The COVID-19 pandemic

[tomh009]

SUNDAY 2021-08-29

Waterloo Region reported 18 new cases for today (10.5% of the active cases) and zero additional for yesterday for 27; 138 new cases for the week (-5 from yesterday and +14 from last week), averaging 12.9% of active cases. 165 active cases, +14 in the last seven days.

Next testing report on Tuesday.

Next vaccination report on Monday.

Ontario reported 740 new cases today with a seven-day average of 688 (+2), compared to 564 a week ago. 561 recoveries and two deaths translated to an increase of 177 active cases and a new total of 5,874. +885 active cases and nine deaths for the week. 22,890 tests with a positivity rate of 3.23%. The positivity rate is averaging 2.82% for the past seven days, compared to 2.46% for the preceding seven.

131 people in the ICU, -1 from yesterday and +18 over the past week.

29,695 doses of vaccine administered yesterday, with a seven-day average at 34,577 (previous week was 39,876). 73.35% of total provincial population vaccinated (+0.07% from yesterday, +0.58% from 7 days ago), 67.34% fully vaccinated (+0.14% from yesterday, +1.07% from 7 days ago).

Cases/100K by region:

• 90 cases in Windsor-Essex: 23.1 per 100K
  
• 106 cases in Hamilton: 18.3 per 100K
  
• 10 cases in Huron Perth: 10.2 per 100K
  
• 9 cases in Chatham-Kent: 8.5 per 100K
  
• 32 cases in Middlesex-London: 7.9 per 100K
  
• 63 cases in York: 5.7 per 100K
  
• 15 cases in Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph: 5.5 per 100K
  
• 24 cases in Niagara: 5.4 per 100K
  
• 33 cases in Durham: 5.1 per 100K
  
• 10 cases in Eastern Ontario: 4.9 per 100K
  
• 141 cases in Toronto: 4.8 per 100K
  
• 26 cases in Halton: 4.7 per 100K
  
• 29 cases in Waterloo: 4.7 per 100K (based on provincial reporting)
  
• 63 cases in Peel: 4.6 per 100K
  
• 31 cases in Ottawa: 3.1 per 100K
  
• 5 cases in Grey Bruce: 3.1 per 100K
  
• 5 cases in Leeds, Grenville & Lanark: 2.9 per 100K
  
• 15 cases in Simcoe-Muskoka: 2.8 per 100K
  
• 3 cases in Lambton: 2.3 per 100K
  
• 3 cases in Brant: 2.2 per 100K
  
• 4 cases in Sudbury: 1.0 per 100K
  
• 2 cases in Kingston Frontenac: 1.0 per 100K
  

[jamincan]

If you go by their record, the government won't require a certificate for any business and it will be entirely opt-in on the business's part. This is the least-effort government; they aren't going to make their jobs harder.

[danbrotherston]

If you go by their record, the government won't require a certificate for any business and it will be entirely opt-in on the business's part. This is the least-effort government; they aren't going to make their jobs harder.

This is exactly what I am expecting.

But honestly, it's level 10 stupid. "We won't do the easy things now, which means later, we'll have to do the hard things." Honestly, my toddler has better self moderation than our government.

[jwilliamson]

Just biked down to the transit terminal to get me and my daughter tested. They used to test walk-ins near the front doors of the terminal, but now they make you sit in the tent with all the cars. There's no line for walk-ins so it feels like there's a bunch of waiting until someone feels like coming over to test you.

[tomh009]

MONDAY 2021-08-30

Waterloo Region reported 14 new cases for today (8.4% of the active cases) and zero additional for yesterday for 18; 142 new cases for the week (+5 from yesterday and +25 from last week), averaging 13.0% of active cases. 165 active cases, +14 in the last seven days.

Next testing report on Tuesday.

3,703 doses of vaccine administered over the last three days, with a seven-day average at 1,356 (previous week was 1,563). 73.68% of total regional population vaccinated, 67.74% fully vaccinated.

Ontario reported 694 new cases today with a seven-day average of 696 (+8), compared to 581 a week ago. 540 recoveries and zero deaths translated to an increase of 154 active cases and a new total of 6,028. +902 active cases and nine deaths for the week. 18,561 tests with a positivity rate of 3.74%. The positivity rate is averaging 2.89% for the past seven days, compared to 2.45% for the preceding seven.

134 people in the ICU, +3 from yesterday and +13 over the past week.

17,767 doses of vaccine administered yesterday, with a seven-day average at 33,888 (previous week was 39,384). 73.39% of total provincial population vaccinated (+0.06% from yesterday, +0.57% from 7 days ago), 67.42% fully vaccinated (+0.08% from yesterday, +1.04% from 7 days ago).

Cases/100K by region:

• 74 cases in Windsor-Essex: 19.0 per 100K
  
• 74 cases in Hamilton: 12.8 per 100K
  
• 98 cases in York: 8.8 per 100K
  
• 9 cases in Chatham-Kent: 8.5 per 100K
  
• 104 cases in Peel: 7.5 per 100K
  
• 14 cases in Eastern Ontario: 6.9 per 100K
  
• 38 cases in Durham: 5.9 per 100K
  
• 13 cases in Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph: 4.8 per 100K
  
• 20 cases in Niagara: 4.5 per 100K
  
• 44 cases in Ottawa: 4.4 per 100K
  
• 121 cases in Toronto: 4.1 per 100K
  
• 12 cases in Middlesex-London: 3.0 per 100K
  
• 16 cases in Simcoe-Muskoka: 3.0 per 100K
  
• 16 cases in Halton: 2.9 per 100K
  
• 14 cases in Waterloo: 2.3 per 100K (based on provincial reporting)
  
• 3 cases in Grey Bruce: 1.9 per 100K
  
• 2 cases in Brant: 1.5 per 100K
  
• 2 cases in Thunder Bay: 1.3 per 100K
  
• 1 cases in Huron Perth: 1.0 per 100K
  

[jeffster]

Sorry for the tardiness -- was in Toronto today.

Yesterdays 7-day Covid-19 cases per 100k

• Windsor-Essex County Health Unit 110.4
• City of Hamilton Public Health Services 87.0
• York Region Public Health 48.2
• Chatham-Kent Public Health 48.0
• Peel Public Health 38.2
• Middlesex-London Health Unit 34.3
• Toronto Public Health 33.3
• Durham Region Health Department 32.7
• Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health 32.1
• Eastern Ontario Health Unit 30.7

• Region of Waterloo Public Health and Emergency Services 23.4

• Grey Bruce Health Unit 10.0
• Algoma Public Health 9.6
• Leeds, Grenville & Lanark District Health Unit 5.8
• Northwestern Health Unit 5.7
• Thunder Bay District Health Unit 5.3
• North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit 4.6
• Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit 3.7
• Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington Public Health 2.8
• Renfrew County and District Health Unit 0.9
• Timiskaming Health Unit 0.0

• TOTAL ONTARIO 32.8

[jeffster]

If you go by their record, the government won't require a certificate for any business and it will be entirely opt-in on the business's part. This is the least-effort government; they aren't going to make their jobs harder.

Is any province / country requiring something like this for businesses?

[taylortbb]

If you go by their record, the government won't require a certificate for any business and it will be entirely opt-in on the business's part. This is the least-effort government; they aren't going to make their jobs harder.

Is any province / country requiring something like this for businesses?

BC, Quebec, and Manitoba are requiring proof of vaccination for all restaurants, sporting events, etc. So is New York, France, etc. Probably many more places around the world.

It's what Ontario should do, but I expect we'll actually be like Alberta where it's up to each individual restaurant. Which both puts the pressure on small businesses to face the backlash and protests, and ensures there will be plenty of restaurants for the anti-vaxxers to eat at, preventing any motivation to get vaccinated.

[Bjays93]

Two things I wanna say. First off, there were some people very hard on our PHU back when cases were surging in Waterloo Region. We are now the third highest vaccinated PHU in the province so I'd say job well done.

Secondly, I'm not anti vax (and after talking with my doctor yet again even with some of my health concerns I've decided I'm going to get the shot because I think it's the best possible decision for myself)

I say that because in spite of all that I'm not a fan of vaccine passports. I totally understand why other people are and I fully understand the rationale behind it. I don't know how it would fall with a constitutional challenge to mobility rights, but nonetheless it doesnt sit well with me personally. I think people need to realise there are fully vaccinated people out there who still arent fans of a vaccine passport system. It's not just anti vaxxers against it (even if they are a majority % wise)

[tomh009]

What do you see as the key issues with a (properly executed) vaccine passport system? I would expect that a valid medical reason would get you a passport (though possibly one that requires wearing a mask).

A passport non-essential businesses/events (restaurants, bars, fitness facilities etc) should encourage the vaccine-hesitant and the too-busy youth (their rates are still substantially lower) to get vaccinated -- and make those facilities safer for everyone that does use them. I would not expect public transit to require a passport, but air travel (which is a private business, not a government operation) clearly will.

[jeffster]

Current 7-day Covid-19 cases per 100k

• Windsor-Essex County Health Unit 113.5
• City of Hamilton Public Health Services 86.5
• York Region Public Health 47.0
• Chatham-Kent Public Health 47.0
• Brant County Health Unit 39.3
• Peel Public Health 36.8
• Middlesex-London Health Unit 35.1
• Durham Region Health Department 34.5
• Toronto Public Health 33.0
• Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health 32.7

• Region of Waterloo Public Health and Emergency Services 25.3

• Grey Bruce Health Unit 10.6
• Lambton Public Health 9.9
• Thunder Bay District Health Unit 6.0
• Leeds, Grenville & Lanark District Health Unit 5.8
• North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit 5.4
• Northwestern Health Unit 4.6
• Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit 3.2
• Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington Public Health 2.8
• Renfrew County and District Health Unit 1.8
• Timiskaming Health Unit 0.0

• TOTAL ONTARIO 33.1

[jeffster]

What do you see as the key issues with a (properly executed) vaccine passport system? I would expect that a valid medical reason would get you a passport (though possibly one that requires wearing a mask).

A passport non-essential businesses/events (restaurants, bars, fitness facilities etc) should encourage the vaccine-hesitant and the too-busy youth (their rates are still substantially lower) to get vaccinated -- and make those facilities safer for everyone that does use them. I would not expect public transit to require a passport, but air travel (which is a private business, not a government operation) clearly will.

I don't believe you'd get a passport even if you have medical reasons for no shot:

https://bc.ctvnews.ca/no-medical-or-reli...-1.5558423

I heard of a lady in BC who has some sort of illness that prevents her from getting a shot, and she's out of luck at doing anything with her family due to passport requirements.

Of all places that should require a passport, I think public transit should be one of them. Simply because you're in a small area with poor circulation, which is the breading ground for covid-19. Some transits (like the TTC) do enforce mask wearing, but the GRT doesn't.

BTW: I believe government should lead by example, no matter the level (Federal, provincial, local).

[taylortbb]

Of all places that should require a passport, I think public transit should be one of them. Simply because you're in a small area with poor circulation, which is the breading ground for covid-19. Some transits (like the TTC) do enforce mask wearing, but the GRT doesn't.

Transit vehicles generally have excellent air circulation, far more than inside any building. For example, Metrolinx has a blog post on this for GO trains https://blog.metrolinx.com/2020/08/27/ai...rd-trains/ . Or here's a good NYTimes visual on NYC subway vehicles, the airflow patterns on ION are similar https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020...virus.html

Most public transportation vehicles are designed this way. Even planes, where many assume you're breathing recirculated air, actually bring in hospital levels of fresh air, and are designed with airflow patterns that minimize transmission.

[ijmorlan]

I say that because in spite of all that I'm not a fan of vaccine passports. I totally understand why other people are and I fully understand the rationale behind it. I don't know how it would fall with a constitutional challenge to mobility rights, but nonetheless it doesnt sit well with me personally. I think people need to realise there are fully vaccinated people out there who still arent fans of a vaccine passport system. It's not just anti vaxxers against it (even if they are a majority % wise)

I would expect, and hope, that a constitutional challenge of a well-designed passport system would fare about as well as a constitutional challenge to the driver licensing regime.

That being said, while I consider it absurd to oppose vaccine passports in principle, I can see a host of real-world issues which make such a system harder to design than it might initially sound, to the extent that I consider good-faith opposition to a passport system to be possible; but not from people who don’t accept the basic facts of the vaccine, including that it is safe and effective.

[ijmorlan]

I heard of a lady in BC who has some sort of illness that prevents her from getting a shot, and she's out of luck at doing anything with her family due to passport requirements.

This is not cool.

I don’t know exactly how it should work, but it seems pretty clear to me that in many settings it’s fine for a few unvaccinated people with bona fide medical exemptions to be present. As such they should be granted a passport through some appropriate approval process.

At the same time, it seems like there are probably settings (ICU?) where nobody at all should be present for any reason if they are unvaccinated. So the passport system needs to support at least 2 levels of restriction: restriction to people who are vaccinated or have an exemption; and restriction to vaccinated people only.

Of course, this implies that if the setting in question is a medical one, there has to be a separate one for unvaccinated patients. It would be absurd to suggest that a nurse with an exemption can’t come in to do their job, but an unvaccinated patient is A-OK.

Anyway, depending on how the numbers go, it might be necessary to de-prioritize treatment of unvaccinated Covid patients. Somebody with a severe condition that they didn’t mostly cause themselves needs to have precedence.