers were contacted and warned. But I don't think you need to be paranoid to wonder if there were other people for whom an arrival date and time might have been useful. Someone at the airport meeting someone off the flight. A taxi driver picking someone up. Car rental staff.

There are people who could have come into contact with 'carriers' - even if just next to them at the luggage carousel, maybe lifting a suitcase for them, all sorts.

But now it's emerged that there were people on the flights who were not contacted and the first they knew was the fluke of reading a footnote on a round up of news on the CBC website and realising it was their flight. :ohmy:

Anyone in other provinces aware of this sort of thing?

Re: Coronavirus
 

my daughter’s flight arrived back on the Wednesday...on the Sunday WestJet contacted her and said someone sitting nearby had the virus. He died a week later. I got the impression she was only contacted because she was in close proximity to where he had been sitting.

Re: Coronavirus
 

I'm not sure what it's like in your neck of the woods, but here in my part of BC, almost everyone has a firearm in the home. Including myself. My Wife works at CDN Tire, gun & ammo sales were through the roof in March.

It may sound crazy to the Europeans (except the Swiss) but gun ownership in the USA isn't a privilege, it's a right. I wouldn't go as far as to call gun shops and essential service but that's America for you.

Re: Coronavirus
 

Federal Government has a website that lists a lot of the affected flights, may not have every flight but its at least a resource for people.

BC has been pretty transparent, seems maybe more transparent and open with information than some provinces. They do a daily update 6 days per week where the provincial health officer and minister of health give updates on not just the cases but what their projected models show, current state of the healthcare system and hospitals and a variety of other information.

Dr. Henry doesn't sugar coat things, she has been forthcoming and provides the info in a way the everyday person can understand, they explained to the public last week the projection models they are using, the data etc.

Re: Coronavirus
 

It's not something discussed, but we don't own a gun although I know the man over road, a dedicated racist and unstable lunatic, boasts to own several and a friend owns a hunting rifle and does use it for hunting.
We've had a number of threads about gun ownership, but I do find this rush to acquire guns etc worrying. It's almost as though people realise that the 'stay at home' for months order is going to have profound consequences ranging from mayhem on the streets to burglary to suicide and, as the reasoning goes, if that happens I've got to defend myself.
My daughter who advises clients who can't work on how to come to terms with staying at home, suggests that when this virus thing is over there'll be a need to resolve mental issues. This isn't the sort of event that lends itself to good outcomes when a gun is within reach.

Re: Coronavirus
 

I noticed this article this morning, relevant to the subject:
Mark Henick is a mental health advocate, speaker and strategist who worries that once the virus emergency is brought under control, it could be followed by “a sort of echo pandemic of depression and anxiety and potentially even suicide” in the midst of “the carnage that this virus has left behind,”
https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/corona...d-19-1.4878433

Re: Coronavirus
 

Guns + poor mental health, financial stresses etc = not a good mix.

I suspect suicides will increase this year into next year, between the lock downs, loss of jobs, millions will be unemployed with no savings, limited assistance from the government and its a perfect storm of sorts that nobody living today has really ever seen.

Re: Coronavirus
 

Agreed...mental health is going to be huge with this. My mental health has definitely been affected as an extroverted person who doesn't like being at home. I have extremely supportive family and i'm doing alright though. The inability to travel as well as not knowing when this is all going to be over definitely gets to me sometimes though.

Re: Coronavirus
 

It's a qualified right. Just as, in most common law countries, anyone can do anything that isn't prevented by law.

Re: Coronavirus
 

Suicide by firearm is common but rarely spoken of due to the private nature of the subject.

I agree with you 100%, mixing drugs & alcohol with depression is bad, throw a firearm in the mix and it's deadly. But no more deadly than access to a piece of rope or a bottle of pain killers. Horrible subject to talk about, but it happens.

I wish to God men would speak about this topic more, I've lost two friends to suicide in Canada.

Re: Coronavirus
 

And our healthcare system doesn't provide much and can't even handle normal demand for mental health services, so its gonna get ugly for many and they wont have the support and help they need.

I give myself a 50/50 chance at making it through the year, the stress, lack of support, stuck at home for months, no employment, and each month leads to a deeper hole, and eventually the hole is too deep to see the top once there is no light to be seen from the bottom of the hole, its pretty much impossible to dig out of alone.



Anyhow BC Government has made some temporary changes to disability, they will provide an extra $300 for May, June and July. So that will help us get food after paying rent, so buys us a little more time and for those on PWD who qualify for (we don't) the federal programs, the province wont claw back disability, they are also providing $300 to 58,000 low income seniors who receive BC seniors supplement.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/briti...ance-1.5519061