26251 replies to this topic

[amor de cosmos]

It would be easy to look at The Bay's dispute with landlords across the country and make some assumptions: that it can't pay its bills, or that it's being crushed by the pandemic-sized wave crashing into retail everywhere. The truth is a bit more complicated. Retail experts say COVID is a crisis, but it's also an opportunity.
 
"Retail was changing drastically before COVID came along," said Avis Devine from the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto. "All COVID did was expedite it to warp speed."
 
HBC went private just weeks before the pandemic started pummeling the economy, with retail one of the hardest-hit sectors. Sales fell off a cliff as stores were closed to stop the spread of COVID-19.
 
To soften the blow to its bottom line, HBC says it tried to reach what it calls a "fair and mutually beneficial compromise with landlords."
 
In many locations, deals were struck. In others, disputes over millions of dollars in unpaid rent boiled over. Courts were asked to weigh in. Eviction notices were dispatched.

https://www.cbc.ca/n...id-19-1.5819734

Death threats, overcrowding and few masks: A TTC driver speaks out about life during COVID-19
Drivers want more help from the TTC to control crowds, enforce mask wearing
https://www.cbc.ca/n...hyork-1.5818492

Elementary school ordered to close after COVID-19 outbreak leads to 16 cases in Surrey, B.C.
Newton Elementary School to shut down for 2 weeks, Fraser Health says
https://www.cbc.ca/n...id-19-1.5820517
 

Two new nanoparticle vaccines for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can elicit potent neutralizing antibodies and cellular immune responses in animals, sources with the Guangzhou-based Sun Yat-sen University said Friday.

The university researchers formulated two nanoparticle vaccines based on the receptor binding domain and heptad repeat of the SARS-CoV-2. They could induce a high level of antibodies against COVID-19 in mice and rhesus macaques, presenting a promising vaccination approach against the virus.

The results of the animal tests were published this week in the international journal Immunity.

Lead researcher Zhang Hui said the nanoparticle vaccines were generated by conjugating multi antigenic recombinant proteins to 24-mer nanoparticles that tend to generate stronger immune responses compared with the monomers used in conventional vaccines.

The nanoparticle vaccines were potentially safe and did not cause severe side effects such as organ damage in mice. Besides, no antibody-dependent enhancement of infection was detected in the experiment, according to the study.

http://www.ecns.cn/n...pt7617341.shtml

Fakhrizadeh Key Figure in Iran’s Fight against COVID-19: DM
https://ifpnews.com/...nst-covid-19-dm

Research Center Run by Fakhrizadeh Produced Iran’s First COVID-19 Test Kits
https://www.english....om.lb/56671/391

Russia’s Vector Center able to make up to 5 million doses of its anti-COVID vaccine a year
https://tass.com/science/1228799

В России провели более 75,4 миллиона тестов на коронавирус
russia has conducted 75.4 million tests so far
https://ria.ru/20201...1586721789.html

Coronavirus updates: US surpasses record 200K daily cases; virus numbers could be erratic after Thanksgiving, experts warn
https://www.usatoday...ses/6444208002/

[tanker]

Exactly, that is why our effort is so feeble, we are going to start planning next month. We have no supply in hand and are hoping to get some sent to us.

Pathetic.

The companies have been making the same drug for months while it was in testing, we should have insisted on our allotment when we paid for the damn thing.

If it turned out that it wasn't approved you dump it and hope the next manufacturer's will be approved and you are out the door the next day.

Here's Warren Kinsella's take on all this : https://tunein.com/p...onight-p939477/ fast forward to 12:30. Trudeau has screwed us way beyond what was thought to be possible. He's bound to get a Nobel prize for this.

[spanky123]

^ Trudeau has an election next year. He has several hundred more billions of dollars to give to his buddies and SIGs before that happens, and he needs to have us all sitting in our homes afraid of the virus and not paying attention to what he is doing.

[Victoria Watcher]

he’s not going to be able to keep us sitting at home if the rest of the world is on track.

I actually have a lot more confidence.

[Victoria Watcher]

sweden broke through the 500 deaths-per-million mark on july 14th.

 

at that time only italy (567) spain (580) and the uk (579) had worse stats.

 

so it was:

 

1.  spain

2.  UK

3.  italy

4.  sweden

 

now sweden is #23 at 660.

 

spain #5 at 995

uk #7 at 846

italy #6 at 888

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 28 November 2020 - 04:35 PM.

[Barrrister]

Does anyone actually know if the Government of Canada has an actual agreement with the US government (not some companies  but the US government) for Canada to get a percentage of the vaccine as it becomes available. 

 

I am concerned that the US will insist that vaccine made in the US first be used exclusively in the US until all US citizens are vaccinated.

[Victoria Watcher]

the first vaccine that the us is getting now from pfizer is made in europe.  just to be clear.

 

 

 

 

The first doses of Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine candidate have been flown over to the U.S. from Belgium, a source familiar with United Airlines' COVID Vaccine Readiness Task Team planning confirmed to NBC on Saturday. 

 

On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that United commenced chartering flights to send doses of the vaccine to the United States.  In a statement to The Hill on Friday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) also confirmed that it was "supporting the first mass air shipment of a vaccine."

 

 

https://thehill.com/...us-from-belgium

 

 

 

begium which is a bit ironic in that they have the highest deaths per million in the world.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 28 November 2020 - 05:04 PM.

[Barrrister]

It appears that Pfiser has one plant in Belgium and three in the US. The Belgium plant is apparently committed to the EU distribution. It is unclear as to the three US plants.

[phx]

Here's Warren Kinsella's take on all this : https://tunein.com/p...onight-p939477/ fast forward to 12:30. Trudeau has screwed us way beyond what was thought to be possible. He's bound to get a Nobel prize for this.

Kinsella has some astute observations there, but is wrong about the vaccine scandal being the end of Trudeau.

 

What Trudeau will do, if he hasn't already, is go to the heads of the mainstream news media and say "If you play ball and bury this story, I will arrange for you and your families to get the vaccine now instead of in a year."  Not in those words, mind you, but the implication will be there.

 

The news media will agree, of course, and most Canadians will remain unaware of how they've been screwed.

Edited by phx, 28 November 2020 - 05:27 PM.

[phx]

Does anyone actually know if the Government of Canada has an actual agreement with the US government (not some companies  but the US government) for Canada to get a percentage of the vaccine as it becomes available.

No, our vaccine supply agreement was with the government of China. 

[tanker]

Kinsella has some astute observations there, but is wrong about the vaccine scandal being the end of Trudeau.

What Trudeau will do, if he hasn't already, is go to the heads of the mainstream news media and say "If you play ball and bury this story, I will arrange for you and your families to get the vaccine now instead of in a year." Not in those words, mind you, but the implication will be there.

The news media will agree, of course, and most Canadians will remain unaware of how they've been screwed.

I think this time even hardcore liberals will notice the obvious though. It certainly hasn't sunk in yet among the low information crowd but it will. How can you not notice that most of the western world is vaccinated while we are not? Think about it. Canada's coronavirus pandemic is just taking off like gangbusters while it's ending for everyone else. Fancy socks and hair can only go so far even for Toronto people.

[amor de cosmos]

An Indian man who was falsely declared dead from COVID-19 recovered and went home — but his family had cremated someone else.

Shibdas Bandyopadhyay, 75, was admitted to a hospital in Barasat on Nov. 11 after testing positive for the virus, and two days later, his family was informed he had died, The New Indian Express reported Saturday.

Bandyopadhyay’s family saw what they thought was his body wrapped in plastic but couldn’t see his face clearly.

Bandyopadhyay’s son said they cremated the body, and then received a call saying his father was alive and that they should pick him up from the hospital.

“We are shocked and surprised,” the son said. “However, we brought him home. We do not know whom we have cremated.”

https://nypost.com/2...ed-by-covid-19/

Personal data of 16 million Brazilian COVID-19 patients exposed online
Among those affected by the leak are Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro, seven ministers, and 17 provincial governors.
https://www.zdnet.co...exposed-online/

A Singaporean woman, who was infected with the novel coronavirus in March when she was pregnant, has given birth to a baby with antibodies against the virus
https://www.bangkokp...d-19-antibodies

The US Recorded More Than 4 Million COVID-19 Cases In The Month Of November
https://www.buzzfeed...ion-covid-cases

A family in Arlington, Texas has filmed a PSA pleading with others to take the coronavirus pandemic seriously after 15 of their family members tested positive for COVID-19 following a small birthday party held indoors.

“I had family over at my house for some cake for my wife’s birthday. I didn’t think anything bad would happen,” says one member of the Aragonez family in a video they made to warn others of the seriousness of the virus. “Now I’m fighting coronavirus.”

In total, all 12 of the people who attended the Nov. 1 family gathering, contracted COVID-19, as well as three family members who were not at the event. “Everyone who went to my cousin’s house that day has tested positive for the coronavirus,” Alexa Aragonez, 26, says in the video.

Aragonez’s mother, Enriqueta Aragonez, was hospitalized due to her symptoms, and speaks in the video from her hospital bed. “I’m fighting against COVID-19,” Enriqueta says. “Please protect yourself. It’s real.”

https://ca.style.yah...-225215442.html

Edited by amor de cosmos, 29 November 2020 - 08:50 AM.

[Greg]

Maybe Canada isn't really last in line for Covid vaccines...

 

https://www.cbc.ca/n...ealth-1.5821166

 

"Canada is not at the back of the line," Noubar Afeyan, co-founder and chairman of Moderna, told CBC's Chief Political Correspondent Rosemary Barton on Sunday. 

 

Afeyan said because Canada was among the first countries to make a pre-order with Moderna, the country is guaranteed to receive a certain portion of the company's initial batch of doses as long as the vaccine proves safe and effective and is given regulatory approval.

 

The federal government secured an agreement on Aug. 5 with Moderna for 20 million doses of its vaccine, with the option to procure an additional 36 million doses. The U.S. announced a deal for up to 500 million doses just days later while the U.K. and European Union inked deals with Moderna only in the past two weeks.

[UDeMan]

when the vaccine comes available in private clinics for a fee, I think that's our best option.

You can then determine which vaccine they have and pick and pay for the one you want, not the one the government gives you.

 

I did this for my Twinrix shot and my Shingles shot.   If the government cared about my health, they wouldn't make me pay for these shots out of pocket too.

[Barrrister]

The problem with the vaccines is whether the country in which they are being manufactured will allow export prior to their citizens obtaining the vaccine. There is a strong probability that export restrictions will be imposed.

[tanker]

If that's the case I'd just fly my family down to the us. Maybe even charter a flight.

[Rob Randall]

Very bad news:

 

Island Health has declared a COVID-19 outbreak at Veterans Memorial Lodge after one staff member had tested positive, which makes this the first outbreak in a long-term care home in Greater Victoria.

Communication with residents, families and staff is underway at Veterans Memorial Lodge, a non-profit care home operated by Broadmead Care, located along Chatterton Way in Saanich.

 

 

https://www.vicnews....-2Zmb7VwSLp_PTM

[Barrrister]

Tanker: Flying to the US might work or perhaps not since they will have distribution priorities. On the other hand American citizenship is handy to have.

[sebberry]

How many infections constitutes an outbreak?

[Victoria Watcher]

it is normally 2 or more.

but perhaps in a LTC setting one is an outbreak.