Siouxie

There is a difference between being physically disabled and unable to leave the house - which Ontario Disability Benefit pays out for and choosing to avoid risk by staying home - which ODB doesn't pay for.

caretaker

It's time for the Sturgis bike rally in South Dakota again. Last year it helped spread Covid all over the US, so they're going to do it again and hope for better results, I guess.

Jerseygirl

Since moving to Stage 3 Ontario’s Covid figures have been on the rise. Last month the cases were in the mid one hundred, today it is 380.

Edit: there are approx 200,000 people in Ontario who have had the first shot, but not the 2nd. The gov. are pleading with those people to get the 2nd shot ASAP.

scilly

BC's figures are also rising, over half of the new cases and hospitalisations are in the Interior Health Region, so they've been put under restrictions again as to numbers of people meeting inside and outside, night clubs and bars closed effective yesterday

There were 464 new cases yesterday (Friday), 275 of them in the Okanagan region of Interior Health.

24 people are in Intensive Care, all were unvaccinated. 95% of all new cases are in unvaccinated people or people who have had only 1 dose.

Vaccination rates as of Friday ............ 81.8 per cent of those 12 and older in B.C. have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Just under 69 per cent have received a second dose. So we have a high percentage, but the number of covid cases keeps rising, the public health people are warning that we are on the verge of a 4th wave.

Jerseygirl

Hopefully it will be like the UK…figures go up because we are trying to get back to normal…then they will fall again.

The percentage of people vaccinated in Ontario is similar to that of BC.

Edit: Just noticed the UK figures have increased again.

caretaker

Our numbers in Sask have been trending up for a month and a half from 20 - 30 to 85 new cases yesterday, and wearing masks in grocery stores looks about 50/50. I feel a bit like odd man out with mine on, but don't care.

Jerseygirl

Ontario hasn’t fully come out of lockdown, but fairly close to it. We are still required to wear masks in indoor public areas/shops etc and the number of people in shops/elevators/indoor events is slightly restricted. I hope the current restrictions stay until spring.

Danny B

That 'Lambda variant' doing the rounds in South America looks nasty.

scrubbedexpat091

Potentially could end up in a never ending COVID saga too, Delta at least the vaccines still prevent death and severe outcomes, but as the article states, eventually a variant or 2 may completely figure out how to evade and we are back to the bottom.

"We will continue to develop more and more variants, and eventually, one or more of these variants will learn how to evade vaccine-induced immunity," Poland said. "And if that's true, we will start all over again."

https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/07/healt...ner/index.html

printer

But in the meantime i'm sure they have invested heavily in bolstering our health service and expanding facilities and finding more nurses and doctors with better pay so we don't end up in same situation again in 12 months. Oh wait i think i fell into a dream state just then. So it will be back to the same old story, overwhelmed health services and everybodys at fault for the rising cases except the experts and government officials because hey they are still learning about this.

caretaker

Easy there, Tiguan. The people who do it for a living are exponentially better at it than they were first time around. The research, the medicine, the frontline services have procedures ingrained that didn't exist 18 months ago. Even you; you're a pro now.

scrubbedexpat091

Nah just do what Alberta is doing, pretend COVID doesn't exist. Seems in part the decision by the top health person there to cut back so significantly is due to lack of funding and resources, I imagine the top doc there knows it's a mistake, but without the funding, health people can't do their jobs.

Danny B

‘If this tweet is true regarding Iceland, we might be stuck with new infections (albeit mild with no deaths) for a bit longer.

caretaker

Our new case numbers continue to rise.

scilly

.................. and case numbers still rising in BC, with the Okanagan having more than half of the cases, new and hospitalised.

We're not out of the woods yet, by any means.

I still think that it is going to be like the flu ................ annual shots required for the new variants developed since the last time. Only this time, it will be everyone who has to have the covid shot, not like the flu vaccine where usually just over 60s/65s, and certain occupations getting it for free.