snowstormcanuck

Terrible.

From everything I've read, the risk posed by deliveries is very low, and almost non-existent if you practice basic hygiene (disposing of the packing, washing hands afterwards, etc). Still rising and that's expected. Just need to avoid the exponential growth.

If only it worked that way But, hey, drive into IL (while you still can...lol).

^including deliveries of legal weed. Coronavirus can do what it wants, I'm floating, brothers.

I'm gradually coming of the same mind. Even shopping for groceries...it's inadvertent, but people get way too close. Online shopping for everything.

"We got serological samples, she is the first patient we know that might have gone through the ‘Spanish flu’ since she was born in 1917," Sicbaldi explained, referring to the 1918/1919 flu pandemic that killed at least 50 million people worldwide, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention." Tough cookie.

Without question a lot are slipping through the cracks. Quebec includes presumptive cases in their totals. Ontario (and everywhere else, I think) doesnt.

U.S. just passed 100,000 cases. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

Cautiously optimistic of how this is unfolding in Canada. Cases are growing daily but not exponentially (and much of the growth likely a result of increased testing). Right now only 6% of cases require hospitalization, and less than 1% are proving fatal.

I was listening to a podcast with Sam Harris and Peter Attia and they were speculating that increasing ultraviolet radiation may also play a part in killing the virus. I infer from that that it'll take us getting to higher sun angle months for the real effect to be seen.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-us-wont-post-troops-at-canadian-border-ottawa-says-it-strongly/ As expected, was a big nothing

Hopefully the warmer weather, once it arrives, will help slow the rate of spread. fwiw

It was sort of confirmed by Trudeau this morning, but it seems like it was an off-the-cuff comment by Trump without a lot of truth behind it. At least that's my take. I also can't fathom a reason why he would do it.

If necessary, it's going to be tougher for the US, with a more dispersed population and multiple layers and branches of government, to put in the strictures that Italy did. Still, per capita not as bad as most Western European countries...yet.

I was refreshing the number on that site frequently, anticipating hopefully it would go down. Too bad.

https://news.ontario.ca/opo/en/2020/03/ontario-orders-the-mandatory-closure-of-all-non-essential-workplaces-to-fight-spread-of-covid-19.html Ontario ordering all "non-essential" businesses to close by tomorrow at 11:59 pm. A list of what constitutes "non-essential" will be released tomorrow. Apparently Quebec is doing the same thing. Cases have been rising here but still no exponential growth, so maybe this is the right time to get strict. Better to be proactive than reactive.

How does that make the U.S. more to the left? By funneling the money through E.I. and other indirect programs, it's a way for the government to means/needs test it. Otherwise, potentially, you'd get wealthier people who don't need the money getting gov't assistance.

https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-experts-say-new-symptoms-could-be-loss-taste-or-smell-11961439 Would like to see other sources also claiming that loss of smell and taste are symptoms of covid 19, but if true that could be helpful in identifying the otherwise asymptomatic carriers.

Ours have kind of leveled off, 40-60 per day it seems. I'm sure Ontario won't get off that unscathed, but at least temporary good news.

Pretty grateful at a time like this I'm pretty much already a social recluse. The transition to the new regime has been seamless.

Optimism

Toronto's chief medical officer of health said there's almost certainly evidence of community transmission now. The gentleman who died in Halton contracted in through community transmission too. So, yeah, be optimistic but also be vigilant.

There's supposed to be lag between when the lockdown measures were implemented and when the death/infection rate would start to decline. But, it's been two weeks, I think? Very discouraging.

All evidence points to the mortality rate being substantially higher than the flu. The reason for these drastic social distancing measures isn't to prevent the spread. That is inevitable. I've read estimates up to 80 percent of the population will be infected eventually. The social distancing is in place to slow the spread so that the healthcare system can cope with those who will unfortunately need hospitalization, to build capacity (beds, ventilators, etc), and to maybe develop a vaccine or effective treatment plan. It's about buying time. There's no way that will be accomplished in a couple of weeks.

"Jane Heffernan, the director of York University’s Centre for Disease Modelling, would not predict how long she believes shutting down schools and working from home could last. But she acknowledged she has seen studies suggesting it could be months to two years, including a study from Imperial College in London that predicts social distancing could continue for 12 to 18 months. " Humans being social creatures, that worse case scenario seems like it's going to be very hard to do. And, that's just social distancing; imagine a prolonged period of more severe restrictions, like shelter-in-place/lockdown.