The coronavirus pandemic has sparked a nationwide ketchup shortage that has restaurants scrambling to get ahold of America’s most popular condiment, a new report says.
In especially short supply are ketchup packets, a hot commodity for eateries that have relied on takeout orders over the past year as COVID-19 crimped their dining room capacity
…According to data from Toronto Public Health, a full 68 per cent of all workplace COVID-19 outbreaks so far have taken place in offices, warehouses, construction sites and food processing plants — many of which have continued to operate throughout the pandemic — leading many to question why Premier Doug Ford keeps opening and closing restaurants and salons while doing little to stop the rampant transmission happening at workplaces outside of the public eye.
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Ontario is reporting 3,065 cases of #COVID19 and over 37,500 tests completed. Locally, there are 955 new cases in Toronto, 561 in Peel, 320 in York Region, 165 in Ottawa and 132 in Niagara.
— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) April 6, 2021
P.1 variant is spreading in Canada. What do we know about it and vaccines?
The rapid spread of the P.1 variant in British Columbia has added new urgency to the race between variants and vaccines. In just a matter of days, cases have surged from double to triple digits.
The variant, which was first identified in Brazil, has the potential to lower the effectiveness of some vaccines approved for use in Canada.
WARMINGTON: A shutdown? Malls, parks, beaches packed
Ontario’s third pandemic shutdown includes packed malls, beaches, and parks.
As many as 246 Michigan residents considered fully vaccinated against COVID-19 were later diagnosed with the virus, and three have died, state officials confirmed Monday.
The cases were reported between Jan. 1 and March 31, and the 246 had a positive test 14 or more days after the last dose in the vaccine series, said Lynn Sutfin, a spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, in an email.
Ontario’s doctors are concerned that we are entering the worst phase of the pandemic since last spring and urge everyone – all levels of government and every Ontarian – to take the warning seriously and do what they can to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Given the sobering new statistics being released every day – each one representing a person, with worried family and friends – the Ontario Medical Association is calling for five urgent actions:
Chris Hopps has an exemption from wearing masks. And that is a big problem when it comes to dropping off and picking up his sons at Glen Street Public School in Oshawa, Ont.
Indeed, Chris is now considered parent non grata by the elementary school’s principal, Michelle Carter.
The medical officers of health for Toronto, Peel and Ottawa are urging the province to take further steps to protect their residents, saying the newly-applied “emergency brake” will not do enough to curb a new wave of virus spread in their regions.
In a letter dated April 4 to the province’s Dr. David Williams, doctors Eileen de Villa, Lawrence Loh and Vera Etches cite data provided by the province’s own science advisory table as reason for further action.
“A stay-at-home order issued by the province through an emergency order is necessary to prevent and mitigate large scale morbidity and mortality and irreparable strain on the healthcare system,” the co-signed letter says.
Peel Region shutters schools for 2 weeks, moving to remote learning amid surge in COVID-19 cases
This lockdown is never going to end is it?
…Official COVID-19 deaths in the spring and summer of 2020 were mostly limited to Ontario and Quebec. However, the rate of “excess deaths” – those over and above what would have been expected given the trend in recent years – was much more pronounced in Western Canada than virus fatalities alone can account for.
The statistics suggest some provinces may have inadvertently undercounted COVID-19 deaths by a wide margin, Dr. Moriarty said. Provincial governments themselves have argued the disparity could be caused by hundreds of ailing people dying at home while avoiding hospitals for fear of the virus.
Whatever their exact cause, the number of excess deaths shows a country that suffered much more equally than previously believed.
Ontario reports 2,938 new COVID-19 cases today, 3,041 on Sunday
Provincial health officials say Ontario saw more than 2,900 new COVID-19 cases today and more than 3,000 on Sunday, driving up the number of active infections above 25,000.
Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott said 2,938 new cases were reported today and 3,041 infections were reported on Sunday.
Another 22 virus-related deaths were confirmed in Ontario over the past two days, bringing the total number of deaths to 7,450.
LEVY: Selective lockdown rules play out on Easter weekend
UK’s Johnson launches mass testing programme as economy reopens
LONDON (Reuters) -British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday everyone in England will be able to take a COVID-19 test twice a week in a new drive to track the pandemic as society reopens and the vaccine rollout continues at its rapid rate.
Osterholm told NBC News’ Meet the Press that the United States is approaching another surge of COVID-19 cases, citing a pattern where cases rise rapidly in the Upper Midwest and Northeast then subside and surge in the Southern Sunbelt states, before subsiding and then reemerging in the Northeast and Midwest.
Some among the thousands of snowbirds flocking back to Canada for the spring are expressing frustration over having to undergo the federally mandated hotel quarantine — even after getting shots of the COVID-19 vaccine.
The new quarantine measures, which went into effect in late February, include additional PCR tests for those flying back once they arrive as well as up to three days of quarantine at a hotel — which could cost an ample $2,000 that travelers have to pay on their own dime.
Many healthcare professionals agree that having an active and physical lifestyle, taking Vitamin D and other lifestyle choices can lessen the chance of a serious outcome if infected with COVID-19. In fact, the UK government sent its citizens free vitamin D supplements.
Meanwhile, public officials in Canada have never discussed these lifestyle choices. As a result, many Canadians are unaware and unprepared for COVID-19.
One year after Americans were ordered to close down society for “two weeks to flatten the curve,” Bloomberg columnist Andreas Kluth warned, “We Must Start Planning for a Permanent Pandemic.”
Because new variants of SARS-COV-2 are impervious to existing vaccines, says Kluth, and pharmaceutical companies will never be able to develop new vaccines fast enough to keep up, we will never be able to get “back to normal.”
“Get back to normal” means recovering the relative liberty we had in our already overregulated, pre-Covid lives. This is just the latest in a long series of crises that always seem to lead our wise rulers to the same conclusion: we just cannot afford freedom anymore.
— Calgary Police (@CalgaryPolice) April 4, 2021
Read Twitter thread for more.
Scientists told The Sun Online about the need to vaccinate as many people as possible and stick to the lockdown rules as it is feared the rapidly changing virus could overwhelm our current arsenal of vaccines.
