Covid And The Rest of Us

[White Cat]

The thoughts I'd had to offer here disapated when a news story broke of the numbers visiting Niagara Falls, Ontario.

Was there in mid July and it was very crowded. The cable cars were open. All the hotels appeared to be closed. It was sad to see that loss of business.

 

[NFLDERS]

Was there in mid July and it was very crowded. The cable cars were open. All the hotels appeared to be closed. It was sad to see that loss of business.

 

[bavaria]

https://www.9news.com.au/national/c...reg-hunt/e28cb358-b197-4562-9ab8-dea085993508
Interesting that the health minister says people should not be locked
down...
I am also curious why there are so many deaths and who is dying? This seems to suggest elderly in care homes like we have seen elsewhere.
https://www.health.gov.au/news/heal...s-covid-19-current-situation-and-case-numbers

 

[MommyinHonduras]

I am also curious why there are so many deaths and who is dying? This seems to suggest elderly in care homes like we have seen elsewhere.

After clicking around it led me to this site https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/victorian-coronavirus-covid-19-data

And here is the graphic for age of active cases, the two female bars in the 80-89, and 90+represent 199 and 158 cases or a toatl of about 1700 total active cases.


And here https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/victorian-healthcare-worker-covid-19-data
It will not let me download the graphic, but the majority of health care workers who have tested positive are those that work are in the "Aged care or disability worker" category, so it does seems that suggest that they are having that very issue. 83 cases this week which was down 32 for the week before. I can not see older graphics but would be interesting to look back a month ago when the numbers started climbing and follow the data.
Per the site+ ‘Aged care or disability workers’ include workers in clinical roles who are not doctors/nurses/allied health, e.g. personal care assistants and disability support officers.

 

[elphaba91]

OK then - we've finally got a government out-and-out saying zero cases is the only acceptable goal. I fear other countries will not be far behind in revealing this absurd end-game and I pray Canada is not one of them.

To make this clear, this is not the Federal government stating that goal, it is the state government. A large part of that motivation is because other states and several neighbouring countries HAVE achieved it, and Victorians will not be welcome into those states and countries until we achieve the same.

You say you wish Godspeed to those people suffering with severe cases, which is fine, but they are just words. I bet if you had a loved one or you yourself suffered at that level, the zero case goal would look more attractive. My reality is my husband will probably die if he catches Covid. I would have liked to have seen better containment early on.

That reminds me of a road safety ad that played on TV here a few years ago. They asked a man what he thought an 'acceptable' road toll would be. He said, 'maybe 70'. They then brought out 70 people: all his friends and family. His answer to an 'acceptable' number immediately changed to zero.

I’m not sure what good a vaccine is really going to do when so many people (half in some places) admit they won’t take it.

As a whole, Australians are extremely good about vaccines. The immunisation coverage rate for children is above 91% in all states and territories and this year around 2/3 of adults said they had either had or were going to have the flu vaccine. I read a survey recently that indicated around 90% of people would be willing to have the vaccine.

Imagine you are someone who does not have a partner, and is used to engaging and does have sex with more than one partner. It's a totally common and normal thing, and now the message is not to do so, or outright preventing that from happening because state or provincial borders are closed too. No wonder people are getting fed up. First we were told 'flatten the curve'. We did. Then the message was that a vaccine would not come in 2020 as we were told, but maybe next year or even some messages saying 2-3 years. Then the goal shifted to 0 cases.

Well I guess you will be pleased to know that there is no definition of an 'intimate partner'. It could be the person you met on Tinder last week. It could change every other night. As long as you are sleeping with them, you are allowed to see them and anybody they live with, with no restrictions in place (except you can't do the walk of shame past curfew).

In fact, they are actually given MORE rights than single people who want to see their best friend or parent; the Premier today announced that you can't be in the house with your bubble buddy's other household members and both of you are required to wear a mask. So my widowed 71 year old aunt has to wear a mask to see her best friend and isn't allowed to see her husband, but my mum's coworker's son's girlfriend can hang out with his entire family (and he with hers) without wearing masks because they sleep together.

Frankly, I think it's ridiculous to be arguing that if you're having sex then you shouldn't have to follow the same restrictions about distancing, masks, etc. as everyone else, just because sleeping with multiple people is 'a totally common and normal thing'; there are so many 'totally common and normal things' that we currently can't do because of health and safety concerns, and frankly I think there are many of them that should take priority over the ability to have casual sex (which I'd have no issue with in normal times).

https://www.9news.com.au/national/c...reg-hunt/e28cb358-b197-4562-9ab8-dea085993508
Interesting that the health minister says people should not be locked
down...
I am also curious why there are so many deaths and who is dying? This seems to suggest elderly in care homes like we have seen elsewhere.
https://www.health.gov.au/news/heal...s-covid-19-current-situation-and-case-numbers

Yes, there were outbreaks in aged care, which have led to a lot of deaths; there have been 683 deaths in Victoria and 537 were from aged care. This has exposed serious issues with the aged care system, particularly with the casual workforce; too many employees were working across multiple facilities and didn't have access to any sort of leave entitlements.

 

[quandrea]

To make this clear, this is not the Federal government stating that goal, it is the state government. A large part of that motivation is because other states and several neighbouring countries HAVE achieved it, and Victorians will not be welcome into those states and countries until we achieve the same.



That reminds me of a road safety ad that played on TV here a few years ago. They asked a man what he thought an 'acceptable' road toll would be. He said, 'maybe 70'. They then brought out 70 people: all his friends and family. His answer to an 'acceptable' number immediately changed to zero.



As a whole, Australians are extremely good about vaccines. The immunisation coverage rate for children is above 91% in all states and territories and this year around 2/3 of adults said they had either had or were going to have the flu vaccine. I read a survey recently that indicated around 90% of people would be willing to have the vaccine.



Well I guess you will be pleased to know that there is no definition of an 'intimate partner'. It could be the person you met on Tinder last week. It could change every other night. As long as you are sleeping with them, you are allowed to see them and anybody they live with, with no restrictions in place (except you can't do the walk of shame past curfew).

In fact, they are actually given MORE rights than single people who want to see their best friend or parent; the Premier today announced that you can't be in the house with your bubble buddy's other household members and both of you are required to wear a mask. So my widowed 71 year old aunt has to wear a mask to see her best friend and isn't allowed to see her husband, but my mum's coworker's son's girlfriend can hang out with his entire family (and he with hers) without wearing masks because they sleep together.

Frankly, I think it's ridiculous to be arguing that if you're having sex then you shouldn't have to follow the same restrictions about distancing, masks, etc. as everyone else, just because sleeping with multiple people is 'a totally common and normal thing'; there are so many 'totally common and normal things' that we currently can't do because of health and safety concerns, and frankly I think there are many of them that should take priority over the ability to have casual sex (which I'd have no issue with in normal times).



Yes, there were outbreaks in aged care, which have led to a lot of deaths; there have been 683 deaths in Victoria and 537 were from aged care. This has exposed serious issues with the aged care system, particularly with the casual workforce; too many employees were working across multiple facilities and didn't have access to any sort of leave entitlements.

Thanks for this well reasoned insight into what’s happening in Australia, Victoria in particular.

 

[ronandannette]

...Well I guess you will be pleased to know that there is no definition of an 'intimate partner'. It could be the person you met on Tinder last week. It could change every other night. As long as you are sleeping with them, you are allowed to see them and anybody they live with, with no restrictions in place (except you can't do the walk of shame past curfew).

In fact, they are actually given MORE rights than single people who want to see their best friend or parent; the Premier today announced that you can't be in the house with your bubble buddy's other household members and both of you are required to wear a mask. So my widowed 71 year old aunt has to wear a mask to see her best friend and isn't allowed to see her husband, but my mum's coworker's son's girlfriend can hang out with his entire family (and he with hers) without wearing masks because they sleep together.

Frankly, I think it's ridiculous to be arguing that if you're having sex then you shouldn't have to follow the same restrictions about distancing, masks, etc. as everyone else, just because sleeping with multiple people is 'a totally common and normal thing'; there are so many 'totally common and normal things' that we currently can't do because of health and safety concerns, and frankly I think there are many of them that should take priority over the ability to have casual sex (which I'd have no issue with in normal times).

Bravo!

 

[Karin1984]

From NL:
Last week:
3.597 people tested positive
2.2% people getting a test, tested positive
57 hospitalizations
24 deaths

This week:
5.427 people tested positive
2.8% people getting a test, tested positive
43 hospitalizations
17 deaths

Our CDC (RIVM) does not contribute the increase due to reopening of the schools. When people got infected at schools, these were mainly staff members. Most people still get infected at home.
On average people receive their results within 36 hours. About 25% has to wait longer than 48 hours. This is mainly due to lack of materials at the government labs, so the government has asked for help from commercial labs to reduce the waiting time.

Other news:
- 170 students have been asked to self isolate after visiting a bar. At least 10 people got infected, the owner didn't keep good track of who was in his establishment so more people have been asked to isolate.
- Several Greek islands have been put on our orange-list (self isolate upon return).
- The province of Antwerp in Belgium has put back on yellow (just be careful when travelling), this does not include the city of Antwerp yet, but it's promising that areas are put back from orange to yellow.
- There is more aggression in hospitals due to people not willing to comply to the measures (as masks, limited amount of visitors etc), more hospital employees reported violence used against them.
- 60% of the NL people reported impact the Covid-crisis has on their mental stability. Could vary from just worrying more about health or money, being agitated, lonely etc. People of 65 years or older reported the least mental issues (48%), people under the age of 35 suffer the most, (74%)
- More people take public transport. This is mainly leisure travellers. Business travellers are still down. Probably due to most people who can still work at home.

 

[FigmentSpark]

To make this clear, this is not the Federal government stating that goal, it is the state government. A large part of that motivation is because other states and several neighbouring countries HAVE achieved it, and Victorians will not be welcome into those states and countries until we achieve the same.



That reminds me of a road safety ad that played on TV here a few years ago. They asked a man what he thought an 'acceptable' road toll would be. He said, 'maybe 70'. They then brought out 70 people: all his friends and family. His answer to an 'acceptable' number immediately changed to zero.



As a whole, Australians are extremely good about vaccines. The immunisation coverage rate for children is above 91% in all states and territories and this year around 2/3 of adults said they had either had or were going to have the flu vaccine. I read a survey recently that indicated around 90% of people would be willing to have the vaccine.



Well I guess you will be pleased to know that there is no definition of an 'intimate partner'. It could be the person you met on Tinder last week. It could change every other night. As long as you are sleeping with them, you are allowed to see them and anybody they live with, with no restrictions in place (except you can't do the walk of shame past curfew).

In fact, they are actually given MORE rights than single people who want to see their best friend or parent; the Premier today announced that you can't be in the house with your bubble buddy's other household members and both of you are required to wear a mask. So my widowed 71 year old aunt has to wear a mask to see her best friend and isn't allowed to see her husband, but my mum's coworker's son's girlfriend can hang out with his entire family (and he with hers) without wearing masks because they sleep together.

Frankly, I think it's ridiculous to be arguing that if you're having sex then you shouldn't have to follow the same restrictions about distancing, masks, etc. as everyone else, just because sleeping with multiple people is 'a totally common and normal thing'; there are so many 'totally common and normal things' that we currently can't do because of health and safety concerns, and frankly I think there are many of them that should take priority over the ability to have casual sex (which I'd have no issue with in normal times).



Yes, there were outbreaks in aged care, which have led to a lot of deaths; there have been 683 deaths in Victoria and 537 were from aged care. This has exposed serious issues with the aged care system, particularly with the casual workforce; too many employees were working across multiple facilities and didn't have access to any sort of leave entitlements.

heh... our health professionals told us to wear masks WHILE having sex. One province was told glory holes were preferable.

 

[Aladora]

Such foolishness though, really... . I guess it is better than the B.C recommendation eh..

heh... our health professionals told us to wear masks WHILE having sex. One province was told glory holes were preferable.

I live in BC and let me tell you, we had a field day for jokes about that when the recommendation was announced!

 

[Foxhound3857]

Personally, while I've adjusted to life with COVID, I'm entirely fed up with authorities only talking about preventative measures (masks, social distancing, contact tracing, etc) and literally nobody is talking about an OTC treatment, a cure, a vaccine, or at least SOME form of innoculation or man-made medicine against this horrible disease. Sooner or later the people need something more than just "slow the spread" and "reduce the risk."

 

[Karin1984]

Personally, while I've adjusted to life with COVID, I'm entirely fed up with authorities only talking about preventative measures (masks, social distancing, contact tracing, etc) and literally nobody is talking about an OTC treatment, a cure, a vaccine, or at least SOME form of innoculation or man-made medicine against this horrible disease. Sooner or later the people need something more than just "slow the spread" and "reduce the risk."

My guess is that governments do not speak on treatments, as they are not doctors (remember someone suggested to inject desinfectant ;-) ) and doctors are probably careful as the disease might get treated differently per patient and maybe per hospital. With so little knowledge about this disease, the last thing doctors need are patients who say 'but I read online...' or 'but my cousin Shirley'.

A few posts back I've posted some things I could find about treatments in NL.

And I think a whole lot of people are talking about vaccins. Just google and look for reputable news sources, you will find that Oxford is still ahead, but they paused their study due to a test person getting sick.
But as long as there is nothing definitively working, you will find very few government officials talking about it. Luckily, there are more news sources than the government

 

[elphaba91]

It's been awhile since we've had any action on this thread, so I thought I'd provide an update from Melbourne. Our numbers are steadily improving with 6 days in a row below 50 and today we finally hit the magical number of our 14 day average in metropolitan Melbourne being under 50! Provided there are no new outbreaks (and we've still got a few high numbers to drop off our average - including one in triple figures tomorrow) then we should definitely be on track to move to the next stage of re-opening on 28 September or perhaps even earlier.

Regional Victoria has met their target of a 14 day average below 5 so have today jumped ahead 2 stages to allow schools to reopen (although they are on holidays from the end of the week), retail and restaurants to operate, some visitors to homes, etc. There have been massive queues at the police checkpoints into regional Victoria today and they will be introducing a $5,000 fine for anyone from Melbourne travelling out there without a permitted reason.

I just read this article that I think gives a really good feel of what the mood in Melbourne is actually like: https://theshot.net.au/general-news...h-is-far-more-incredible-and-far-more-boring/

 

[FigmentSpark]

We, in Ontario might be tightening things up again. Our numbers are going up, mostly due to people ignoring the rules of limited gathering.

 

[Karin1984]

Yeah.... we're not doing very well in NL either.
R = 1.38
Figures are up, but luckily hospitalizations and deaths are still low (although they did increase of course with more infections). We do have problems with testing.
Politics encouraged people to get tested, and now we don't have capacity.
Students are a problem, not only because of parties, but also because their living conditions are not optimal.
More parts of France, Switzerland and Portugal are now offlimits to us.

But on the plus side, people who have to go to IC are on the IC much shorter than in March/April. Back then it was on average 22 days, now it's less than 8 days.

 

[MommyinHonduras]

I can give an update on Roatan. Things on the mainland are cooling down. Hospital are emptying in both the big cities of San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa. But with that testing is going down too which is hard because here on Roatan it is suddenly a roaring thing. We just got tests back a few days ago adding over 250 cases, but the test were 2,3,and 4 weeks old....locals knew numbers were going up as those in medical care is expounding per day. We are up to 22 in the hospital and 38 in the covid center. 60 people! There are about 70,000 people here. I now know many people with symptoms testing positive, none are in medical care thankfully. I had to tell my teen she has to stay home this week instead of helping at the feeding center and she is pretty upset. She might have even has covid last week as she had one day where felt achy sick and several days after of no taste. A few others in the house felt yucky for a day too, but nothing serious and not enough to be able to be tested so not sure. Frustrating. Big issue is dengue cases are going up, we have 3 people who have tested positive for both, which is challenging because the drugs given for one can not be given for the other so its a pretty dangerous combo they are saying. Having had dengue, I wish that evil on no one.

 

[jlwhitney]

Personally, while I've adjusted to life with COVID, I'm entirely fed up with authorities only talking about preventative measures (masks, social distancing, contact tracing, etc) and literally nobody is talking about an OTC treatment, a cure, a vaccine, or at least SOME form of innoculation or man-made medicine against this horrible disease. Sooner or later the people need something more than just "slow the spread" and "reduce the risk."

I agree and the talk about how these preventatives are never going to truly go away. Though treatments have improved greatly since March but I agree I feel like all the eggs are being thrown into the vaccine basket and while sure it might be useful it might not and everything should be considered.

 

[ronandannette]

I think we’re seeing world-wide trends that are pretty consistent. As restrictions are lifting cases are increasing BUT indisputably hospitalizations and fatalities are way down, comparatively speaking. Alberta currently has a little over 1,200 cases province-wide but only 37 people in hospital (7 in ICU) which is less than 1/4 of the severe cases back in April and May. There has been one death in the past 2 weeks.

We’ve been testing furiously (10,000+ per day) over the past few weeks as staff and students are highly encouraged to be tested since school resumed. There have been some cases diagnosed amongst the school populations - apparently 60 here in our city. Our province is NOT discussing a return to shut-down. Mandatory masking is in place but mostly everything is open.

Federally, there has been no talk of lifting border restrictions. Economic issues are worrisome. The emergency Covid relief benefits theoretically expired at the end of August but since we are not collecting, I don’t know if people are still getting cheques. Our governing party is embroiled in a very nasty scandal involving hundreds of millions of Covid relief related dollars and in the middle of the ethics investigation the Prime Minister suspended Parliament (yes, they can do that here). One of the BIG problems with that is it prevents bills relating to the extension of benefits from being passed.

On a personal note, DH and I leave tonight for a short trip to Ontario. It will be interesting to see if there is any perceivable difference in how things there are being handled. Also interesting to be back at the airport and on a plane. Mandatory masking and temp checks are in place; there have been several highly-publicized instances of conflict over it.

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

Wales has had less than 20,000 cases and around 1500 deaths. Two deaths on 31 August, but no deaths in September. We have been out of step with England. Masks became compulsory on Monday, but we were released from lockdown much more slowly than England. There is a localised cluster of infection in one area (about 100 cases in a week) and our First Minister is threatening a 6 pm curfew from tomorrow plus no more than 6 people per gathering. The feeling here is that the ‘young people’ are ignoring lockdown and spreading, with the most at risk group at the moment being obese 40 to 50 years olds. This is before U.K. Universities commence teaching on Monday.

 

[ronandannette]

Wales has had less than 20,000 cases and around 1500 deaths. Two deaths on 31 August, but no deaths in September. We have been out of step with England. Masks became compulsory on Monday, but we were released from lockdown much more slowly than England. There is a localised cluster of infection in one area (about 100 cases in a week) and our First Minister is threatening a 6 pm curfew from tomorrow plus no more than 6 people per gathering. The feeling here is that the ‘young people’ are ignoring lockdown and spreading, with the most at risk group at the moment being obese 40 to 50 years olds. This is before U.K. Universities commence teaching on Monday.

Holy Cow! That is a TON of cases and deaths for your population. Here with a provincial population of 4.3 million we have had a little less than 13,000 cases and 257 deaths; over 90% of fatalities were amongst our seniors in care facilities. I’m always very curious to know what has caused such a great difference in the effects from place-to-place.

Are your universities resuming in-person classes? Here our K-Grade 12 schools all opened for in-person learning on Sept. 1 but all post-secondary schools are on-line only. The campuses are closed with the exception of access to residence for students under special circumstances.