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Three words: Masks. Masks. And Masks.
Japan got their infection spread under control, again. Yes, they had restrictions similar to ours, but now they are down to a few dozen cases per day, even with 120M+ population, densely populated cities and crowded transit.
But people are willing to, and do, wear masks. Not so much here.
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Waterloo Region reported six new cases today, 0.5% of the total cases to date and 3.4% of the current active caseload. 179 cases now active in the region, down 10, and down 94 in the past seven days. New cases averaging 2.1% of actives over the past seven days.
Ontario reported 323 new cases. 370 recoveries and 17 deaths means a drop of 64 active cases for the day, but still 87 more for the week. 20,640 tests for the day (the first time it's been over 20,000) for a 1.6% positivity rate. The new cases are 1.2% of the total but 8.2% of the number of active cases. New cases averaging 8.9% of actives over the past seven days.
Over the past 14 days, Ontario's active case count is up 14%; Waterloo Region's is down 42%.
The hospital population (801, -25) and the ICU population (121, -8) are down once again.
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I wasn't sure where to put this, but it is related to COVID:
https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/elora-shuts...sc=UqWDAKg
Elora is opening their main streets to pedestrians. This is a great step forward, I'm sure these types of destination towns will suffer greatly during COVID, but will also still be a destination for many, steps like this make them safer for people, and also more reasonable to open. Hopefully they allow shops to move some of their shop/tables outdoor where the risk can be lower and people can spread out more.
On the other hand, I hope this type of thing survives beyond COVID. While it will take some transportation reconfiguration to make this feasible (the main highway usually goes THROUGH the town) this type of pedestrian street is transformative to a town, making it a far more pleasant and enjoyable place to be. In the Netherlands, many if not most small towns have car free or car light centres which make them a destination, as opposed to an obstacle.
The most poignant example for me is Elmira, I had only been there during the pancake festival, and I thought, what a lovely town. So I decided to visit it on another, non-pancake festival day. Well, the main street is just a line of transport trucks, there's nothing even remotely pleasant about shopping on a main street next to heavy stinky diesel transport trucks, I would never go back while that situation persists.
And here is where I am really impressed (also with our local BIAs, who sometimes share similar, if less ambitious, positions) with Elora, that the BIA is fully on board with this. Basically, the people I spoke with online, at the time, a bypass in Elmira was being considered, felt that their main street would die if the trough traffic was removed. And I thought, what a lack of vision, and confidence. But the sad truth is the opposite is true, the traffic is killing their main street, and they are too scared of change to realize it. (Caveat: I don't know what the Elmira BIA (if there is one) thinks about a bypass, I was talking mostly with residents of Elmira)
Here's another related video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWRBnDNbAR4
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There's a long history of highway bypasses being linked to the decline of towns. It's probably a lot more nuanced than the highway bypass killing the town, but it's certainly not an unwarranted concern.
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(06-01-2020, 10:04 AM)jamincan Wrote: There's a long history of highway bypasses being linked to the decline of towns. It's probably a lot more nuanced than the highway bypass killing the town, but it's certainly not an unwarranted concern.
This is absolutely true, there's lots of nuance, and lots of context, but I would argue that a town which is "surviving" as nothing more than a highway rest stop is...what's the word for something which is dead but doesn't know it yet.
But quite clearly neither Elora nor Elmira are in that situation.
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Waterloo Region didn't update yesterday; this morning's report shows eight new cases over the past two days, 0.4% (per day) of the total cases to date and 2.5% (per day) of the current active caseload. 154 cases now active in the region, down 25 over the two days, and down 73 in the past seven days. New cases averaging 2.4% of actives over the past seven days.
588 people tested in the region over the past two days, with a 1.4% positivity rate. That's 0.049% of the population per day; Ontario's number (for today) is about double that.
Ontario reported 404 new cases, back up over 400 again. 343 recoveries and 10 deaths translates to an increase of 51 active cases for the day, but the weekly total is -270. 14,379 tests for the day (decent for a weekend) for a 2.8% positivity rate. The new cases are 1.5% of the total but 10.1% of the number of active cases. New cases averaging 8.6% of actives over the past seven days.
The hospital population was steady at 801 (+0) but the ICU population went back up to 125 (+7).
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(06-01-2020, 10:04 AM)jamincan Wrote: There's a long history of highway bypasses being linked to the decline of towns. It's probably a lot more nuanced than the highway bypass killing the town, but it's certainly not an unwarranted concern.
Route 66 & Interstates for sure. There is probably some truth to cars and even trucks helping drive some traffic into a village centre but at the same time they also make them unliveable as danbrotherston stated. And there were the experiments with pedestrian areas in the 70s which didn't work so well (e.g. Quebec City for instance; there's a whole webpage at http://www.urbanreviewstl.com/2009/11/no...rian-mall/).
I could imagine at least a truck bypass.
In NZ all of the highways go through all of the towns to a first approximation. But there's not that much traffic really.
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(06-01-2020, 10:48 AM)tomh009 Wrote: Waterloo Region didn't update yesterday; this morning's report shows eight new cases over the past two days, 0.4% (per day) of the total cases to date and 2.5% (per day) of the current active caseload. 154 cases now active in the region, down 25 over the two days, and down 73 in the past seven days. New cases averaging 2.4% of actives over the past seven days.
588 people tested in the region over the past two days, with a 1.4% positivity rate. That's 0.049% of the population per day; Ontario's number (for today) is about double that.
Ontario reported 404 new cases, back up over 400 again. 343 recoveries and 10 deaths translates to an increase of 51 active cases for the day, but the weekly total is -270. 14,379 tests for the day (decent for a weekend) for a 2.8% positivity rate. The new cases are 1.5% of the total but 10.1% of the number of active cases. New cases averaging 8.6% of actives over the past seven days.
The hospital population was steady at 801 (+0) but the ICU population went back up to 125 (+7).
There has apparently been a big outbreak among temporary farm workers in Norfolk County that accounts for most of that uptick in the number.
Today's news of 700 cases in Ontario that went unreported for weeks because of miscommunication between to hospitals is very disturbing.
We need to do better.
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(06-01-2020, 08:36 PM)panamaniac Wrote: There has apparently been a big outbreak among temporary farm workers in Norfolk County that accounts for most of that uptick in the number.
Today's news of 700 cases in Ontario that went unreported for weeks because of miscommunication between to hospitals is very disturbing.
We need to do better.
Just saw that now, thanks. Apparently 430 of those 700 cases will be showing up in the data sometime very soon.
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Waterloo Region reported 17 new cases over the past two days, the most since mid-May. Seven of the 17 cases were in a long-term facility, likely Forest Heights Revera. The increase is 1.5% of the total cases to date and 10.2% of the current active caseload. 167 cases now active in the region, up 13 but still down 42 in the past seven days. New cases averaging 3.3% of actives over the past seven days.
633 people tested in the region, with a 2.7% positivity rate. That's about 0.1% of the regional population, roughly similar to the Ontario testing rate for today.
Ontario reported 446 new cases, once again trending up. 331 recoveries and 17 deaths translate to an increase of 98 active cases for the day, but the weekly total is -178. 15,244 tests for the day (decent for a weekend) for a 2.9% positivity rate. The new cases are 1.6% of the total but 11.3% of the number of active cases. New cases averaging 9.2% of actives over the past seven days.
The hospital population was back up to 801 (+20) but the ICU population remained at 125 (+0).
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As many as 100 of those 446 were from the Scottlynn migrant worker outbreak in Norfolk. Up to another couple of dozen are from the outbreak in Jordan (Niagara reported 23 new cases).
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I struggle with the news that, this far in, we are still seeing new cases in LTC facilities. Beyond sad.
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(06-02-2020, 12:14 PM)panamaniac Wrote: I struggle with the news that, this far in, we are still seeing new cases in LTC facilities. Beyond sad.
One facility outbreak is now over, but it appears that the five new LTC cases are at Forest Heights Revera. 244 cases to date now, but no information on how many of them are still active. But somehow they have new infections there again, in spite of the precautions that have been implemented.
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St. Mary's is taking over the Forest Heights facility. https://www.kitchenertoday.com/coronavir...ra-2403209
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Revera is going to have to provide some good answers for this disaster. The Unifor union has stated that much of this could have probably been avoided if the staff were permitted to have access to PPE. For a while, they were not allowed to wear masks because they were told it would scare the residents of the home. Revera also demanded staff come to work even if they have tested positive for Covid-19, regardless of the symptoms. Residents who were positive were not put into isolation fast enough either, which lead to it spreading very fast as it's hard to social distance in such places, especially when it comes to meal times.
Ideally, the company should be charged and certain staff forced to resign.
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