p_xavier
Active Member
As early?!
I've pretty much given up on trying to track the state of the emergency orders. In spite of what the media and government keeps saying, there was no "stay at home" order. So much was closed that, in many way, it became a de facto order, but there was nothing compelling me to Stay. At. Home. Outside of the obvious, such as grocery and pharmacy, I don't have a definitive clue what is open and what isn't. I went into the big city today(Barrie) to pick up something we had ordered and, of course, had a list. Of the two other places I tried, one that I thought would be open wasn't and the one that I thought wouldn't be but gave it a shot, was.
My issue at home is not having a great desk, chair, computer set up. If I were to keep working from home, I'd have to fix that. And I don't want to. I've actually been in the office on and off and realized how much I prefer being in the office. Fewer distractions, better desk set up, all the files I need (I'm in a business that still needs paper copies of legal docs). I walk to work and I miss that as well when I'm home.I can't wait to go back - for me it's less a space issue, and more of a routine issue. I don't miss the commuting though, and it will take a some time to not freak out over close proximity with others at rush.
AoD
It's all about the variants of concern now. If we reopen too quickly and one of the more transmissible variants gains a foothold here, we'll be in trouble even at 75% vaccination. On the other hand, modelling shows that with a gradual reopening, we'll be able to avoid a fourth wave even with more transmissible variants in circulation:So what happens if we get into the low hundreds or single digits prior to Stage 1? I can't see them keeping everything closed if we are down to between 100-300 cases daily.
Justification is key and an extended closure cannot be if the numbers are lower than they have been in months. We are already lower than what we were at prior to Novembers lockdown/stay at home order.
It's all about the variants of concern now. If we reopen too quickly and one of the more transmissible variants gains a foothold here, we'll be in trouble even at 75% vaccination. On the other hand, modelling shows that with a gradual reopening, we'll be able to avoid a fourth wave even with more transmissible variants in circulation:
How many COVID-19 vaccine doses could make the difference between a fourth wave in Canada and no wave at all? New models offer four scenarios
Vaccinating at least 90 per cent of eligible Canadians against COVID-19 could tip the balance against new, more infectious variants much better than the 75-per-cent uptake Ottawa is pushing for. Here’s how things could play outwww.theglobeandmail.com
I think it makes sense to be cautious here. I want life to get back to normal as much as anyone else, but I'm willing to move slowly if it means we can avoid another wave.
So I was off by a bit - we are sitting at 1,030 on the 7 day average. The drop seems to be slowing a bit, but we need more data to know for sure. To be expected as we get into lower case counts though, weekly drops of 700 cases / week are not sustainable as we approach 0.Ontario is on track to see the 7 day average drop below 1,000 by Tuesday, which is 4-5 days earlier than I expected it to two weeks ago.
At current rates we will be having a couple hundred cases a day by the start of next week.
by the time “phase 1” starts we could be effectively at 100-200 cases a day, but still no haircuts! Gotta wait another 3 weeks for that!
by the time we are allowed haircuts BC and Alberta will have lifted all restrictions and will be removing mask mandates, much like the rest of the world, but Ontario is special. Covid cases could jump to 5,000 a day overnight if people are allowed to eat indoors or get a haircut. Cant have that can we?
The virus doesn't care about politics, unfortunately.With every other large urban center opening up around the world it would be foolish (and political suicide) to remain closed indefinitely.
what it does care about is vaccines and we'll have those done by mid-summer. Even now seasonality is at play in tandem with vaccinations and by the time any new wave of covid has a chance to pick up to a notable pace it will be impossible for it to do so.The virus doesn't care about politics, unfortunately.
Sure, but this all depends on what level of transmission we're seeing from these new variants. Even with 75% of the population vaccinated, worst case scenario we're still looking at a fourth wave based on the latest modelling. I'm not saying we need to stay locked down forever, just that we should be erring on the side of caution to avoid a repeat of the situation we saw in March. We shouldn't be rushing to reopen schools, gyms, and indoor dining -- but we should definitely be looking at a summer of low-risk activities like outdoor gatherings and patio beers. Once we start getting close to 90% vaccinated, we can safely open everything else up (unless we see the vaccine escape scenario, god forbid, in which case we're going to have to hunker down and wait for a booster).what it does care about is vaccines and we'll have those done by mid-summer. Even now seasonality is at play in tandem with vaccinations and by the time any new wave of covid has a chance to pick up to a notable pace it will be impossible for it to do so.