The COVID-19 pandemic

[panamaniac]

For those so inclined, new immigrants can be tested if there is a concern.

They are required to self-isolate on arrival, in any event.

[panamaniac]

For those so inclined, new immigrants can be tested if there is a concern.

Never mind immigration, shouldn’t a mandatory 21 day quarantine have been put in place for all people entering the country starting in approximately mid-February? I suppose it would have seemed draconian but it would have been nothing compared to what we’ve been doing the last month or so.

What about truckers? It occurred to me that trucking might be re-organized so that trailers are handed off from one cab to another at the border — so a trucker would drive to the border, drop off a trailer, and pick up a different trailer to take back. No personal interaction on the other side of the border. Although I suppose it’s not really that different if the trucker drives the trailer to its final destination and unhooks it there without interacting with anybody, then goes right back across the border.

Self isolation for those arriving from abroad has now been in place for a couple of weeks.  Whether something "should have" been done differently, sooner, whatever, is irrelevant at the moment, as the entire focus needs to be on fighting the spread of the virus now.  One can come back for "lessons learned" in future, when the war has been won.
Once reliable speedy testing becomes available, I could see it being used to address the issue of truckers and other still allowed to cross the border.

[ijmorlan]

Never mind immigration, shouldn’t a mandatory 21 day quarantine have been put in place for all people entering the country starting in approximately mid-February? I suppose it would have seemed draconian but it would have been nothing compared to what we’ve been doing the last month or so.

What about truckers? It occurred to me that trucking might be re-organized so that trailers are handed off from one cab to another at the border — so a trucker would drive to the border, drop off a trailer, and pick up a different trailer to take back. No personal interaction on the other side of the border. Although I suppose it’s not really that different if the trucker drives the trailer to its final destination and unhooks it there without interacting with anybody, then goes right back across the border.

Self isolation for those arriving from abroad has now been in place for a couple of weeks.  Whether something "should have" been done differently, sooner, whatever, is irrelevant at the moment, as the entire focus needs to be on fighting the spread of the virus now.  One can come back for "lessons learned" in future, when the war has been won.
Once reliable speedy testing becomes available, I could see it being used to address the issue of truckers and other still allowed to cross the border.

To me it feels like we didn’t really take it seriously until it was here. We didn't implement major changes in procedure until there were enough cases in Canada that a widespread cessation of in-person activities was needed.

[tomh009]

Self isolation for those arriving from abroad has now been in place for a couple of weeks.  Whether something "should have" been done differently, sooner, whatever, is irrelevant at the moment, as the entire focus needs to be on fighting the spread of the virus now.  One can come back for "lessons learned" in future, when the war has been won.
Once reliable speedy testing becomes available, I could see it being used to address the issue of truckers and other still allowed to cross the border.

To me it feels like we didn’t really take it seriously until it was here. We didn't implement major changes in procedure until there were enough cases in Canada that a widespread cessation of in-person activities was needed.

And yet, travel from China was not the biggest problem. Ontario has had only five cases traced back to travel in China, seven for Italy and 18 for Iran, the three early hotspots. On the other hand there have been 64 cases from Mexico, 111 from the UK -- and 369 from the US.

[tomh009]

411 new cases in Ontario today for a 7% increase. 284 recovered and 31 dead for a net addition of only 96 active cases. This is the smallest increase in active cases since the infection first started gathering speed. Next goal would be a net add of zero.

96,321 people tested to date, 3648 more than yesterday. 691 cases currently hospitalized (+18) and 257 in the ICU (-3). Infections now reported at 79 long-term care homes (+6).

Quebec added 615 cases today, about 5%. 123,315 tests done to date (5000 for the past day). 778 currently hospitalized (+45) and 211 in ICU (+25).

March
2020-03-23 778 (+258%) 2020-03-24 1040 (+34%) 2020-03-25 1339 (+29%) 2020-03-26 1629 (+22%) 2020-03-27 2021 (+24%)
2020-03-28 2498 (+24%) 2020-03-29 2840 (+13%) 2020-03-30 3430 (+21%) 2020-03-31 4162 (+21%)
April
2020-04-01 4611 (+11%) 2020-04-02 5518 (+20%) 2020-04-03 6101 (+8%) 2020-04-04 6997 (+15%) 2020-04-05 7944 (+14%)
2020-04-06 8580 (+8%) 2020-04-07 9340 (+9%) 2020-04-08 10031 (+7%) 2020-04-09 10912 (+9%) 2020-04-10 11677 (+7%)
2020-04-11 12292 (+5%)

[MidTowner]

Our population is three-and-a-half times that of Alberta, but we're not even completing double the tests. 70,000 tested there, compared with less than 100,000 in Ontario. Not too impressive.

[ijmorlan]

To me it feels like we didn’t really take it seriously until it was here. We didn't implement major changes in procedure until there were enough cases in Canada that a widespread cessation of in-person activities was needed.

And yet, travel from China was not the biggest problem. Ontario has had only five cases traced back to travel in China, seven for Italy and 18 for Iran, the three early hotspots. On the other hand there have been 64 cases from Mexico, 111 from the UK -- and 369 from the US.

Thanks for those numbers — I was unaware.

Interesting political problem — for my suggestion to have been useful it would have had to have been all borders, specifically and most importantly including the US border. On the other hand by now it would be obvious and undeniable to everyone that we were in the right — no out-of-control spread in Canada, cases all over the place in the US.

[danbrotherston]

Our population is three-and-a-half times that of Alberta, but we're not even completing double the tests. 70,000 tested there, compared with less than 100,000 in Ontario. Not too impressive.

This doesn't matter when looking at trends, as long as the testing methodology remains constant, we can still see whether cases are going up, down, or flat.

[tomh009]

Our population is three-and-a-half times that of Alberta, but we're not even completing double the tests. 70,000 tested there, compared with less than 100,000 in Ontario. Not too impressive.

We were actually testing more earlier on, 4000-5000 tests/day at the beginning of April, but now only about 3000. The capacity is there to do more, the testing volume has been determined by the policies for who to test. Ford has now ordered expanded testing, so we should be seeing that in the coming days.

[tomh009]

And yet, travel from China was not the biggest problem. Ontario has had only five cases traced back to travel in China, seven for Italy and 18 for Iran, the three early hotspots. On the other hand there have been 64 cases from Mexico, 111 from the UK -- and 369 from the US.

Thanks for those numbers — I was unaware.

Interesting political problem — for my suggestion to have been useful it would have had to have been all borders, specifically and most importantly including the US border. On the other hand by now it would be obvious and undeniable to everyone that we were in the right — no out-of-control spread in Canada, cases all over the place in the US.

Exactly. The US border was a huge political problem, exacerbated by the current resident of the White House.

[panamaniac]

Self isolation for those arriving from abroad has now been in place for a couple of weeks.  Whether something "should have" been done differently, sooner, whatever, is irrelevant at the moment, as the entire focus needs to be on fighting the spread of the virus now.  One can come back for "lessons learned" in future, when the war has been won.
Once reliable speedy testing becomes available, I could see it being used to address the issue of truckers and other still allowed to cross the border.

To me it feels like we didn’t really take it seriously until it was here. We didn't implement major changes in procedure until there were enough cases in Canada that a widespread cessation of in-person activities was needed.

Our population is three-and-a-half times that of Alberta, but we're not even completing double the tests. 70,000 tested there, compared with less than 100,000 in Ontario. Not too impressive.

We were actually testing more earlier on, 4000-5000 tests/day at the beginning of April, but now only about 3000. The capacity is there to do more, the testing volume has been determined by the policies for who to test. Ford has now ordered expanded testing, so we should be seeing that in the coming days.

Remains to be seen whether Doug Ford can will an improvement in the ongoing gong show that thas been covid-19 testing in Ontario.

[tomh009]

Remains to be seen whether Doug Ford can will an improvement in the ongoing gong show that thas been covid-19 testing in Ontario.

Testing aside, the social distancing/self-isolation measures do appear to be working, based on the data from the past week. The numbers are trending in the right direction. Of course, we are far from being out of the woods yet.

[plam]

Interesting political problem — for my suggestion to have been useful it would have had to have been all borders, specifically and most importantly including the US border. On the other hand by now it would be obvious and undeniable to everyone that we were in the right — no out-of-control spread in Canada, cases all over the place in the US.

Thing about the US border is that food and essential goods need to come over the border. I don't know how much interaction with the community truckers have once they cross the border. Aircrews are apparently supposed to not really supposed to leave the hotel I think.

Here in NZ there was some press about how truckers are having a bit of a tough time because bathrooms and restaurants (even takeout) are closed.

Speaking of no out-of-control spread, that's NZ. We've been net negative (more recoveries than new cases) for a couple of days. NZ closed early and pretty comprehensively. You can basically get groceries, pharmacy and gas. (There's more, but not much). The total active is somewhere around 900 now.

[plam]

Speaking of no out-of-control spread, that's NZ. We've been net negative (more recoveries than new cases) for a couple of days. NZ closed early and pretty comprehensively. You can basically get groceries, pharmacy and gas. (There's more, but not much). The total active is somewhere around 900 now.

PS some NZ schools may reopen after 4 weeks of lockdown: "Some schools could re-open on April 29, provided New Zealand comes out of lockdown on April 23, education minister Chris Hipkins says.".

[tomh009]

The calm before the storm?

The latest report from Ontario’s critical-care system on Friday showed just two additional coronavirus patients admitted to an ICU anywhere in the province the day before. Despite having to treat over 530 confirmed or possible COVID-19 people, almost 78 per cent of the province’s expanded intensive-care capacity remained free.

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/tha...adian-icus