Masks have become an unwelcome staple of American life with no end in sight. Mask recommendations change faster and more frequently than the weather. How did we get here?
h/t Marvin
“China eats weird animals disease”
WARMINGTON: Pearson bracing for potential ‘chaos’ as new hotel rules implemented
This holding pattern of flights coming into Pearson International Airport is not expected to be in the sky.
Ontario reports 1,058 new Covid cases
Ontario is reporting 1,058 cases of #COVID19 and nearly 31,200 tests completed. Locally, there are 325 new cases in Toronto, 215 in Peel and 87 in York Region.
As of 8:00 p.m. yesterday, 569,455 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered.
— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) February 22, 2021
No sympathy for snowbirds: Most Canadians support travel restrictions, Ipsos poll finds
As travel restrictions have clipped the wings of many snowbirds hoping to fly south to their Florida homes for the winter, the vast majority of Canadians support the new travel rules — and very few think exceptions should be made for those with second residences south of the border.
Justin Trudeau Failed Canada in COVID Vaccine Debacle. Here’s Why.
Canadians sometimes have an inferiority complex when it comes to their southern neighbor which they frequently express with hostility. Nowhere was this more apparent than on Twitter the last few years where you couldn’t swing a dead cat without finding a Canadian smugly lecturing Americans on Donald Trump’s behavior and ‘incompetence’ (according to them).
Why did 150,000 fewer Chinese people suddenly stop receiving state benefits just after Covid outbreak began?
Disturbing Chinese government statistics reveal a huge drop in the number of old people receiving state payments in Hubei – the province containing the city of Wuhan – in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic’s eruption.
The official data, which shows a fall of more than 150,000 people receiving the benefits in the first quarter of last year, will fuel fears the death toll from Covid-19 in China was far higher than the government has admitted.
According to the Chinese authorities, there have been only 4,636 Covid deaths in their nation of 1.4 billion – with all except 124 of the fatalities in the central province of Hubei. There is widespread scepticism over these figures.
Positive Coronavirus Test? Canadians Worry Their Neighbors Will Find Out
The fear of public shaming is becoming so prevalent in some Canadian provinces that doctors worry it is driving virus cases underground.
For a time, Cortland Cronk, 26, was Canada’s most famous — and infamous — coronavirus patient.
Mr. Cronk, a traveling salesman, went viral after testing positive in November and recounting his story of being infected while traveling for work to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
He was called a virus-spreader, a job-killer, a liar and a sleaze. Online memes painted him as the Grinch, since subsequent outbreaks led to restrictions against Christmas parties. Many people, including a newspaper columnist, made elaborate fun of his name.
Wuhan Lab Kept NIH Funding Despite Trump Crackdown
Chinese lab collected hundreds of thousands from U.S. taxpayers
Federal records show the U.S. government is partnering with the Wuhan Institute of Virology even though the Trump administration pledged to ban funding for the Chinese laboratory located at the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak.
President Donald Trump promised that he would “end” public funding for the Wuhan Institute of Virology during an April 17 press conference. Despite his promise, the National Institutes of Health has left untouched a 2019 neuroscience research grant that disbursed hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Chinese laboratory, according to a federal expenditure database. The NIH earmarked most of the $4.3 million grant to U.C. Irvine, which the California public university used to funnel $216,108 in taxpayer money to a Wuhan Institute of Virology researcher as a “sub-grant.”
Ontario reports 1087 new Kung Flu cases
Ontario is reporting 1,087 cases of #COVID19 and nearly 48,200 tests completed. Locally, there are 344 new cases in Toronto, 156 in Peel and 122 in York Region.
As of 8:00 p.m. yesterday, 556,533 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered.
— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) February 21, 2021
Adamson Barbecue owner defends his ‘civil disobedience’
Adamson Barbecue’s owner held court at his restaurant’s Leaside location on Saturday to explain why he defied Ontario’s lockdown orders and allowed customers to attend his dining establishment without masks in November.
Adam Skelly made headlines at the time as he was ultimately arrested and later released on $50,000 bail.
Biden’s White House Is ‘Working Directly’ With Social Media To Censor Anti-Vaxxers
A senior administration official said that the White House has been reaching out to social media companies including Facebook and Twitter to root out COVID misinformation and get their help to stop it from going viral.
Anti-vaccination protests held in Australia ahead of rollout
Anti-vaccination protesters have gathered across Australia ahead of the launch of the country’s coronavirus inoculation programme.
Protests were held in cities including Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, with participants chanting slogans like: “My body, my choice.”
The rallies were largely peaceful, but police made several arrests in Melbourne, local media reported.
The national rollout of the Pfizer vaccine is set to begin on Monday.
Ontario lost 355,000 jobs in 2020, marking single largest decline on record: FAO
Ontario’s fiscal watchdog says the province lost more than 355,000 jobs last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Financial Accountability Officer says in a new report Thursday that the job losses represent the single largest annual decline on record.
The report says that in addition to job losses, more than 765,000 Ontario residents worked fewer hours because of the pandemic.
Federal workers paid $819 million to stay home during the pandemic under ‘699’ clause
“From March 15 to Nov. 30, 2020, the estimated cost of `Other Leave with Pay (699)’ is approximately $819 million, based on the average daily pay rate of roughly $300 for federal public service employees entitled to leave,” says the Treasury Board document, dated Feb. 19.
Ontario reports 1228 new Wuhan Flu cases
Ontario is reporting 1,228 cases of #COVID19 and nearly 57,200 tests completed. Locally, there are 331 new cases in Toronto, 228 in Peel and 132 in York Region.
As of 8:00 p.m. yesterday, 540,129 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered.
— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) February 20, 2021
MPs pass motion requiring Liberal government to let them see COVID vaccine contracts
Opposition party MPs have succeeded in passing a motion requiring the Liberal government to give them access to contracts with seven COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers.
But whether the documents will actually be released to the health committee, and in what form, remains unclear. When asked whether the government will comply with the motion and make the agreements available, a spokesperson for Procurement Minister Anita Anand didn’t respond by deadline.
We’ll find out the Kielburgers are making vaccines at their Kenya resort.
AOC calls for ‘full investigation’ into Cuomo nursing home scandal
WASHINGTON — NY Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez is calling for an investigation into Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s mounting nursing home crisis on Friday.
“I support our state’s return to co-equal governance and stand with our local officials calling for a full investigation of the Cuomo administration’s handling of nursing homes during COVID-19,” she wrote in a statement.
Rattled Andrew Cuomo rants against COVID-19 ‘lies’
A defensive Gov. Andrew Cuomo went on a 15-minute rant Friday in which he vowed to counter what he claimed were “lies” and “misinformation” about his handling of nursing homes amid the COVID-19 pandemic — as Health Commissioner Howard Zucker said officials made the right call “at that moment in time.”
Just What You Needed To Hear… Toronto & Peel Lockdown Extended 2 Weeks
Toronto and Peel Region will remain under a stay-at-home order for at least another two weeks but some restrictions will be eased in York Region next week as it enters the red zone of the province’s reopening framework, the province announced Friday.
At the request of the medical officers of health in both Peel Region and Toronto, strict lockdown measures will be maintained in the two COVID-19 hot spots until at least March 8, the Ford government says.