Novel Coronavirus COVID-19 (nCoV-2019)

[PinkLucy]

We don’t have the facilities to properly quarantine everyone who has tested positive. And what are you going to do about all of those asymptomatic contagious people who haven’t been identified.

 

[Richard White]

We don’t have the facilities to properly quarantine everyone who has tested positive. And what are you going to do about all of those asymptomatic contagious people who haven’t been identified.

That's why I suggested a blanket lockdown. Shut everything down and have police patrol the streets.

The only facilities you need are your own home. Argentina along with other nations are doing that exact thing right now.

 

[Richard White]

We don’t have the facilities to properly quarantine everyone who has tested positive. And what are you going to do about all of those asymptomatic contagious people who haven’t been identified.

 

[Jasmine18]

We don’t have the facilities to properly quarantine everyone who has tested positive. And what are you going to do about all of those asymptomatic contagious people who haven’t been identified.

Lesson learned for the next pandemic, Mandatory isolation for returning Canadians and create a task force to implement that. It's a great marshalling of resources but I will 100% guarantee that a lot of the new disease spread is coming from people from vacation going about their lives as normal.

 

[lenaitch]

That's why I suggested a blanket lockdown. Shut everything down and have police patrol the streets.

The only facilities you need are your own home. Argentina along with other nations are doing that exact thing right now.

Cool. Some people starve to death (depending on the length of the lockdown - family can't check on elderly family members); hospitals go unstaffed; if the power goes out, it stays out, etc. What is 'essential'? The nurse, doctor, maintenance staff of a hospital? The transport driver transporting food? The Hydro utility worker? If every copper was placed on street duty in the province, there still wouldn't be enough (and remember, it's not just a Toronto problem). Call in the military? Perhaps. They can do a lot of things under the mandate of 'aid to the civil power' but the one thing they can't to is be deputized - no law enforcement authority.

 

[TheKingEast]

We knew about this for so long and did NOTHING. The fact that we’re playing catch up pisses me off. Everything has been so reactive and not proactive.

Hope good times are right around the corner.

 

[AlbertC]

Target and Walmart aren’t protecting staff amid pandemic, workers say

Employees say they are anxious about working in crowded stores with inadequate sanitation and lack of paid time off

Michael Sainato in New York
Sun 22 Mar 2020 08.00 GMT

Management at retail giants Walmart and Target are not doing enough to protect staff working through the coronavirus crisis, according to some workers.

Target and Walmart arenât protecting staff amid pandemic, workers say

Employees say they are anxious about working in crowded stores with inadequate sanitation and lack of paid time off

www.theguardian.com

 

[AlbertC]

Risky decision being made at MGH:

Michael Garron Hospital tells employees returning from abroad to report to work, despite new provincial guidelines

Chris FoxCTV News Toronto
Published Sunday, March 22, 2020 7:12AM EDT

A hospital in the city’s east end has informed its employees returning from abroad that it expects them to continue showing up to work so long as they are asymptomatic, a position that goes against advice from Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health.

The province had previously said that healthcare workers didn’t need to self-isolate upon returning to Canada unless they were exhibiting symptoms but on Thursday Dr. David Williams amended that guideline and said that only healthcare workers who are “critical” to operations should be returning to work without self-isolating for two weeks.

The new advice came on the same day that officials confirmed a woman had tested positive for COVID-19 after returning to work at a hospital in Woodstock following a trip to Mexico.

In a statement provided to CP24, Michael Garron Hospital said that despite the new advice it is taking the position that “all healthcare workers are critical for hospital operations” and is therefore telling its employees that they must immediately return to work after international travel if they are asymptomatic.

The hospital, however, said that it will continue advanced screening measures for “for staff, physicians, patients, visitors and every individual entering the building.”

“We are asking asymptomatic health care workers returning from international travel to return to work based on several robust safety measures and strategies we have put in place from the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak. This approach is consistent with our healthy workplace policy and in alignment with several of our partner hospitals in Toronto,” the statement reads. “There is community transmission of COVID-19 in Ontario; therefore travel is no longer the only risk factor. People who have not travelled may now be at similar risk for having COVID-19 as those who have travelled.”

Michael Garron Hospital tells staff returning from abroad to work at site despite new guidelines

A hospital in the city’s east end has informed its employees returning from abroad that it expects them to continue showing up to work so long as they are asymptomatic, a position that goes against advice from Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health.

toronto.ctvnews.ca

 

[DSC]

That's why I suggested a blanket lockdown. Shut everything down and have police patrol the streets.

The only facilities you need are your own home. Argentina along with other nations are doing that exact thing right now.

@Richard White you REALLY need to calm down - for your own protection. If you are not comfortable working then stay at home, if you get freaked out by the covid-19 news then try to do something else. (A good long (solitary) walk might be useful.) We will get through this, but not if we are spending far too much time worrying and assuming the worst.

 

[DSC]

For those interested in charts and scientific facts. https://ourworldindata.org/covid-testing

 

[Admiral Beez]

Go for a walk. You have to look after your physical and mental health.

I’m walking the dog three times a day. I think I’ve met nearly 40 dogs (at a safe distance) and now know every alleyway and corner of Cabbagetown.

 

[AlbertC]

McDonald’s follows suit in closing most Canadian locations, will offer drive-through and delivery only

One day after Starbucks Canada made a similar move, McDonald’s Canada has decided to close most of its stores in Canada, opting to serve customers at drive-through windows or through delivery only.

The announcements are a sign of the sweeping changes hitting the retail industry in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past week, non-essential retailers across Canada have shut their doors. However, some food retailers, including coffee shops and fast food restaurants, have attempted to continue their services in order to provide meal options to Canadians who are staying home and practicing social distancing.

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On Saturday, McDonald's Canada announced that it would no longer offer take-out service and would close its dining rooms as as of midnight. The restaurants will fill orders at drive-through and through delivery services. Like Starbucks, McDonald's said that some restaurants near hospitals and other health care facilities may remain open.

"Our response to COVID-19 is evolving quickly across our restaurants and communities," the company said in a statement. "We have teams working around the clock to continue to adapt our procedures and protocols to reflect guidance from the respective governments, health authorities as well as feedback from our restaurant employees and guests, whose health and well-being remain our highest priority."

McDonald’s follows suit in closing most Canadian locations, will offer drive-through and delivery only

Like Starbucks, McDonald’s said that some restaurants near hospitals and other health care facilities may remain open

www.theglobeandmail.com

 

[DSC]

I’m walking the dog three times a day. I think I’ve met nearly 40 dogs (at a safe distance) and now know every alleyway and corner of Cabbagetown.

This is an alternative ;->

 

[lenaitch]

We knew about this for so long and did NOTHING. The fact that we’re playing catch up pisses me off. Everything has been so reactive and not proactive.

Hope good times are right around the corner.

Not to sound like like I'm defending governmental or societal reaction, I'm not sure we knew then what we know now. In early days, it was China-centric outbreak, then exploded in parts of the Middle East and Europe. Who knew. Its specific epidemiology was not known. If we had locked down our economy and society to the extent we have now when it was still only known in one city in one Chinese province, we would have gone nuts and probably widely ignored it.

If you mean a general pandemic readiness, such as stockpiling medical supplies and equipment, perhaps you are right. There is an international agreement (can't find a like right now) addressing readiness, response and cooperation that has been widely ignored. Canada in particular has a tendency to not invest in readiness on many fronts.

 

[Northern Light]

Not to sound like like I'm defending governmental or societal reaction, I'm not sure we knew then what we know now. In early days, it was China-centric outbreak, then exploded in parts of the Middle East and Europe. Who knew. Its specific epidemiology was not known. If we had locked down our economy and society to the extent we have now when it was still only known in one city in one Chinese province, we would have gone nuts and probably widely ignored it.

If you mean a general pandemic readiness, such as stockpiling medical supplies and equipment, perhaps you are right. There is an international agreement (can't find a like right now) addressing readiness, response and cooperation that has been widely ignored. Canada in particular has a tendency to not invest in readiness on many fronts.

Entirely on point.

I would further add; while I completely commend people to follow advice on social distancing; and the shut down of high-risk activities/workplaces, I also feel the extent of the current action is not sustainable in the medium term.

I'm not speaking economically.

I'm suggesting people simply won't abide this level of isolation/inconvenience indefinitely, and that's reflected by rapid loosening of restrictions in China.

Which makes it that much more important not to do this too soon, too long or too widely, because you want to get maximum compliance while you are doing it and where and when the need to do so is pressing.

We need to rapidly roll out more testing, particularly for healthcare workers, psws, and those with frequent contact w/the elderly or high-risk people, including family.

We likewise need to target those with positive tests, and those who are most vulnerable for isolation, so as to invest social (and financial) capital wisely.

This is not an either/or scenario of doing nothing or something half-measure vs totalitarian lockdown.

Its a matter of targeting restrictions and ppe and testing where they are most needed; and implementing the most useful and sustainable measures; while making our healthcare system sufficiently robust to handle what is, and what may follow.