It’s been a rough 15 months since Canada’s first case of COVID-19. As it stands, our country’s pandemic response hovers somewhere between subpar and wondering what’d happen if we just let Polkaroo run the country for a bit. Yet amid all the anger, despair, and more anger, Canadians on both all sides of the political spectrum see a light at the end of the tunnel: voting the incompetent, corrupt, and cowardly out of office when the pandemic finally ends.
This photo has led to the suspension of three UMass Amherst students, who were also blocked from remote learning and from taking their finals this semester.
What about everyone else in the photo?
Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives are setting the table to extend Ontario’s pandemic “stay-at-home” order for another two weeks, until June 2.
“We need to stay the course for right now,” Health Minister Christine Elliott said Monday.
Ford declared a state of emergency on April 16, which curbed activities like golf, tennis, and basketball, in a bid to keep people from going out and spreading COVID-19.
Dozens of residents in two Ontario nursing homes hit hard by the coronavirus died not from COVID-19 but from dehydration and neglect, the Canadian military says in reports obtained by The Globe and Mail.
The documents contain new details about the deplorable conditions in two Toronto homes before the Forces stepped in last year, revealing for the first time that causes other than COVID-19 hastened the deaths of residents as outbreaks spiralled out of control and staffing collapsed.
This is Murder. (Go Incognito)
Ontario reports lowest number of new COVID-19 cases in nearly six weeks
Ontario is reporting its lowest number of new COVID-19 cases in nearly six weeks but the positivity rate remains extremely high, underscoring the precarious position that Ontario remains in.
The Ministry of Health says that there were 2,716 new cases of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus confirmed on Sunday, along with another 19 deaths.
Mucormycosis: The ‘black fungus’ maiming Covid patients in India
On Saturday morning, Dr Akshay Nair, a Mumbai-based eye surgeon, was waiting to operate on a 25-year-old woman who had recovered from a bout of Covid-19 three weeks ago.
Inside the surgery, an ear, nose and throat specialist was already at work on the patient, a diabetic.
He had inserted a tube in her nose and was removing tissues infected with mucormycosis, a rare but dangerous fungal infection. This aggressive infection affects the nose, eye and sometimes the brain.
Sean Holman, an access to information expert and journalism professor at Mount Royal University in Calgary, said uproar in British Columbia Friday over revelations the provincial government was only releasing a fraction of its COVID-19 data to the public is just one example of such secrecy.
“It doesn’t surprise me,” said Holman, who stressed B.C. is particularly notorious for withholding information. “But it really emphasizes the need for governments across Canada to provide more information to the general public about what’s going on during this public health disaster.”
Canadian attorney John Carpay describes how Canada has turned into a police state where citizens live in fear, and the heroic resistance provided by Pastor James Coates, who was jailed for 35 days because he held normal church services.
Several months ago, President Joe Biden was vaccinated. In the White House, he is surrounded by people who have also been vaccinated. Nevertheless, he continues to wear a mask, even when outdoors or alone on Zoom calls with world leaders. In a recent online conference call, Biden was the only world leader wearing a mask.
Earlier this week a science reporter named Nicholas Wade, who has worked for both Nature and the NY Times, published a lengthy piece on Medium titled “Origin of Covid — Following the Clues.” The piece can be broken into three parts. The first looks at what could be called the PR push to dismiss the lab leak theory. The second, about the kind of research taking place in the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the third part looks at the existing evidence and asks whether it fits more easily with the idea of a natural origin or with a lab leak.
There is a massive lack of honesty about what’s fact and what’s policy in public health
The Seychelles has become a place to watch. Known as the world’s most vaccinated nation, ahead of even Israel, a third wave of COVID is hitting the archipelago despite the fact that over 60 percent of its population has been fully vaccinated — and nearly 70 percent have received at least one shot. In April the Seychelles was hopeful it was soon to reach herd immunity. But now 456 new cases reported over three days (the population is approximately 98,000) has cooled optimism there — especially since a third of the new cases were fully vaccinated (the remainder had received only one shot or were unvaccinated).
It’s perhaps too soon to draw conclusions, but it doesn’t look like good news for those hoping widespread vaccination will bring about herd immunity.
One of the biggest challenges Canada has faced throughout this pandemic is that so many leaders and so many voices are involved in the official response. Politicians give regular press conferences. Public health officials do the same. Advisory committees of independent experts speak up and challenge not only governments, but other experts. Researchers, clinicians and journalists all have something to say. Our fuzzy federalism makes this that much harder, as it multiplies voices and points of authority. In order to get through this third wave, and stave off a potential fourth wave in the fall, this needs to change.
Dr. Anthony Fauci predicted Sunday that mask-wearing could eventually become “seasonal” as protection against ailments like the flu that can also be spread through the air.
He said Americans over the course of the pandemic have gotten used to wearing face coverings, which “diminishes respiratory diseases.”
A friend of mine got to the point he’d just had enough of Ontario. The other week he and his wife packed up the car and drove with the kids to the United States. They were able to get across because one of them is a dual national.
Now, mere days after moving into their new place, their kid is already in school and the family was joyously partying it up at an outdoor Cinco de Mayo celebration.
A pastor who became an internet sensation after chasing Canadian authorities out of his church has been detained for violating Covid-19 restrictions. Footage of the dramatic arrest was posted on his YouTube channel.
Pastor Artur Pawlowski, of Calgary, Alberta, made headlines last month after he berated police for trying to shut down an Easter service that violated limitations on public gatherings. In a viral video of the confrontation, Pawlowski is heard.
Ontario is reporting 3,216 cases of #COVID19 and over 38,500 tests completed. Locally, there are 903 new cases in Toronto, 752 in Peel, 335 in York Region, 187 in Durham and 150 in Ottawa.
As of 8:00 p.m. yesterday, 6,144,685 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered.
— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) May 9, 2021
Grappling with how to press the virtual flesh, parties gear up for election showdown
The three main national parties are firing up their election engines, even as they insist they want to steer clear of a campaign.
Liberals, Conservatives and New Democrats are on the move in advance of a potential election this year, recruiting candidates, training volunteers and grappling with how to kiss babies and press the flesh in a virtual, pandemic-restricted world.
