26251 replies to this topic

[tanker]

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.

I'm sure illegals will get it free too so I'd just be one of those. Heck under Biden everyone in the world could potentially get free medical care in the us.

[UDeMan]

Very bad news:

 

 

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

 

I hope they get this in check. Those people are highly vulnerable. I had a relative stay there a few years ago and they house many people that are advanced stages of dementia.  Even then, before covid, they had a few people pass away every week. 

[dasmo]

They have put those poor people in a prison. 80% of our fatalities are in long term care despite this fact. I can’t imagine the hell they are going through in those facilities.

[dasmo]

Legendary musicians Van Morrison and Eric Clapton have teamed up for the new anti-lockdown song "Stand and Deliver."

"I’m not telling people what to do or think, the government is doing a great job of that already," the 75-year-old singer said in a statement announcing the protest anthems. "It’s about freedom of choice, I believe people should have the right to think for themselves.”
https://www.billboar...r-lockdown-song

[Greg]

Not listening to Clapton about politics is not a new thing. We've known that since his racist rant in 1976.

[Victoria Watcher]

cry me a river.  this story is ridiculous.

 

 

 

 

 

 

When Alex Dombroski came down with flu-like symptoms last month, she called Island Health’s testing call centre and booked a COVID-19 test.

 

“And then I was like, I have no way of getting there,” she said.

 

Dombroski usually walks or takes transit to get around, and she doesn’t have a car or a bike. With a fever of nearly 39 C, she was wheezing and feeling weak. She didn’t feel capable of the 90-minute round-trip walk to Victoria’s Cook Street testing centre. So, she called 811 and asked what she should do.

 

Dombroski said she was told to find someone who could give her a ride or stay home and self-isolate for two weeks as if she’d received a positive test.

 

As a server, Dombroski can’t work from home and doesn’t have paid sick days. Every taxi company she called refused to take her, and she knew she couldn’t risk exposing a bus full of people. She didn’t want to stay home and off work for two weeks if she didn’t have COVID-19.

 

“I remember being just incredibly frustrated that I was trying to do what was right and what was asked of you by getting this COVID test,” she said.

 

 

 

https://www.timescol...ents-1.24247366

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 30 November 2020 - 04:48 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Moderna to seek U.S., EU emergency authorization Monday after COVID-19 vaccine 94.1% effective

 

 

https://www.theglobe...fter-covid-1-2/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 30 November 2020 - 04:49 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

A church in Langley B.C., just east of Vancouver has been fined $2,300 for contravening a recent provincial health order that prohibits in-person, faith-related gatherings, which was aimed at limiting the spread of COVID19.

https://www.cbc.ca/n...vices-1.5821450


Meantime, two other churches in the Fraser Valley also said they're continuing to offer in-person services despite the health order.





the guy in Ontario that opened his bbq restaurant in defiance of the lockdown and was arrested has raised nearly $300,000 online for his cause.

https://ca.gofundme....al-defence-fund

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 30 November 2020 - 08:18 AM.

[amor de cosmos]

B.C. church fined $2.3K for violating COVID-19 ban on worship services
https://www.cbc.ca/n...vices-1.5821450

New HIV infections reach an all-time low in B.C. despite COVID-19 challenges
https://www.cbc.ca/n...-down-1.5819656

Rona home improvement store in Nanaimo advises customers that worker has COVID-19
Store re-opened Sunday after being closed for cleaning Saturday
https://www.nanaimob...r-has-covid-19/

A COVID-19 outbreak has been declared at Veterans Memorial Lodge long-term care home in Saanich’s Broadmead area
https://www.timescol...home-1.24247500
 

Inspired by this tweet, researcher Kate Petrova did a deep dive of scented candle reviews before and after the pandemic. Surprisingly or unsurprisingly, reviews of scented candles took a deep drop after the pandemic started with numerous complaints that the candles lacked any scent. One of the symptoms of COVID-19 is losing your sense of smell and taste so, ya know, put two and two together.

https://geekologie.c...gative-revi.php

study of the day

Studies of coronavirus around the world - including the U.S. and China - point to a common disease progression in coronavirus patients that generally begins with a fever, a dry cough and breathing difficulties.

*snip*

Here is what having COVID-19 looks like day-by-day:

Day 1 (the first day symptoms begin): Most of those infected – 88% – will have a fever and feel tired. Many also have muscle pain and a dry cough.

Some people, around 10% according to the study from China, experience nausea or have diarrhea in the days just before the fever begins.

Day 2-4: The fever persists as does the cough.

Day 5: Breathing difficulty begins on day 5. It is especially likely to happen if the person has a preexisting condition or is older.

Day 6: Breathing difficulty, cough and fever persist. Some people describe chest tightening or having a feeling that a “band” is around their chest.

Day 7: It is on this day that people who have been experiencing persistent chest pain or pressure, shortness of breath and bluish lips or face are admitted to the hospital.

People who are suffering less severe symptoms will likely see those symptoms begin to get better.

Day 8: According to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, about 15% of people with COVID-19 will develop symptoms of ARDs, or acute respiratory distress syndrome.

According to the Mayo Clinic, ARDs “happens when fluid builds up in the tiny, elastic air sacs (alveoli) in your lungs. The fluid keeps your lungs from filling with enough air, which means less oxygen reaches your bloodstream. This deprives your organs of the oxygen they need to function.”

Day 10: If breathing difficulties worsen, it is on this day that patients who are in the hospital will tend to enter the intensive care unit.

Day 12: In the Wuhan study, fever ended for most people on Day 12. Many still had a cough.

Days 13-14: For those who will survive the virus, breathing difficulties are generally ending on these days.

Day 18: For those who do not survive the virus, the average number of days from onset of symptoms until death is 18 1/2 days.

https://www.kiro7.co...THIYJHT35447AU/

or maybe this should be the study of the day...?

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), continues to spread across the globe. To date, there are over 62.6 million infections and more than 1.45 million related deaths recorded globally.

Many studies have shown that asymptomatic carriers can spread the virus even if they do not manifest any symptoms, such as fever and cough.

Now, a surprising new study shows that asymptomatic COVID-19 patients have greater viral loads than those with symptoms.

A team of researchers aimed to evaluate the viral loads of six different sample types of patients of different ages and clinics to determine the relationship between disease course and SARS-CoV-2 viral load.
 
*snip*
 
The researchers found that vital loads of asymptomatic patients were higher when compared with symptomatic patients. Further, the viral load had a negative trend with increasing age, while a significant decrease in viral loads was seen with increasing disease severity.
 

“This study demonstrates that asymptomatic patients have higher SARS-CoV-2 viral loads than symptomatic patients, and unlike in the few study in the literature, a significant decrease in viral load was observed with increasing disease severity,” the researchers wrote in the paper.

The team noted that factors tied to a poor prognosis, including bilateral ground-glass opacity in chest X-ray, low lymphocyte count, and older age, are correlated with low SARS-CoV-2 viral load.

https://www.news-med...study-says.aspx
https://link.springe...010-020-01548-8
 
Merriam-Webster, Dictionary.com Proclaim ‘Pandemic’ 2020’s Word of the Year
Lexicon leaders say “pandemic” was one of the most searched words throughout the year, and it gave rise to a whole new glossary of terms
https://www.rollings...e-year-1096157/

Vietnam reports 1st locally transmitted COVID-19 case in nearly 3 months
https://www.channeln...months-13670360

Стооднолетняя жительница Италии трижды перенесла заражение коронавирусом
101-year-old italian woman got covid-19 three times
https://ria.ru/20201...1586960816.html
 

Cambodia’s Ministry of Health this morning announced eight new cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the tally thus rose to 323.

According to ministry’s press release, the new cases are all Cambodians living in Phnom Penh, of them five women, two men and a child. They are all related to the Nov. 28 Community Event (first community outbreak found on the spouse of a senior official at the Ministry of Interior). They have been admitted to the Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital in the capital.

The 323 confirmed cases in the Kingdom include 207 Cambodians, 45 French, 18 Chinese, 13 Malaysians, 9 Indonesians, 9 Americans, 6 British, 3 Vietnamese, 3 Canadians, 3 Indians, 2 Hungarians, 2 Pakistanis, 1 Belgian, 1 Kazakhstani, and 1 Polish.

https://www.khmertim...lly-now-at-323/
 

Cases of coronavirus in England fell 30% after lockdown measures were rolled out in November, according to a study by Imperial College London and Ipsos MORI U.K. Ltd.

The findings show cases were rising as the country entered a four-week lockdown on Nov. 5 and that a sharp decrease followed as national restrictions were rolled out, according to the report published on Monday.

The study supports findings “that stronger measures would be needed in some areas to prevent the epidemic from growing and that local tiers needed to be toughened to keep the virus under control once national measures end this week,” the report said.

The results come as lockdown measures in England are due to end this week and Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing opposition from some in his Conservative Party to his plan to replace the lockdown with a tiered system of restrictions for different areas. Hopes are that a vaccine can be administered quickly, beginning as soon as next month.

https://www.bloomber...-30-study-shows
 

MOSCOW, November 30. /TASS/. About 20 people who were administered a first component of the Sputnik V vaccine against the coronavirus have contracted COVID-19, one of the organizers of clinical trials of the vaccine, Director of the Sechenov University’s Institute for Translational Medicine and Biotechnology Vadim Tarasov reported on Monday, specifying that it’s incorrect to link these cases directly to the vaccination since the infected didn’t have enough time to develop the sufficient protective immunity.

"Now we can say that we have only about two dozen cases when people got infected with COVID and this is associated with the vaccine, yet again, to say that they were inoculated and got sick with COVID is also incorrect," he said at a press conference at TASS, organized with the support of the anti-coronavirus web portal.

The scientist noted that the majority of these people did not receive a second component of the vaccine, meaning they did not develop the sufficient immunity which is formed only on Day 42 after the administration of the first vaccine component. "After 42 days among those who have developed a valid immunity, we have no documented cases of serious diseases to date," the expert added.

He pointed out that it is impossible to get infected with the novel coronavirus infection from the vaccine against COVID-19. "The vaccine itself cannot infect with COVID. The antigens used in it which elicit reactions of an immune response, do not cause COVID," he emphasized.

https://tass.com/society/1229459

Nearly 30% of Russia’s coronavirus deaths recorded in November
A total of 11,905 coronavirus deaths were recorded in Russia in November
https://tass.com/society/1229341

U.S. sees over 100,000 daily COVID-19 cases for 27th consecutive day
http://www.ecns.cn/n...pt7617682.shtml
 

Thirteen days after the massive infusion of federal cash — which triggered a jump in the company’s stock price — Moncef Slaoui, a Moderna board member and longtime drug industry executive, was awarded options to buy 18,270 shares in the company, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The award added to 137,168 options he’d accumulated since 2018, the filings show.
 
It wouldn’t be long before President Donald Trump announced Slaoui as the top scientific adviser for the government’s $12 billion Operation Warp Speed program to rush COVID vaccines to market. In his Rose Garden speech on May 15, Trump lauded Slaoui as “one of the most respected men in the world” on vaccines.
 
The Trump administration relied on an unusual maneuver that allowed executives to keep investments in drug companies that would benefit from the government’s pandemic efforts: They were brought on as contractors, doing an end run around federal conflict-of-interest regulations in place for employees. That has led to huge potential payouts — some already realized, according to a KHN analysis of SEC filings and other government documents.

• Slaoui owned 137,168 Moderna stock options worth roughly $7 million on May 14, one day before Trump announced his senior role to help shepherd COVID vaccines. The day of his appointment, May 15, he resigned from Moderna’s board. Three days later, on May 18, following the company’s announcement of positive results from early-stage clinical trials, the options’ value shot up to $9.1 million, the analysis found. The Department of Health and Human Services said Slaoui sold his holdings May 20, when they would have been worth about $8 million, and will donate certain profits to cancer research. Separately, Slaoui held nearly 500,000 shares in GlaxoSmithKline, where he worked for three decades, upon retiring in 2017, according to corporate filings.
• Carlo de Notaristefani, an Operation Warp Speed adviser and former senior executive at Teva Pharmaceuticals, owned 665,799 shares of the drug company’s stock as of March 10. While Teva is not a recipient of Warp Speed funding, Trump promoted its antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine as a COVID treatment, even with scant evidence that it worked. The company donated millions of tablets to U.S. hospitals and the drug received emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration in March. In the following weeks, its share price nearly doubled.
• Two other Operation Warp Speed advisers working on therapeutics, Drs. William Erhardt and Rachel Harrigan, own financial stakes of unknown value in Pfizer, which in July announced a $1.95 billion contract with HHS for 100 million doses of its vaccine. Erhardt and Harrigan were previously Pfizer employees.

“With those kinds of conflicts of interest, we don’t know if these vaccines are being developed based on merit,” said Craig Holman, a lobbyist for Public Citizen, a liberal consumer advocacy group.

https://khn.org/news...o-defeat-covid/

[dasmo]

Not listening to Clapton about politics is not a new thing. We've known that since his racist rant in 1976.

At least you know deep down this is about politics....

[Mike K.]

VicPD issued $2,550 in CRMA fines over the weekend for larger gatherings. Central Saanich PD just stated they issued a $230 fine for a man who refused to wear a mask inside a business.

[dasmo]

VicPD issued $2,550 in CRMA fines over the weekend for larger gatherings. Central Saanich PD just stated they issued a $230 fine for a man who refused to wear a mask inside a business.

Welcome to ACT II. Let’s hope this isn’t the trailer to ACT III.... https://youtu.be/gXlOSEafzhY

[Victoria Watcher]

Victoria police issued $2,530 worth of tickets to house parties Saturday evening.

VicPD Chief Del Manak tweeted Sunday that two separate COVID-19 tickets were issued after two separate calls for house parties – with one party receiving $2,300 worth of fines and the other receiving a $230 fine.

Manak wrote that hosts lied to police about who they were, the number of guests, and hid people in bedrooms and closets.

 

 

https://www.vicnews....to-avoid-fines/

[dasmo]

Isn’t this the very definition of a police state?

[Mike K.]

Here's the release: Shortly after 11 p.m. on Saturday, November 28th, Patrol officers we called to a suite in a multi-unit residential building in the 100-block of South Turner Street for a report of a loud party. On-scene officers spoke with a resident of the suite who stated that there were four people present in the suite, and only two of them were not members of the household. Officers were given permission to enter the suite and found one man hiding in a bedroom, on the floor at the foot of a bed, and another man hiding in a closet. The presence of four people who were not members of the household contravened the Provincial Health Officer’s Gathering and Events Order. The residents of the suite were served with a violation ticket for $2,300 under the CRMA for failing to comply with the order. All non-residents were ordered to leave the suite.

Only an hour-and-a-half later, at approximately 12:30 p.m., Patrol officers were called to another report of a loud party at a suite in a multi-unit residential building in the 1400-block of Hillside Avenue. Officers attended and noticed that the suite’s windows were fogged with condensation, and there was loud music and people yelling inside. Officers spoke with the resident of the suite who admitted there were five guests who were not residents of the suite. Officers observed that masks were not being worn and physical distancing was not taking place. The resident was served a $230 violation ticket under the CRMA for promoting or encouraging attendance at a non-compliant gathering or event.

 

Currently, under the Provincial Health Officer’s Gathering and Events Order, gatherings at residences may not include any person outside of the household, regardless of whether those individuals work together, or consider themselves part of a “bubble”. Failure to comply with this order may result in a $2,300 fine under the CRMA.

[Victoria Watcher]

we are in 90th place in the world for cases per million population.

but 46th place in deaths per million.

why is that?

[Rob Randall]

Victoria police issued $2,530 worth of tickets to house parties Saturday evening.

 

Isn’t this the very definition of a police state?

 

78 years ago that very house was subject to blackout rules similar to our pandemic rules. Is there a significant difference? Not really, in both cases they are personal sacrifices mandated by authorities for the greater good.

 

I'm sure in 1942 there were a few Victorians with their house lights blazing at night saying no war was going to restrict their "freedom".

[Barrrister]

Victoria Watcher: It is rather simple in that the number of cases is modified by the number of people tested. (not to be confused with the number of tests given since some people like medical staff might be tested multiply times a week along with nursing home employees.

 

Deaths per capita can also be a rather spongy number not only in under reporting but also in some instances over reporting.

 

Overall these numbers are indicative rather than definitive.  For example we know that Covid mostly kills those over 65. So you will see less deaths per million from Covid in a country with an average age of 62 than one where people to live to an average of 82. 

 

The biggest problem with all these stats is that people rarely give them enough thought to see what they really mean.

[Victoria Watcher]

place your bets. 3 days of BC virus numbers coming up after Bonnie’s weekend.

I will say 950 and 810 and 967.

[dasmo]

78 years ago that very house was subject to blackout rules similar to our pandemic rules. Is there a significant difference? Not really, in both cases they are personal sacrifices mandated by authorities for the greater good.

I'm sure in 1942 there were a few Victorians with their house lights blazing at night saying no war was going to restrict their "freedom".

At least you know deep down this is a war. My wife’s mom spent her childhood in a concentration camp. Those are the people now locked away inside long term care homes. That’s the generation that fought in that war to secure our freedom. To put that word in quotations is shocking in itself.