OT: Coronavirus XXXVI: Bat Scratch Fever

[shoop]

So if you are employed in the public sector there is no wage criteria but if you work in the private sector you have to make less than 25/hr? If I’m understanding that correctly, that doesn’t seem very fair between the sectors.

The benefit in the public sector is up to the employer. I *might* be eligible under one of the classifications and it is left at the employer's discretion. I am making more than 25/hr and assume I won't get the money as a result.

It would be nice to get that $1,500 but am not going to say anything either way. If I don't get it that won't be the end of the world. I am just thankful to still be able to work in the middle of all this.

 

[AM]

Bitcoin is the measuring stick for hypocrisy.

For example:

Elon Musk is a self-proclaimed champion of freedom and the environment. You need only read his twitter account to wonder at his sainthood. Tesla is a beacon for a clean world.

Then they/he go out and buy massive amounts of Bitcoin. Bitcoin...the worst possible currency for the environment with a certain freedom-hating country leading the way in producing it.

Hypocrisy laid bare for all who are willing to see it.

I guess he lives in the real world. Where currency in cad is worth less than a currency the emperor cannot debase.

 

[oilers'72]

Bitcoin is the measuring stick for hypocrisy.

For example:

Elon Musk is a self-proclaimed champion of freedom and the environment. You need only read his twitter account to wonder at his sainthood. Tesla is a beacon for a clean world.

Then they/he go out and buy massive amounts of Bitcoin. Bitcoin...the worst possible currency for the environment with a certain freedom-hating country leading the way in producing it.

Hypocrisy laid bare for all who are willing to see it.

No, I'm not advocating Bitcoin or its "mining" process. Just threw it out there.

The only saving grace is that Canada is a resource driven economy. Even Alberta, apart from oil, gas and coal, has at least one other mineral in abundance. Iron ore (think hard water) is so abundant that, in the 1910s, ads were running in the Edmonton Bulletin espousing Tofield as a major smelting and production centre. Perhaps someone with a knowledge of geology would point out more resources still available.

Perhaps in another thread.

 

[bellagiobob]

 

[AM]

No, I'm not advocating Bitcoin or its "mining" process. Just threw it out there.

The only saving grace is that Canada is a resource driven economy. Even Alberta, apart from oil, gas and coal, has at least one other mineral in abundance. Iron ore (think hard water) is so abundant that, in the 1910s, ads were running in the Edmonton Bulletin espousing Tofield as a major smelting and production centre. Perhaps someone with a knowledge of geology would point out more resources still available.

Perhaps in another thread.

Which is why the cad has been appreciating.

 

[Sensmileletsgo]

Which is why the cad has been appreciating.

In the last year it has. But over the last 5 years our dollar hasn’t done well.

 

[AM]

In the last year it has. But over the last 5 years our dollar hasn’t done well.

Cad was artificially high as money flowed in to develop oil sands. There after it fell to its natural level based on currency demand to buy our resources, which is based on the cost of those resources. As the cost of those resources have gone up since the nadir last year, it has rebounded

 

[Drivesaitl]

My weekly observations of Coronavirus decline that somehow isn't being reported.

World wide daily cases are aroun 430K, down from a peak of 860cases early in January. This is of course the most dramatic decline in Covid cases thats been seen but in the variant hysteria it is not being reported. Daily worldwide cases are half what they were.

In the UK, daily cases way down to 13K, from their peak of 68K on Jan 8. The cases in the UK are now as low as they were in November, in which a lowpoint preceded relaxation of restrictions. This all happening while the country is sacked with the dread UK variant (sarcasm). The UK daily numbers now are not that much different per population than the numbers Canada was seeing a short while ago. UK being densely populated most difference could be expected as denser populations are harder hit.

Canada cases are ranging around 3K per day now. Across the country. I mean for perspective this is lower than numbers seen just in Ontario a shortwhile ago. Canada saw a peak of 10K cases per day bunched around the New year. I mean this is 7K cases LESS per day. Canada daily cases are down to what they were in October.

Interestingly in Canada first wave deaths per day were as high as they ever peaked in the 2nd wave, and this despite several more cases per day, 5X more, in 2nd wave. Now it looks like the 2nd wave has clearly receded. Deaths per day now in Canada are lower than the mass of what was seen in our first curve last spring.

Tons of positive news on the Covid front that doesn't sell papers, doesn't sell vaccines, and doesn't get hits. Maybe this kind of information could start going viral. I mean its all out there in real world numbers.

 

[bellagiobob]

 

[Stoneman89]

Observations of Coronavirus decline that somehow isn't being reported.

World wide daily cases are aroun 430K, down from a peak of 860cases early in January. This is of course the most dramatic decline in Covid cases thats been seen but in the variant hysteria it is not being reported. Daily worldwide cases are half what they were.

In the UK, daily cases way down to 13K, from their peak of 68K on Jan 8. The cases in the UK are now as low as they were in November, in which a lowpoint preceded relaxation of restrictions. This all happening while the country is sacked with the dread UK variant (sarcasm). The UK daily numbers now are not that much different per population than the numbers Canada was seeing a short while ago. UK being densely populated most difference could be expected as denser populations are harder hit.

Canada cases are ranging around 3K per day now. Across the country. I mean for perspective this is lower than numbers seen just in Ontario a shortwhile ago. Canada saw a peak of 10K cases per day bunched around the New year. I mean this is 7K cases LESS per day. Canada daily cases are down to what they were in October.

Interestingly in Canada first wave deaths per day were as high as they ever peaked in the 2nd wave, and this despite several more cases per day, 5X more, in 2nd wave. Now it looks like the 2nd wave has clearly receded. Deaths per day now in Canada are lower than the mass of what was seen in our first curve last spring.

Tons of positive news on the Covid front that doesn't sell papers, doesn't sell vaccines, and doesn't get hits. Maybe this kind of information could start going viral. I mean its all out there in real world numbers.

Not to mention other factors like the northern hemisphere heading into spring, daily vaccinations for many countries increasing exponentially (not Canada yet, Israel getting close to herd immunity),and better results for those that are already infected. Of course, that won't sell papers, so the media doesn't really care for it.

 

[ThePhoenixx]

GUNTER: Snowbirds likely to be main target of new federal quarantine rules | Toronto Sun

"Prime Minister Trudeau has seemed to suggest thousands more people a day entering Canada will be subject to a three-day quarantine.
Truck drivers will have to prove they are virus-free before they can bring their cargos of produce or grocery staples across the line. Pilots and flight attendants, too, will no longer be exempt, Trudeau said last week."

The bolded is insane.

 

[Frank the Tank]

The significant progress in reduced COVID-19 cases and vaccine doses administered was prominently featured on the NY Times website this morning.

Pandemic in Retreat

 

[joestevens29]

I wonder how many accidents happened there, lol

 

[ThePhoenixx]

Moe stands by COVID-19 lockdown critique as he defends status quo | Regina Leader Post

 

[WaitingForUser]

O

My weekly observations of Coronavirus decline that somehow isn't being reported.

World wide daily cases are aroun 430K, down from a peak of 860cases early in January. This is of course the most dramatic decline in Covid cases thats been seen but in the variant hysteria it is not being reported. Daily worldwide cases are half what they were.

In the UK, daily cases way down to 13K, from their peak of 68K on Jan 8. The cases in the UK are now as low as they were in November, in which a lowpoint preceded relaxation of restrictions. This all happening while the country is sacked with the dread UK variant (sarcasm). The UK daily numbers now are not that much different per population than the numbers Canada was seeing a short while ago. UK being densely populated most difference could be expected as denser populations are harder hit.

Canada cases are ranging around 3K per day now. Across the country. I mean for perspective this is lower than numbers seen just in Ontario a shortwhile ago. Canada saw a peak of 10K cases per day bunched around the New year. I mean this is 7K cases LESS per day. Canada daily cases are down to what they were in October.

Interestingly in Canada first wave deaths per day were as high as they ever peaked in the 2nd wave, and this despite several more cases per day, 5X more, in 2nd wave. Now it looks like the 2nd wave has clearly receded. Deaths per day now in Canada are lower than the mass of what was seen in our first curve last spring.

Tons of positive news on the Covid front that doesn't sell papers, doesn't sell vaccines, and doesn't get hits. Maybe this kind of information could start going viral. I mean its all out there in real world numbers.

So much this. Numbers are going down everywhere but restrictions keep going up. Watch out for the dreaded UK strain. You mean the one that is less deadly and has a quicker recovery? This whole thing is becoming tiresome at this point. There is more to this than we are being told and every action indicates that is the case.

 

[bucks_oil]

Who is Vivian Krause? Not $1? She doesn't know what she's talking about.
Backgrounder – Government of Canada investments in COVID-19 vaccines and biomanufacturing capacity - Canada.ca

The NRC, for one received their $44M last spring/summer to build out its facility.

You might criticize how long it took to make decisions and dole out the money...., or the decades of inactivity in a space that is so strategic, despite constant reminders (SARS, MERS, ZIKA, EBOLA, H1N1) that it might be important... (literally 21 years since ID Biomedical received a commitment of $85M million for their flu vaccine facility... later acquired by GSK). But those were decisions of past administrations.

There is plenty to criticize,... you'd hope for a more proactive approach to areas that are so important to Canada's national interest (and create new economy jobs, and where we could be competitive, given the value we place on health... but don't get me started)... but at least reactive steps are better than no steps at all.

 

[oobga]

Manitoba giving the feds the finger and investing in an mRNA vaccine producer in AB. Providence Therapeutics. The company that asked the feds last April for I think ~50M to jump start their vaccine development and to build out facilities that would have been able to produce millions of mRNA vaccines starting the beginning of this year. Same technology as Moderna and Pfizer. Bet the facilities they proposed to build could have been used to license production of those vaccines if need be. They were ignored and tossed a bit of money, a fraction of the original ask, in Q4 to get some phase 1 testing started.

Hindsight is 20/20 of course. But, don't think that is a blanket excuse for bad gambles that didn't pay off. And we may badly need domestic mRNA vaccine production down the road. mRNA likely will be the fastest and easiest type of vaccine to modify to handle variants. There's really no excuse at this point for us to not be ensuring this capability at home.

 

[Stoneman89]

Who is Vivian Krause? Not $1? She doesn't know what she's talking about.
Backgrounder – Government of Canada investments in COVID-19 vaccines and biomanufacturing capacity - Canada.ca

The NRC, for one received their $44M last spring/summer to build out its facility.

You might criticize how long it took to make decisions and dole out the money...., or the decades of inactivity in a space that is so strategic, despite constant reminders (SARS, MERS, ZIKA, EBOLA, H1N1) that it might be important... (literally 21 years since ID Biomedical received a commitment of $85M million for their flu vaccine facility... later acquired by GSK). But those were decisions of past administrations.

There is plenty to criticize,... you'd hope for a more proactive approach to areas that are so important to Canada's national interest (and create new economy jobs, and where we could be competitive, given the value we place on health... but don't get me started)... but at least reactive steps are better than no steps at all.

Reactive steps in cases like this tend to be ones when you have no other choices due to earlier f***ups and have to take desperate measures. They are not to be necessarily congratulated on since they are only a result of earlier incompetency, but are still badly needed nonetheless, albeit very late in the game. Kind of like showing up to the Titanic a day later with the Carpathia. Much loss of life that could certainly have been avoided.

 

[Stoneman89]

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

View attachment 395194

Israel has vaccinated the most (66 doses/100 people) yet their curve looks like Canada's only peak was later


Canada's curve (3.3 doses/100 people):



curious....can't tell who has vaccinated the most

 

[bucks_oil]

Reactive steps in cases like this tend to be ones when you have no other choices due to earlier f***ups and have to take desperate measures. They are not to be necessarily congratulated on since they are only a result of earlier incompetency, but are still badly needed nonetheless, albeit very late in the game. Kind of like showing up to the Titanic a day later with the Carpathia. Much loss of life that could certainly have been avoided.

While I agree with this, the issue of no vaccine (or biologics in general) manufacturing capacity in Canada has been known for 20+ years. It's a systematic failure and lack of vision with plenty of blame to be shared.

 

[bucks_oil]

Israel has vaccinated the most (66 doses/100 people) yet their curve looks like Canada's only peak was later
View attachment 395204

Canada's curve (3.3 doses/100 people):
View attachment 395205


curious....can't tell who has vaccinated the most

The vaccines were approved in Israel early Jan. On a 21 and 28 day schedule for the two doses it will take some time to see the effects.

 

[Stoneman89]

While I agree with this, the issue of no vaccine (or biologics in general) manufacturing capacity in Canada has been known for 20+ years. It's a systematic failure and lack of vision with plenty of blame to be shared.

I also agree with with what you've written, but this virus caused a pandemic, rendering an in-house solution much more urgent and necessary.

 

[oilers'72]

Not sure how this worked out.

Single COVID-19 case in Western Australia leads to 5-day lockdown for millions

 

[oilers'72]

I guess this is how it's working out.

Australia news live: Melbourne's hotel quarantine cluster grows to 13 cases; more resignations from Crown