Covid and lock downs in a nutshell

[Anonymous]

UK cutting back .. closing shop because of rise in cases



"May have to remain closed until vaccine"

That is really bad. Once one country goes back into lock down, the madness dominoes will fall across the West.

[Anonymous]

The new British restrictions.



Here are the key points, which will come into force in England in the next week, from the Prime Minister's statement to the House of Commons:



-Office workers who can work from home should do so.

-Pubs, bars and restaurants in England will be ordered to close by 10pm each night.

-The hospitality sector will be restricted to table service only.

-Face coverings must be worn in taxis and private hire vehicles, and by retail staff while at work.

-Customers in indoor hospitality will also have to wear face coverings - except while seated at a table to eat or drink.

-The exemptions to the rule of six will be reduced, banning indoor team sport - such as indoor five-a-side football matches.

-The planned return of spectators to sports venues will now not go ahead from October 1.

-Wedding ceremonies and receptions will be capped at 15 people from Monday.



https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/09/22/lockdown-second-uk-circuit-breaker-new-rules-national/">https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/0 ... -national/">https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/09/22/lockdown-second-uk-circuit-breaker-new-rules-national/

[cc]

Not as bad as I thot @ first hearing it .. but in the end it all comes down to the #s over time which get reacted to at the time

[Anonymous]

Not as bad as I thot @ first hearing it .. but in the end it all comes down to the #s over time which get reacted to at the time

I also saw on BBC that Britain is prepared to go back into another insane total lock down.

[Berry Sweet]

I also saw on BBC that Britain is prepared to go back into another insane total lock down.

Seriously?  Lots of people have gone crazy lately....I wouldn't be surprised if they do another lock down...if its like the first round, I'll do it...just as long as I can go to work and drive the hwy to myself

[Anonymous]

I also saw on BBC that Britain is prepared to go back into another insane total lock down.

Seriously?  Lots of people have gone crazy lately....I wouldn't be surprised if they do another lock down...if its like the first round, I'll do it...just as long as I can go to work and drive the hwy to myself

They caused a lot of pain..



A mask mandate would be as effective.

[caskur]

We wear no masks and have full access to all our services...



The WA Government has reported a $1.7 billion budget surplus for 2019-20 despite the economic toll of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the State Opposition labelling it "unacceptable" and urging the Government to spend more to help struggling households.



https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-25/surplus-budget-in-wa-despite-coronavirus-pandemic-payments/12705148">https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-25/ ... s/12705148">https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-25/surplus-budget-in-wa-despite-coronavirus-pandemic-payments/12705148

[Anonymous]

If any jurisdiction had implemented mask wearing from the start along with effective treatments,  a destructive lock down from which you still haven't fully recovered would have been unnecessary.

[Berry Sweet]

I also saw on BBC that Britain is prepared to go back into another insane total lock down.

Seriously?  Lots of people have gone crazy lately....I wouldn't be surprised if they do another lock down...if its like the first round, I'll do it...just as long as I can go to work and drive the hwy to myself

They caused a lot of pain..



A mask mandate would be as effective.

Oh I know.  But just driving down that hwy in the morning, me being the only one and maybe another car in the distance was quite the experience!  It was fantastic!

[Anonymous]

I also saw on BBC that Britain is prepared to go back into another insane total lock down.

Seriously?  Lots of people have gone crazy lately....I wouldn't be surprised if they do another lock down...if its like the first round, I'll do it...just as long as I can go to work and drive the hwy to myself

They caused a lot of pain..



A mask mandate would be as effective.

Oh I know.  But just driving down that hwy in the morning, me being the only one and maybe another car in the distance was quite the experience!  It was fantastic!

Particularly on a crowded hole like Vancouver.

[Anonymous]

If any jurisdiction had implemented mask wearing from the start along with effective treatments,  a destructive lock down from which you still haven't fully recovered would have been unnecessary.

Nations that were unprepared for a pandemic imposed hard lock downs that caused incalculable damage to people and for the future..



Taiwan had adequate supplies of PPE and a detailed plan to deal with a pandemic....but they learned from SARS.

[Thiel]

Quebec's health minister is advising people to skip Thanksgiving feasts.

[Anonymous]

What's Canada's pandemic objective?

Our leaders don't seem to have a clue



By Anthony Furey of Sun News Media



It's not a rhetorical question. What is it that Canada's political leaders and top public health officials are hoping to accomplish right now in managing the pandemic?



The answer is unclear. And that's a huge problem.



Is it to "flatten the curve"? While we initially succeeded in doing that over the summer, cases are now spiking in an apparent second wave. The current curve is very different from the previous one though, which changes the way we interpret the question. The first wave saw the majority of cases flare-up in the elderly and long-term care facilities, with thousands tragically dying. Now, it's reported that around two thirds of cases are in lower risk groups and individuals under 40. Is the goal to not overwhelm the healthcare system? If so, we've been successful. Canada never did fill its pre-pandemic volume of ICU beds, let alone make use of the extra ones the provinces quickly funded in the spring. While ICU cases are slowly increasing in Canada right now, we're still nowhere near capacity.



Okay, then, is it to wipe out the virus almost entirely? That's been the goal of both New Zealand, which has been somewhat successful, and Australia, which has seen another flare-up. What these island countries are doing doesn't sound at all viable for Canada.



Or maybe the goal is simply to keep a lid on things until we get a vaccine? That sounds reasonable at first. What does it entail though? Do we play whack-a-mole by locking down and re-opening different parts of society and the economy every few weeks?



That would would be problematic to do for the next six months or so, which is about when Canada is hoping to get its first substantial round of vaccine doses. It could take longer than that. Or we could find, as some medical experts are cautioning, that the most workable vaccines don't fully eradicate COVID-19, like the polio vaccines we give school children, but that they're more like an annual flu shot. That means we could see waves every year for, well, years.



With that prospect in mind, there's also the option that European countries are undertaking — one that's been recently articulated by French President Emmanuel Macron (although they have since further tightened their lockdowns) — about simply learning to live with COVID-19. We make sure to follow public health protocols while getting on with our lives as best we can.



The choices our governments make, and the choices we make as a society, shouldn't be scattershot. They should be done with a view to a particular objective. It doesn't seem like we're pursuing any one of the above mentioned objectives over the others.



Perhaps the closest one is the whack-a-mole approach, where we take an after-the-fact reactive approach to both real (long-term care) and perceived (Trinity Bellwoods Park) hotspots. There seems to be very little advance planning going on at any level of government, even six months into this.



Back at the beginning of the year we watched the virus shut down Wuhan, China, from afar. When Hubei province went into lockdown, it was an unprecedented event in modern human history and our officials spoke as if it was inconceivable such a thing would happen here. Then we watched as the virus flared up next in Iran, then Italy, then France. Then it hit here. We closed things down to grab our bearings, to pause and answer some basic questions about what this virus was, how bad it would hit us and how to treat it. While many questions remain unanswered, we've made great progress since then and our medical experts deserve our praise.



Our initial concerns back in March were immediate ones. We worried that loved ones of any age could get this mysterious illness and suddenly die from it. Now, our concerns are more abstract. Yes, kids get it mildly but will they pass it on to others? Yes, most people in their 30s will get it mildly but what are the long-term health ramifications of having had COVID-19?



These are important questions that shouldn't be ignored. But are they good justifications for shutting things down? Maybe we're at the point now where it's just up to the individual to make their own informed decisions. While medical experts are now writing open letters sounding the alarm over how bad the second wave could get, let's not forget that they were not too long ago writing similar letters about all of the harm lockdowns were causing, from deferred health appointments, rising mental health crises and more.



So which leaders are helping us wade through these questions and figure out our priorities? None of them, it seems. Not the Prime Minister, not the Premiers, none of our Mayors. Not even our chief medical officers.



Our top officials seem stuck in a rudderless inertia, randomly threatening more lockdowns without communicating their plan, if they even have one, to the public.

[cc]

https://globalnews.ca/news/7363360/quebec-coronavirus-red-alert-montreal/?utm_source=NewsletterNational&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=2020">Today - Red alert level brings partial 28-day lockdown to 3 Quebec regions including Montreal, Quebec City



The Greater Montreal area, the Capitale Nationale area in Quebec City, as well as the Chaudières-Appalaches region are being bumped up into the red zone under the province's novel coronavirus regional alert system as cases and outbreaks surge in the province.



Legualt said bars, casinos, reception halls, theatres, libraries and museums will all be closed for a 28-day period, effective Wednesday at midnight.



Restaurants will be limited to take-out only but other businesses will be allowed to stay open.



Furthermore, residents in affected zones will be prohibited from hosting anyone in their homes.



Over the last week, the government has been urging people to limit socializing and cancel private events, such as dinners and barbecues, in order to stem the tide of the virus. Officials say the recent rise in cases is a result of community transmission.

[Anonymous]

https://globalnews.ca/news/7363360/quebec-coronavirus-red-alert-montreal/?utm_source=NewsletterNational&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=2020">Today - Red alert level brings partial 28-day lockdown to 3 Quebec regions including Montreal, Quebec City



The Greater Montreal area, the Capitale Nationale area in Quebec City, as well as the Chaudières-Appalaches region are being bumped up into the red zone under the province's novel coronavirus regional alert system as cases and outbreaks surge in the province.



Legualt said bars, casinos, reception halls, theatres, libraries and museums will all be closed for a 28-day period, effective Wednesday at midnight.



Restaurants will be limited to take-out only but other businesses will be allowed to stay open.



Furthermore, residents in affected zones will be prohibited from hosting anyone in their homes.



Over the last week, the government has been urging people to limit socializing and cancel private events, such as dinners and barbecues, in order to stem the tide of the virus. Officials say the recent rise in cases is a result of community transmission.

I can't fathom the thought of another total lock down.