Quarantine Diaries: Day 365

in #covid3 years ago

I am going to borrow a chapter out if my friend @preparedwaombat's book and bring you up to speed on the Covid situation in small town Canada.


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A week ago, this is where we were. A province bigger than Texas by a large amount with 90% of the population along the southern counties. Here is the legend that tells you what this means.


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This is the framework delivered to the general public by the provincial government as it tries to simplify their plan and expected behaviour for each region. The entire province was under LOCKDOWN status from Christmas until February. From there, my county moved from orange to yellow with less than a dozen cases in our 2-county health unit.
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While it might seem like an elaborate joke for the say of the date, the announcement of the premier was that the whole province would be immediately back into a month long lockdown. As a matter of personal opinion, this sow of a politician is not responsible for the mess we are in as much as the morons who voted him into power despite his history highlighted by being the henchman for crackhead Rob Ford who embarrassed Toronto as mayor for years. He will most likely spend the lockdown at the cottage, remotely prodding the prime minister to print more fiat.


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While this may look like the Bitcoin chart, it is actually one that measures the new and daily average Covid 19 cases in out province. If you watch bitcoin and know what I know, 4k could be like the 20k Bitcoin and you know how high that goes beyond this chart.


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The long and the short of it is that the Intensive Care Units at greater Toronto hospitals are over 93% occupied, many with new Covid variant cases that appear to be spreading faster, and impacting younger victims. Even in normal times, shit happens and the hospitals like to have more space and staff to accommodate surprise surges in patients. There are over 5 million people in the greater Toronto area and the density can't be good for transmission rates.


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I moved to this small town for a simpler, more affordable life for me and my family. An unexpected bonus has shown itself with the lower population and the inherent benefits when it comes to popularity density and fending off a pandemic. As of this minute we have:

  • 1446 cases from the beginning
  • 51 deaths
  • 26 Active cases
  • 25,308 vaccine doses administered

Pretty damn good for the entire region though people are as tired as they are where you are. Still, the province declares a province-wide month-long lockdown because partial measures don't work, and those in the lockdown regions simply drive elsewhere if there is a chance at a beer and a hair cut.


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A big part of what a lockdown looks like here is a closure of restaurants who have followed all recommended precautions, hired and purchased perishable food, are not responsible for spread, and are closed again. Here you see my buddy Rob and an article highlighting https://revival.house voicing some of the frustrations of our especially embattled restaurants.
https://www.stratfordbeaconherald.com/news/local-news/we-feel-defeated-stratford-braces-for-impact-of-third-lockdown

The lockdown order was just followed with a Stay At Home Order meaning everyone should stay home except to buy food, attend medical appointments, exercise and work as front line workers. Non-essential businesses must close up retail locations and essential businesses must offer only essential products, delivering to the curb or home. Also of note is that school is still in effect so that your child can sit in a class with 30 others and be taught by a teacher not labelled as a front line worker and permitted to get a vaccine yet.

May the patient and responsible prevail so that we can march through this wave as well.


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I am honoured to curate for:

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Are lockdowns returning where you are?

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Does this make any sense to you? Vaccines have been rolled out, many people have already gotten and recovered (now immune) and Canadians (especially Ontario) are seeing increased rights and freedoms violations and cases.

A year into this I still do not know one single person personally who has succumbed and I don't know anyone (outside of hospital workers)who know someone who has succumbed either. That is 4 degrees of separation. Either this isn't really a deadly pandemic or you should all come hang out with me, LOL

The increased fear has more people seeking out medical attention for mild symptoms. Stress makes any illness worse and my understanding (from a healthcare worker) is that ICU's are almost always at 90 percent capacity. The belief about the new variants being more harmful to young folks (33 percent more hospitalization) equates to something like instead of 2 out of 1000 requiring hospitalization there were 3 out of 1000. The margin for error obliterates the finding, but report it as an increased percentage and voilà ... looks pretty dire, Not to mention it is pretty easy to cherry pick that 1000 folks to push for COMPLIANCE and vaccine sales.

Certainly Ontario is misusing PCR testing.

Small business owners are being obliterated and big box stores and corporations are making money hand over fist.

Corporate media has pushed the scapegoat narratives of anti-vaxers and anti-maskers so hard that reasonable discussion, critique and oversight is not even possible anymore.Those who are speaking out are being censured and fired.

This is NOT about public health.

I shudder to think what it might be about.

A year into this I still do not know one single person personally who has succumbed and I don't know anyone (outside of hospital workers)who know someone who has succumbed either.

My uncle was hospitalized with it for two months, just barely surviving. My friend’s cousin died from it. Another friend’s father died from it.

Being a rat bastard, I don’t have a lot of friends. But those that I do have all seem to have lost someone.

Wow I am sorry for your friends' losses . Truly. Thank god, you uncle survived.

My mom was rather sick with something that ticked all the early boxes for the condition. But this was before it is claimed the it was in North America. But like I said from symptoms diagnoses and knowing what was to follow, it was unlikely anything else. She also survived, thank fully.

Of course now the symptoms are quite the laundry list. But thankfully treatment has also improved.

But you 'personally' also don't seem to know anyone who has succumbed (died). These friends ... are they people you have known from an extended period of time or akin to Facebook friends? ( I don't really know you) But for the sake of argument that is 4 degrees of separation. Me, you, a father of a friend of a friend. The mathematical theory I believe is six degrees of separation or less would connect just about everyone in the world.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_degrees_of_separation

Were the deaths in long-term care facilities? The one thing I do believe we can all come to clear consensus on is that our elderly care is abdominal. We feed them horribly and have isolated them so that many have spent what would have the last years and months of their lives no matter what alone.That breaks my heart.

So many lives could have been extended/saved if the money had been spent on better elderly care and not lockdowns enforcement and CERB payments. And now of course we will not be in a good position to fix what we have broken. Income tax revenue will plummet.

There was definitely a lack of big picture thinking.

My grandmother passed months before all this started. I am so grateful that she did not have to go through this and was able to see her family before she went.

Stress and isolation have made every single health outcome worse.

I love seeing 2 active and positive people discussing things and learning eachother's perspectives. You guys rock.

You are amazing too. HIVE is a far different place than say twitter.

I am all for being overcautious and enduring personal discomfort in the effort to save 1 life. Worth it in my book.

I also shudder at where we would be if we were not over-careful for the last year.

That being said, lockdowns and printing fiat should not be the primary tactic to battle the spread. Just sucks that overpopulated areas experiencing the increased infections are triggering measures in outlying areas who are doing a good job. The restaurateurs just got up off the canvas and were getting back into the fight with new staff, inventory, and a way to be in business again only to be knocked to the canvas again.

CMon summer!

Yes summer ... but @zekepickleman, but PCR abuse has made this far worse for everyone. The last year has not resulted in saved or extended lives. That needs to be recoginized.

But wishing you well.

I know five people who have died in Stratford and Waterloo. Young and old.

That is awful. What is your real name?

You can call me Vibe :)

Sorry ... we need to be accountable with the things we say online. Your claim of knowing so many people who died does not jibe with statistical possibility unless you were in Lombardy/Wuhan/New York or work in a healthcare facility. This would make you an extraordinary case and not representative of what the average person is experiencing. We should make public policy based on the well-being of the whole and not the few (exceptional cases)... but still make exceptions to safeguard the vulnerable few.

More lockdowns! Less groups of people!

Not surprised I heard that the beach was packed this week during a nice sunny day. lol

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wtf looks complicated as hell. here in wi we were over 1,000 cases yesterday. luckily i was able to get the vax last thursday (8 days ago). we mask and try to distance

Hell yah the vaccines are becoming the talk of the haves and have nots around here. So glad you were able to get it. I am being offered the vaccine because I work with the Multicultural association and am not staying at home while we help those in need. I may take them up on that so that I can keep working with the local businesses, people and reduce the risk to my family.

Yesterday, there were almost 3300 new cases reported in a province of 14.6 million people. Not encouraging after a whole year!

you should get it ... that's very cool, my wife is from guatemala ... i speak spanish ... our family had a great trip there 3 years ago, first time the kids went ... supposed to go last year but cancelled of course