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Covid-19

Fortunately the federal wage subsidy helps on the worker side. The new rent subsidy should help too, eventually.

The restart and shutdown costs though would be nice to have at least some consideration by now.
 
The numbers aren't as bad as I expected. Based on Nenshi's message I was expecting to see a new record daily high in one of the last 4 days.
 
Highest worldwide death toll to date was recorded yesterday just over 9,000. Previous high was 8,500 on April 17. Thankfully Canada only lost 52.

There are now 20 countries reporting over 100 deaths per day, a new high as well.
 
In Alberta the case count is on the rise.... on average 500-600 per day .... however hospitals are far from being overwhelmed. The deaths continue to be in the same demographic ... 70+ years old .
Deena Hinshaw said the highest count of seasonal flu deaths in the last few years was 92 (from the same demographic). So the COVID deaths are roughly 4 times that.
This winter is shaping up to be worse than this past spring as far as cases. Although the case count in <70 years or generally healthy people, is not leading to hospitalization and death, in any alarming numbers. Even if it does lead to hospitalization, there are treatments that enable recovery. We have to find a way of protecting our seniors or the vulnerable without more restrictions on the general public. No one seems to be measuring the human cost of:
1. The stress of losing your job or your business, not being able to pay your bills and no idea if you will find another job
2. Not being able to get elective surgery or even testing for other serious ailments that could lead to death
3. The mental anguish amongst families who cannot socialize or see each other (i.e people in seniors homes)
4. People near retirement who are experiencing a curtailment in their finances, and a lot of uncertainty ahead.
 
JonnyCanuck said:
So the COVID deaths are roughly 4 times that.
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Well, we don't know that. We had the tail end of a flu season and a summer. We haven't had winter with covid.
JonnyCanuck said:
We have to find a way of protecting our seniors or the vulnerable
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The only way we know how to do more than today to do this is to lower the community case load. Especially if we continue to allow visitors into senior homes. Rapid tests that there are enough of just aren't accurate enough today.
JonnyCanuck said:
one seems to be measuring the human cost of etc.
Click to expand...
People are. We will have lots and lots of papers published on all of this.

One of the big problems is that if we are on a bad trajectory, and choose to stay on the bad trajectory due to the factors you outline, you get both the bad trajectory, and the bad outcomes you were trying to avoid, plus a lot more people are dead.
 
JonnyCanuck said:
Even if it does lead to hospitalization, there are treatments that enable recovery.
Click to expand...

That's not true at all. There are plenty of "recovered" people who have heart damage, lung damage and who may suffer for the rest of their lives. It's absurd to say that we know there are no more long term effects of having a disease that's only been around for eight months.

JonnyCanuck said:
We have to find a way of protecting our seniors or the vulnerable without more restrictions on the general public. No one seems to be measuring the human cost of:
1. The stress of losing your job or your business, not being able to pay your bills and no idea if you will find another job
2. Not being able to get elective surgery or even testing for other serious ailments that could lead to death
3. The mental anguish amongst families who cannot socialize or see each other (i.e people in seniors homes)
4. People near retirement who are experiencing a curtailment in their finances, and a lot of uncertainty ahead.
Click to expand...

You're fundamentally making it a false choice between people being sick and dying and these other things. As if government financial supports can't work alongside controls -- even though they did this spring. As if flooding the hospitals with people receiving their "treatments that enable recovery" won't overwhelm our ability to do elective surgeries and other tests. As if there is no mental anguish in a family who cannot socialize because one of them is dead. As if covid raging through the population will reduce financial uncertainty somehow, particularly on the very retirement age population that would be locked away.

Places like Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Vietnam that locked down more stringently and instituted much stricter controls are the places that now face the least uncertainty and the strongest economic outlooks. The choice isn't covid restrictions versus economic activity and social wellbeing; the choice is covid restrictions now, economic activity and social wellbeing later versus no restrictions now, reduced economic activity and reduced social wellbeing later.
 
Surrealplaces said:
New record broken today with 919 new cases. Does anyone have any theories on why it’s spreading so much lately?
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It is just math and time. Same factors that took us from 100 to 200, takes us from 400 to 800. Without changes we’d be at 1600 in a few weeks. We will see if people listen but I have my doubts - keeping bars open but saying no drinks with the same friends you were going to sit at a table with if it is in your house will confuse a lot of people as they will see the rules as inconsistent. And people are less likely to follow inconsistent rules.
 
Pfizer also had a similar case to AstroZeneca of odd illness in a candidate that led to a brief pause. While this is positive news, we are still a ways away from a vaccine, and even knowing whether that vaccine will offer temporary or permanent immunity.
 
JonnyCanuck said:
Massive vaccine news this morning :D

Yeah it has got a lot of attention particularly in the stock market. I am a little leery of this announcement by Pfizer. They say it is based on early results. Results that have not been confirmed by the FDC as yet.
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Apparently Zoom stock dropped by 15% this morning on the vaccine news lol.
 
The seven day moving average for cases in the U.S is at 127,000 per day. That is 30 times higher than in Canada!
To my knowledge, 'fearless leader' Trump has not mentioned COVID in public once since the election. He will never admit that his mishandling of the pandemic was a key reason for his defeat.
 
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