Covid and lock downs in a nutshell

[Anonymous]

I see Melbourne lifted it's harsh lock down. Bars and restaurants reopened.

[Anonymous]

I see Melbourne lifted it's harsh lock down. Bars and restaurants reopened.

DD will be happy about that.

[Anonymous]

For a guy that says he is going to shut down the virus, Biden has few specifics. This means a lock down. The last refuge for elected leaders with no plan.

[Anonymous]

Rushing to shut down businesses and schools is ineffective if people don't maintain social distancing in private homes. Albertans obeyed the rules over the holdidays, while my province and Quebec did not. Hence, the drop in infections in Alberta, and the spike here in Ontario and Quebec.



By Lorne Gunter of Sun News Media



Let's look at why Alberta is faring better than Ontario and Quebec



Pandemic lockdowns only work for as long as they're in place. And they are only as effective as people are willing to abide by lockdown restrictions.



That might help explain why Ontario and Quebec remain COVID hotspots despite having the two most severe lockdowns in the country, while Alberta has perhaps turned the corner on the second wave, even though its restrictions are lighter.



As of Friday, Alberta's seven-day average for new coronavirus cases fell below 1,000 a day for the first time since mid- November. Infections could rise again in Alberta if there is a holiday spike, but they are now half what they were at their peak on Dec. 7.



The number of people in hospital with the virus has begun to fall and the rolling average for deaths is also on the decline.



Meanwhile in Ontario and Quebec, bad statistics keep piling up.



For instance, on Friday, Ontario's seven-day average reached nearly 3,400 new infections per day.



Last week, Ontario also had its deadliest day during the pandemic when 89 people succumbed to the disease ( although some of that was the result of a reporting backlog over the holidays).



Just a month ago, daily infections in Alberta often topped those in Ontario and Quebec, despite Alberta having one- half as many residents as Quebec and less than a third as many as Ontario.



So what has been the cause of this reversal?



I would argue it's personal responsibility. Albertans seem somehow to have better heeded public health requirements to limit social gatherings in their homes and outdoors.



Two- thirds of Albertans told a Leger poll for the Association for Canadian Studies they had not gotten together with people who lived outside their household over the holidays. Under half of Ontarians and Quebecers made the same claim.



But it started before Christmas.



Indeed, Alberta's decline in cases started before Premier Jason Kenney's second lockdown began to take effect. They began with Kenney's earlier (and unfairly mocked) lockdown-lite.



The peak of infections occurred during the first week in December. The second lockdown, which went into effect Dec. 12, which means it wouldn't have showed up in statistics until closer to Christmas.



Compared to Ontario's and Quebec's restrictions, even Alberta's current lockdown is not that strict (unless you own a gym, pool hall, hair salon, restaurant, bar, banquet hall or indoor playground — all of which are closed).



Small retail shops are still open, for instance, although at limited capacity. Church services are limited to 15 per cent capacity.



But no curfews, as in Quebec.



Alberta officials have recognized all along that the major problem has been big, indoor, private gatherings.



Those have been limited since late November. And that, I think, has been the big driver of Alberta's declining infections.



The point is, no lockdown works so long as people are prepared to ignore it. Yet where residents accept the need to limit their personal contact, even relatively light lockdowns can be effective.



As the second wave has continued to worsen in Ontario and Quebec there have been calls for an Australia-like lockdown.



Something called the COVID Strategic Choices Group, self- appointed doctors, epidemiologists, public policy consultants and economists have called for a lockdown where, basically, no one is allowed out of their own yards (except for short trips for essentials) for five weeks until infections are down to zero — just like in Australia.



Unfortunately, restrictions took closer to three months in Australia and have to be reimposed every time there is a new case.



Taiwan, not Australia, should be the model.



Taiwan has never had a lockdown. Instead, it quickly banned incoming travellers from hotspots, adopted rapid testing (which Health Canada still blocks) and undertook aggressive contact tracing.



That's as effective as any lockdown.



What has been the cause of this reversal? I would argue it's personal responsibility. Albertans seem somehow to have better heeded public health requirements to limit social gatherings in their homes and outdoors.

[Anonymous]

In a scathing editorial posted Monday night, the New York Post editorial board demanded that teachers get back in the classrooms for in-person learning and unions get out of the way now that New York City is vaccinating teachers against COVID.



Good for the NY Post for telling it like it is. If they aint got any reason to fear getting infected, they aint got any reason not to do the job for which taxpayers pay them.

[Anonymous]

So, Governor Newsome lifted California's stay at home order and Cuomo is lifting restrictions too. It's suddenly safe now that Biden is in office.

[Anonymous]

Canadians watch as U.S. states slowly re-open



The Ontario government confirmed on Monday that, as expected, it was officially extending the province's state of emergency for another 14 days.



The province will continue to see schools, retail outlets and even ski hills among the things shut down.



Premier Doug Ford made this decision despite the downward trend of COVID-19 cases, the growing chorus of experts speaking out against the harms of lockdowns and the increasing frustrations people are feeling at having their lives so strictly curtailed.



We would have preferred that Ford — and other provincial leaders — instead used information from these past 10 months to come up with smarter, better policies to actually target the locations and persons most at risk of contracting COVID-19 and having a serious outcome from it.



But, alas, Canada remains stubborn in sticking to its lockdowns.



Meanwhile, jurisdictions in the United States have been announcing various re-openings.



California lifted their lockdown — ending their stay-at-home order.



Massachusetts also lifted some of its restrictions, allowing restaurants, gyms and movie theatres to stay open even later, with capacity limits in place.



This past weekend, restaurants in Chicago and other parts of Illinois were allowed to re-open for indoor dining at 25% capacity.



Here's the thing: Canadian provinces are for the most part faring way better than almost every U.S. state when it comes to COVID-19 case counts and deaths. Yet it's the states that are cautiously re-opening.



This makes one thing clear: Lockdowns are a choice. The evidence is increasingly mounting to suggest they're also the wrong choice.



We have consistently supported smart evidence-based policies that are designed to help those who are most at risk of having a serious outcome from COVID-19. We also believe in doing all we can to support our hospitals and increase capacity.



Yet it's become increasingly hard to believe that keeping schools closed or heavily restricting retail is the way to do this when all of the evidence suggests these aren't the trouble spots.



Canadians need to demand their political leaders actually follow the evidence and make solutions-based decisions.



Restrictions should only be in place if they work and only for as long as they are absolutely necessary.

[Anonymous]

How much of these restrictions are to prevent politicians from embarrassing themselves.

[Anonymous]

Aint this interesting.



Science table member paid by teacher union for arguing against school reopenings

https://torontosun.com/news/provincial/science-table-member-paid-by-teacher-union-for-arguing-against-school-re-openings?fbclid=IwAR22OYCOMBbvWDMACTO4k9JPbwsigl8t898uKf2MT5FymyTxSkIZoWEnfFk">https://torontosun.com/news/provincial/ ... kIZoWEnfFk">https://torontosun.com/news/provincial/science-table-member-paid-by-teacher-union-for-arguing-against-school-re-openings?fbclid=IwAR22OYCOMBbvWDMACTO4k9JPbwsigl8t898uKf2MT5FymyTxSkIZoWEnfFk



Potential conflict of interest: Expert



A prominent member of Ontario's science table, which advises the government on pandemic restrictions including school closures, was paid by a teachers' union for offering an argument against the government's school reopening plans at a provincial labour board hearing, the Toronto Sun has learned.



David Fisman, a professor of epidemiology at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, was retained by the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario to provide an opposing opinion on school reopenings in a document dated September 2020.



Fisman served on the science table at the same time. It's a situation that one leading expert says is a potential conflict of interest.



"Where a person receives payment for speaking on behalf of a special interest group, it would almost certainly be appropriate to declare this as a potential conflict of interest when working in roles that are even slightly related," explained Dr. Euzebiusz Jamrozik, from the bioethics research centre at Oxford University, in an email to the Sun.

[Anonymous]

Aint this interesting.



Science table member paid by teacher union for arguing against school reopenings

https://torontosun.com/news/provincial/science-table-member-paid-by-teacher-union-for-arguing-against-school-re-openings?fbclid=IwAR22OYCOMBbvWDMACTO4k9JPbwsigl8t898uKf2MT5FymyTxSkIZoWEnfFk">https://torontosun.com/news/provincial/ ... kIZoWEnfFk">https://torontosun.com/news/provincial/science-table-member-paid-by-teacher-union-for-arguing-against-school-re-openings?fbclid=IwAR22OYCOMBbvWDMACTO4k9JPbwsigl8t898uKf2MT5FymyTxSkIZoWEnfFk



Potential conflict of interest: Expert



A prominent member of Ontario's science table, which advises the government on pandemic restrictions including school closures, was paid by a teachers' union for offering an argument against the government's school reopening plans at a provincial labour board hearing, the Toronto Sun has learned.



David Fisman, a professor of epidemiology at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, was retained by the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario to provide an opposing opinion on school reopenings in a document dated September 2020.



Fisman served on the science table at the same time. It's a situation that one leading expert says is a potential conflict of interest.



"Where a person receives payment for speaking on behalf of a special interest group, it would almost certainly be appropriate to declare this as a potential conflict of interest when working in roles that are even slightly related," explained Dr. Euzebiusz Jamrozik, from the bioethics research centre at Oxford University, in an email to the Sun.

I have so little respect for public teachers' unions.

[Anonymous]

If grocery store clerks have to work, so should teachers.



CDC: Teachers do not need to be vaccinated in order to safely reopen schools



https://www.theblaze.com/news/cdc-teachers-do-not-need-to-be-vaccinated-in-order-to-safely-reopen-schools?utm_source=theblaze-dailyPM&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily-Newsletter__PM%202021-02-03&utm_term=ACTIVE%20LIST%20-%20TheBlaze%20Daily%20PM">https://www.theblaze.com/news/cdc-teach ... Daily%20PM">https://www.theblaze.com/news/cdc-teachers-do-not-need-to-be-vaccinated-in-order-to-safely-reopen-schools?utm_source=theblaze-dailyPM&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily-Newsletter__PM%202021-02-03&utm_term=ACTIVE%20LIST%20-%20TheBlaze%20Daily%20PM



The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now says that teachers do not need to receive COVID-19 vaccines before schools can safely reopen.



Teachers unions across the country — including in places such as Los Angeles and Chicago — have balked at the idea of teachers returning to the classrooms without proper precautions in place, including vaccinations.



What are the details?

According to a Wednesday report from CNBC, newly appointed CDC Director Rochelle Walensky says that teachers do not need to be vaccinated against COVID-19 before schools can reopen.



In statements during a COVID-19 White House press briefing, Walensky said, "There is increasing data to suggest that schools can safely reopen and that safe reopening does not suggest that teachers need to be vaccinated. Vaccinations of teachers is not a prerequisite of reopening schools."



She also explained that a CDC advisory committee has placed teachers in the "1B" category — the same as essential workers — to receive vaccines, placing them second in line for priority to receive the injections.

https://www.theblaze.com/news/cdc-teachers-do-not-need-to-be-vaccinated-in-order-to-safely-reopen-schools?utm_source=theblaze-dailyPM&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily-Newsletter__PM%202021-02-03&utm_term=ACTIVE%20LIST%20-%20TheBlaze%20Daily%20PM">https://www.theblaze.com/news/cdc-teach ... Daily%20PM">https://www.theblaze.com/news/cdc-teachers-do-not-need-to-be-vaccinated-in-order-to-safely-reopen-schools?utm_source=theblaze-dailyPM&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily-Newsletter__PM%202021-02-03&utm_term=ACTIVE%20LIST%20-%20TheBlaze%20Daily%20PM

[Frood]

One case in a region of 2 million... so they lockdown for 5 days and immediately jail a guy for not wearing a mask and refuse him bail:



https://www.bitchute.com/video/k6vTLtp8uf0/">https://www.bitchute.com/video/k6vTLtp8uf0/ via bitslide



You COVID crazies are destroying yourselves...

[Anonymous]

One case in a region of 2 million... so they lockdown for 5 days and immediately jail a guy for not wearing a mask and refuse him bail:



https://www.bitchute.com/video/k6vTLtp8uf0/">https://www.bitchute.com/video/k6vTLtp8uf0/ via bitslide



You COVID crazies are destroying yourselves...

I read what caskur's state did......very extreme.

[Anonymous]

Ontario teachers' unions disagree with epidemiologists.



Don't make kids the pandemic's collateral damage



As of Wednesday, most schoolchildren across Canada will soon have access to in-class learning.



Ontario was the last big holdout, but finally went with what most pediatric experts have been saying: open the schools.



On Tuesday, a group of over 100 doctors — many of them pediatric specialists — called on the government in an open letter to keep schools open throughout the pandemic.



"Children are not at risk for serious outcomes for infection compared to other commonly encountered respiratory viruses, such as influenza," the letter explains.



The signatories say that rising community spread is not a justification to close schools again. It's only OK to close the schools if it's proven that kids will face greater direct harms to their own health from COVID-19 by keeping them open.



So far, there's no indication anything like that is about to happen. Public health officials across the country report that their contact tracing notes show little sign of in-class transmission.



In recent weeks, more and more expert voices are stepping forward to talk about the many harms caused by lockdowns, especially by depriving children of a normal life.



It's not OK to turn kids into the collateral damage of this pandemic. We should be grateful that they are not hard hit by COVID-19.



This idea that children must be kept under lock and key because there's a small chance they will get it and a small chance they will pass it on and a small chance that the person they will pass it on to will be a high-risk person who in turn has a small chance of taking up a hospital bed? C'mon. It's getting ridiculous.

https://torontosun.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-dont-make-kids-the-pandemics-collateral-damage">https://torontosun.com/opinion/editoria ... ral-damage">https://torontosun.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-dont-make-kids-the-pandemics-collateral-damage

[Thiel]

An open letter signed by more than 100 Canadian doctors, including some of the country's top pediatric experts, is calling on provincial governments across the country to reopen schools and to keep them open.



The letter is being sent to all premiers and ministers of education and health.