COVID-19 ongoing thread part 2

[Zwinmar]

I can't speak for all because I have only been to a few reservations, but in each case, the populace outside loathed the people on the reservation. The way they talk and act you would think that war parties go out on a regular basis.

[Tsyroc]

In Arizona at least, a lot of the areas with high Native American populations are poorly served by healthcare and in some cases basic infrastructure is even worse. Parts of reservations don't even have electricity.

Fortunately I don't have to deal with anti-maskers at work. They either don't get into the hospital to begin with or they are removed and banned if they can't follow our rules. Considering all staff wear masks and eye protection now, regardless of how close we are to patients, it doesn't seem like much to ask that visitors to wear masks. As far as I know we are the only hospital in the area that allows visitors at all and this has been done for the wellbeing of the patients and the mental wellbeing of the nurses who were taking huge emotional hits when patients and family members were relaying their final goodbyes via an iPad held by the nurse.

[Broomstick]

Yeah, my sister-the-doctor and I have gone round with this, and I've also had the discussion with some of the medical people who come through where I work. The medical front-liners are appalled at the sloppy mask wearing, the lack of masks some people have, and so on but they are two different environments. It comes down to hospitals being able to impose controls that grocery stores can't.

[Tsyroc]

Apparently we still have the occasional person throwing a fit about their rights (not wearing a mask) but I'm not at work during the limited visiting hours and security would deal with that pretty far away from me anyway.

As of yesterday morning about 20% of the hospital's patients were covid patients.

I've seen it suggested that people working at essential businesses like grocery stores should be high on the list for the vaccine if they want it.
Right now I think we are going healthcare workers, fire & police, and then teachers. Everyone seems to want politicians to be last but I haven't seen anything official about that.

[Broomstick]

I've seen it suggested that people working at essential businesses like grocery stores should be high on the list for the vaccine if they want it.

By the time they get around to grocery workers, at least where I work, we'll probably have all already had it (we're somewhere between 1/2 and 2/3 of the employees being post-covid infection at this point). Would there even be a point to vaccinating us in that case? If I've acquired some natural immunity shouldn't they pass me over and send that dose to someone who hasn't had the virus yet?

Everyone seems to want politicians to be last but I haven't seen anything official about that.

That gets my vote.

[Zaune]

I personally hope our Secretary for Health follows through with his offer to go first. There's been some possibly valid concerns expressed that we're rushing the vaccine out the door without adequate testing.

[Zwinmar]

Well, just got some news yesterday: Aunt has stage 4 cancer as well as a laundry list of medical problems. To top that off, her husband has covid and they live in a tiny apartment.

[Tsyroc]

This week my cousin was in and out of the hospital for covid. Apparently he got it because he went to a bar to watch a football game that he couldn't get at home. Had an embolism in one of his lungs while he was there but now he's out and from a photo looks to be doing okay.

On the vaccine front. My work will start administering the vaccine to employees who want it on December 17th. Our managers are supposed to coordinate the appointments. So far I haven't seen or heard anything on that front so pharmacy might not be in the first batch of people to get the vaccine.

My county will now fine people $50 for not wearing a mask in public and businesses will be fined $500 for people not wearing masks inside the business.

My city has a 2200 to 0500 mandatory curfew with various exceptions. The county has the same curfew but it's voluntary.
The reason is most likely to target bars. The governor won't allow lockdowns or shutting down of businesses so the assumption is that this is a bit of a work around.

[Broomstick]

My county will now fine people $50 for not wearing a mask in public and businesses will be fined $500 for people not wearing masks inside the business.

Who's going to pay the liability and/or medical bills and/or funeral expenses when some jackass decides a request to wear a mask should be met with a fist or a bullet? These are not academic questions. There have been multiple fist fights in my workplace involving customers refusing to behave. There have been several instances of employees being shot dead when requesting someone entering a business wear a mask.

[Tsyroc]

Who's going to pay the liability and/or medical bills and/or funeral expenses when some jackass decides a request to wear a mask should be met with a fist or a bullet? These are not academic questions. There have been multiple fist fights in my workplace involving customers refusing to behave. There have been several instances of employees being shot dead when requesting someone entering a business wear a mask.

I've been wondering that too. The only place I go regularly is the supermarket and the employees I talk to there have been told not to confront anyone not wearing a mask. They have signs posted about masks all over the place plus a regular overhead message about wearing them. I wonder if the $500 fine is for employees and not patrons?

This is a Fry's (Kroeger) supermarket.

[PainRack]

https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/newst ... =197279533

Stuart was Director of the Consulting Group at Forecast International in Newtown, CT, a company which provides Market Intelligence for the world's Aerospace/Defense industries. He was also the primary analyst for the company's Warships Forecast and Industrial & Marine Turbine Forecast. In other defense related areas, he wrote United States Strategic Bombers 1945-2012, Littoral Warfare: Ships and Systems, Navies in the Nuclear Age and Multinational Naval Operations. He was also a regular contributor to a number of leading journals on defense-related subjects. With decades of experience in naval warfare and naval systems analysis, Stuart Slade was one of the world's foremost experts in these fields. He was also the successful author of 14 published novels focusing on defense-related subjects.
Stu, as he was known to his friends, was born and brought-up in post-war England and sometimes spoke of those years during which wartime ravages had left their scars upon his country and an orange was a special treat. Perhaps to understand better the genesis of wars he took an early interest in all things military, with a special focus upon world Navies. That interest continued and after graduating from London University with a BS in Chemistry he was employed by the British Royal Navy on many special projects around the world. Stuart come to the U.S. in 1994 and, after spending some years with the publisher of Janes Fighting Ships, was employed by Forecast International, during which time he received his U.S. citizenship.
He was a unique individual who was well-liked and respected by his fellow analysts and employees, not just for his expertise, but for his warm and friendly personality and his keen sense of humor with a British twist. He will be sorely missed by all who knew him, not only for his accomplishments and "Can Do" attitude, but because he was a great American, a patriot, a gentleman and a warm human being.
His is survived by his wife and best friend of many years, Josefa Slade. Because of the pandemic a memorial service will be scheduled at a later date.

To Plant Memorial Trees in memory, please visit our Sympathy Store.

SB found the news..

It seems another of our member,Stuart Slade has passed on. While he pulled a lotta shit over Salvation War, the Thai General and then misleading on French carrier and other warship details, he was still one of our more visible rightwing member who spread a amount of intellectual debate on this forum.

[TimothyC]

SB found the news..

It seems another of our member,Stuart Slade has passed on. While he pulled a lotta shit over Salvation War, the Thai General and then misleading on French carrier and other warship details, he was still one of our more visible rightwing member who spread a amount of intellectual debate on this forum.

SB got the news from elsewhere, which got it from me, which I also shared here.

[loomer]

Vaccine shipments to the IHS are being rolled out now. The decision to prioritize both healthcare workers and elders is promising.

[Broomstick]

I am pleasantly shocked and surprised the IHS got anything - given that the lying, fascist scum were planing to have Shithead's lackeys and toadies vaccinated before anyone else. That's a bit of good news I was entirely not expecting.

Let's hope the rest of the vaccine rollout goes smoothly, rationally, and competently.

How goes things in the rest of world?

[Tsyroc]

We have the vaccine where I work. I'm assuming they are going to start vaccinating people soon, possibly even today. One of our managers was in early this morning and they've been telling us that today was the likely day they'd start vaccinating. Another manager sent us a bunch of the information on the vaccine via email yesterday. The Fact Sheet for Healthcare Workers Administering the Vaccine is 29 pages long. The most up to date version is on their website. Interestingly it asked me to select the country I am a healthcare worker in and it had three options. Canada, Saudi Arabia and the United States. Saudi Arabia was a little surprising. Maybe they own part of Pfizer or BioNTech? I'm kind of hoping I don't have to mix and draw up doses of the vaccine. It seems a bit touchy when it comes to temperature and light.

The CDC has an app for smartphones for people who get the vaccine. It's so you can quickly report any side effects etc... remind you when to get your second dose.

So far I haven't heard much about people in pharmacy getting the vaccine. I think we'll be in the second healthcare workers group. They want to get all the people who are face to face with patients first. We're routinely out on the units but we aren't in the rooms with covid patients.

We did have a person in the pharmacy test positive for covid this week. I think he's the first or maybe second we've had this whole time.

[Tsyroc]

Apparently I do qualify to be in the first group offered the vaccine. From the email I got it sounds like we have enough to vaccinate all employees if we want (around 3,000 people I think) and they'll be vaccinating healthcare workers from out in the community too.

Vaccinations don't start until the 17th and we have to sign up for them.

[Ace Pace]

Israel will start wide vaccination sunday, hopefully this means that healthcare will be done by new years and we can start handling frontline workers

[Broomstick]

Sometimes there are advantages to being a small, compact country.

A great deal of fanfare on local media as vaccinations start in my area yesterday. In addition to doctors and nurses they're also starting with some of the housekeeping staff at local hospitals - the folks who clean the rooms with covid patients and otherwise support the doctors and nurses doing their work. Ah, someone was thinking.

Chicago started with Loretto hospital, the main one for the Austin neighborhood, a typically undeserved area with mostly minority people that is in one of the hardest hit areas of the state of Illinois.

Of course, other hospitals started vaccinating yesterday, too, but for once the Austin neighborhood was first in line for something good.

[Tsyroc]

Sometimes there are advantages to being a small, compact country.

A great deal of fanfare on local media as vaccinations start in my area yesterday. In addition to doctors and nurses they're also starting with some of the housekeeping staff at local hospitals - the folks who clean the rooms with covid patients and otherwise support the doctors and nurses doing their work. Ah, someone was thinking.

It's amazing how often housekeeping staff is treated like crap in hospitals considering how absolutely essential their jobs are in helping to prevent the spread of illnesses and infections. We seem to have a pretty decent core staff now who gets it but we used to have lots and lots of turnover. You can't treat like crap or underpay the people who are cleaning the rooms that had covid, c-diff, mrsa, tuberculosis etc.... patients in them previously. There are also pretty strict standards for surgical areas and IV compounding rooms that housekeeping has a hand in seeing that we meet.

The hospital doesn't have rooms for patients if it doesn't have someone to clean the recently vacant room. Sometimes the nastiness of those rooms is beyond belief. I'm sure housekeeping is still underpaid.

[bilateralrope]

How goes things in the rest of world?

Here in New Zealand, we are looking at the vaccine to be rolled out to border workers second quarter next year, everyone else starting mid 2021. It will be free for everyone.

We have deals with Pfizer and BioNTech to get enough vaccines for 750,000 people. If the Janssen Pharmaceutica vaccine passes testing, we will have enough doses for the entire country.

[Broomstick]

Although my place of work can not accommodate the cold storage needs of the Pfizer vaccine my employer is looking for ways to bring covid vaccines to the public. Some of the vaccines in the pipeline might be ones we could handle. Another alternative is to set up vaccination health fair type events, which the company has done in the past for flu vaccines.

Very hopeful stuff, although the numbers are going to continue to climb for a month or two before coming down again because of the incubation period and also holiday stupidity.

[bilateralrope]

Specifics on New Zealand's vaccine purchase plans:

COVID-19: Government secures two new vaccines, enough for every New Zealander to be immunised

Two new vaccines against COVID-19 have been secured by the Government, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on Thursday.

The landmark announcement means the Government has now pre-ordered 15 million vaccine courses to date - enough for every New Zealander to be immunised against the virus, plus the Pacific.

The Government has acquired access to 7.6 million doses of the vaccine developed by British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, and 10.72 million doses from American vaccine development business Novavax.

As immunisation requires two doses to be administered, the agreed quantities will be enough to vaccinate 3.8 million people and 5.36 million people respectively.

"If proven to be safe and effective by New Zealand's pharmaceuticals regulator Medsafe, they will provide broad population coverage for New Zealand and our Pacific neighbours," Ardern said on Thursday.

"This will be New Zealand's largest immunisation roll out ever."

The new agreements follow the Government's deal with American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, securing 1.5 million doses of its vaccine - enough to immunise 750,000.

The four pre-purchase agreements secured to date are:
750,000 courses from Pfizer/BioNTech;
5 million courses from Janssen;
3.8 million courses from the University of Oxford/AstraZeneca
5.36 million courses from Novavax.

In Thursday's announcement, Ardern confirmed that the Government's strategy is to purchase different types of vaccine technology to ensure alternatives are available in the event that some are unsuccessful. The pre-purchase agreements in place cover three different variations of vaccine technology.

Ardern confirmed that border staff, frontline healthcare workers, managed isolation and quarantine employees and their household contacts - those at the greatest risk of contracting COVID-19 - will be prioritised before the country rolls out its mass vaccination campaign for the general public.

Health Minister Andrew Little confirmed this will further strengthen our border.

"The aim of this approach is to create a layer of protection around the country to prevent any spread of COVID-19 into our communities," he said on Thursday.

Vaccination of frontline workers is expected to begin during the second quarter of 2021, followed by the public - in stages - from the third quarter.

"Our aim is to then commence vaccination of the general public in the second half of the year. All vaccine roll out will be dependent on Medsafe sign off, which we are streamlining, and speed of manufacture," Ardern said. "We are moving as fast as we can, but we also want to ensure the vaccine is safe for New Zealanders.

"This will be a sustained roll out over months, not weeks, but our pre-purchase agreements means New Zealand is well positioned to get on with it as soon as it is proven safe to do so."

Minister of Research, Science and Innovation Megan Woods said the agreements ensure New Zealand is invested in a range of options.

"As there are no guarantees that all the vaccines will successfully complete clinical trials, or be approved for use, this approach ensures we are able to access safe and effective vaccines at the earliest possible time," Woods said.

"Our plan is to ensure no-one misses out, even if it means we've purchased more than we need. It's an investment worth making."

She noted that the Government is not ruling out other purchases if required.

COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said preparations are progressing well to ensure the country's largest ever immunisation programme runs smoothly. Roughly 12,000 health professions are already able to administer vaccines and more will be trained, he said. The Ministry of Health will have an inventory management system for the vaccines, with accurate information regarding their locations and the temperature in central storage facilities.

The ministry has also purchased nine -80 degree Celsius freezers capable of storing more than 1.5 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. They are on track to arrive by the end of the year.

Hipkins noted that Kiwis should not get their hopes up for an open border anytime soon, as commencing immunisation does not mean any changes will be made in the first instance.

"Our border remains the first line of defence against COVID-19 from imported cases. To make any decisions around borders, we need to be confident that the New Zealand population is sufficiently protected," he said.

"It means we will need information on whether the COVID-19 vaccines are effective at providing individuals with protection from contracting the virus and reducing transmission - and a gradual building towards population immunity, which will take time."All vaccinations will be free.

In a statement on Thursday, Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta and Associate Foreign Affairs Minister Aupito William Sio announced that New Zealand is prepared to support its Pacific partners in accessing safe and effective vaccines against the virus.

Mahuta confirmed $75 million of Official Development Assistance had been earmarked to support Pacific and global vaccine access and roll-out.

New Zealand's approach will be to purchase enough vaccines to cover the Realm of New Zealand (Tokelau, Niue and the Cook Islands) and its Polynesian neighbours (Samoa, Tonga and Tuvalu) should their governments wish to take these up.

[aerius]

Total fucking shit show.
https://nationalpost.com/news/more-than ... d-of-virus

More than 400 COVID-19 cases at Amazon warehouses in Ontario amid concern over industrial spread of virus

With the daily number of cases staying high cross Canada, the limited amount of data released publicly suggests those workplaces are a significant source of COVID-19 spread
Author of the article:
Tom Blackwell
Publishing date:
Dec 18, 2020 • Last Updated 8 hours ago • 4 minute read

Amazon distribution facilities around Canada’s biggest airport have seen more than 400 COVID-19 cases, a source said Thursday, as concern mounts about the virus’s spread in industrial workplaces that face few government restrictions.

Many municipalities in Ontario are now under sweeping lockdowns to try to curb the pandemic’s second wave, banning most in-person shopping and restaurant dining. Similar rules have been imposed in many other provinces, too.

But they tend not to affect factories, food-processing facilities and distribution centres feeding the surge in online retailing, generally considered essential industries.

And yet, with the daily number of cases remaining high cross Canada, the limited amount of data released publicly suggests those workplaces are a significant source of COVID-19 spread.
Advertisement
Article content continued

The two Amazon “fulfillment centres” in Brampton, Ont., one in nearby Caledon and one in Mississauga — all close to busy Toronto Pearson International Airport — have had a combined total of about 400 cases, said a source familiar with the data.

The region’s public-health department does not identify the specific location of outbreaks, although five of the top six workplace outbreaks of COVID it lists were at “distribution centres.”

Amazon officials could not be reached for comment.

According to an analysis by the union-led Ontario Health Coalition, the number of cases in the manufacturing sector in that province soared by 76 per cent over a recent two-week period.

In Alberta, businesses with “large congregant” facilities, most not affected by that province’s COVID restrictions, account for 25 of 64 current outbreaks there, according to journalistNora Loreto.

Those kind of workplaces are far from the sole source of coronavirus spread, with long-term care facilities, for instance, accounting for many more cases. And no one suggests the industrial plants be shut down entirely.

But they’ve been given too little attention in the pandemic fight, argues Patrick Brown, Brampton’s mayor and a former provincial Conservative leader.

“It has been overlooked, and intentionally so,” he said. “I’ve been told by senior officials in the federal government and the provincial government ‘Oh, we could never shut down those sectors. There wouldn’t be food in the grocery stores across Canada, or there wouldn’t be medical supplies that come in from the U.S.’
Advertisement
Article content continued

“Canada’s supply chain is dependent on these essential workers in Peel Region,” he said. “But we’re not giving them the support they deserve.”

Peel, which includes Brampton, is one of the epicentres of COVID-19 spread in Canada, with a rate of 2,067 cases per 100,000 population, easily the highest in Ontario. Brampton accounts for almost two-thirds of infections in the region.

Most of Peel’s workplace outbreaks have been in food processing, transportation and logistics facilities, Peel public-health department data indicate. Close to Pearson and the 401 expressway, four of nine jobs depend on “goods movement,” according to a 2017 report.

Brown said he can’t reveal the names of businesses affected, citing Peel public health policy.

With multi-generational families in many of Brampton’s homes, the chance for transmission from warehouse to the community is high, said Brown. Meanwhile, the city has not had a single case tied to a restaurant, the mayor said.

Brown called for a number of measures to address the outbreaks. Brampton needs government help to set up an isolation centre, basically a hotel that can house people who have nowhere to quarantine safely after testing positive for COVID; there should be more Labour Ministry inspections of plants to ensure they’re keeping employees safe; and workers need better access to sick days so they’re not coming to work ill, he said.

The Brampton-based Warehouse Workers Centre — a Canadian Union of Postal Workers offshoot — has called for similar action, as well as more testing of industrial workers.
Advertisement
Article content continued

While many retail businesses have been closed entirely, the industrial workplaces allowed to stay open are given little guidance on how to curb the pandemic, said Natalie Mehra, executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition. The result is a patchwork, some employers being responsible in their safeguards, others not, she said.

“We have a kind of half-shutdown in which there is still a huge amount of person-to-person contact and huge spread of the virus,” said Mehra. “And it’s going to be prolonged.”

Shifting Canadians’ shopping behaviour increasingly online may not be the safe option it appears to be, argues Dan Kelly of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, whose members include many restaurants and stores forced to close.

“One of the things I worry about is: Are we closing off the wrong end of retail?” said Kelly.

But part of the trouble is a lack of detailed, public data to determine what are the most likely sources of COVID-19 spread.

Ontario’s statistics on outbreaks — often defined as two or more cases originating from a single source — are one example. They indicate outbreaks at nursing homes have produced by far the largest number of cases, with seniors’ residents being next highest.

But almost as numerous as those at retirement homes were outbreak cases associated with what are called “other types of workplaces.” That means “offices as well as warehousing, shipping and distribution, construction, etc.,” says Public Health Ontario, without further elaboration.

Less opaque information is crucial to informing the public and getting the pandemic under control, said Mehra.

“The state of reporting is actually shockingly bad,” she said. “People need to know how the virus is spread and where it’s being spread … and that just is not happening.”

So we've got over 400 covid cases in Amazon's distribution centres, and that's just in my area. All those infected workers contaminating the shit out of everything around them including all the packages they're shipping out to customers. I would not be surprised if this is one of the reasons our infection rate took off right around the start of Christmas shopping season. And of course the municipal and provincial governments do nothing even though they know about this shit. No safety inspections, no shutdowns, nothing. Because apparently, online shopping is an essential service like processing and distributing food so that we don't starve.

I don't even know where to begin, but I'm gonna stop right here before I say something regrettable.

[Solauren]

You know, in Ontario, Doug Ford actually looked good at the start of all this.

But, no now, and not for a while. It's like, he made a series of good decisions (initial actions), followed by a series of bad decision (reopening to the level we did. Sending kids back to school when he's keeping as many Provincial government employees home, etc), and is/has been unable to make take back his bad decisions and make good decisions, because that would be admitting he fucked up.

Well, I guess our next Provincial Government is going to be the N.D.P. I can't see the Liberals getting back into power next election, and I can't see Doug Ford's PCS getting re-elected. So, that leaves the N.D.P.

Great...

[aerius]

You know, in Ontario, Doug Ford actually looked good at the start of all this.

I'd disagree. Ford was a complete fuck-up from the very beginning and he continues to fuck shit up hard. We had our first case of covid back in January and a steady import of infections for nearly 2 months before he did anything. There were no mandatory quarantines for infected people, no tracing or anything for the people they came in contact with, no screening or anything at airports or ports of entry, we just kept letting infected people in and allowed them to roam around and spread the virus everywhere for nearly 2 months.

And when we finally locked down in March, we left all the nursing homes and long term care facilities to operate as normal and share their workers and support staff across multiple locations which seeded the virus into damn near every location in Ontario, resulting in 2/3 of our total deaths. We still haven't fixed that by the way, and 1/4 of our facilities have ongoing outbreaks.

There are still no mandatory quarantines for covid patients, you can still test positive and infect everyone at the local Walmart while doing your Christmas shopping. We still have kids in schools infecting the shit out of everyone, and now it turns out that Amazon is an outbreak zone and sending special gift packages to everyone just in time for Christmas.

It's like everything that we, as citizens have done and sacrificed to try and get this under control has been completely undone and then some by our government's policies. So, again, fuck him.