Covid And The Rest of Us

[Karin1984]

Just wanted to offer concern in the ongoing protests.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/netherlands-coronavirus-curfew-protest-1.5885662

Eh yeah... That's Urk... Definitely not representative for the rest of the country (although there were more places where there were protests.). Urk is not exactly our Florida, but it is a very strange community within NL.
Urk is originally a fisher's village, 21k people, very religious and very closed-knit. Everyone knows everyone, people are born there and die there. Plus a very "us against the world"-vibe. The youth there is more often rebelling. People claim it is boredom and wantonness. But there are also plenty of stories that there is a lot of drug abuse.

You expect things to go wrong in Urk, you expect it in certain big cities, like Amsterdam and Eindhoven, but the more interesting that a small village in the south, one I had never even heard of was the center of rebelling.

 

[White Cat]

Eh yeah... That's Urk... Definitely not representative for the rest of the country (although there were more places where there were protests.). Urk is not exactly our Florida, but it is a very strange community within NL.
Urk is originally a fisher's village, 21k people, very religious and very closed-knit. Everyone knows everyone, people are born there and die there. Plus a very "us against the world"-vibe. The youth there is more often rebelling. People claim it is boredom and wantonness. But there are also plenty of stories that there is a lot of drug abuse.

You expect things to go wrong in Urk, you expect it in certain big cities, like Amsterdam and Eindhoven, but the more interesting that a small village in the south, one I had never even heard of was the center of rebelling.

What do you mean by Erk is not exactly our Florida?

 

[fab1976]

What do you mean by Erk is not exactly our Florida?

I’m going to say it’s a reference to Florida Man stories. Always something crazy reported as “a Florida man was found naked in a swamp living with crocodiles” for example.

 

[elphaba91]

Today, exactly one year after our first COVID case, the Pfizer vaccine has been approved for use in Australia! This is the full approval, not just an emergency approval, as has been the case in almost all other countries, so it has gone through an extremely thorough approvals process, the same as any other drug would. The vaccine won't actually be here until late February. We are also manufacturing the Oxford vaccine here too. This is obviously fantastic news not just for Australia, but also for our neighbouring countries; our Foreign Minister has already started working with Pacific nations to provide what assistance we can in administering the vaccines.

Initially we will start with 80,000 doses being administered per week and this should increase to up to a million once we are making our own. There aren't plans for 24 hour clinics at this time because we aren't in "crisis mode" and so the extra risks involved (presumably there is a higher risk of mistakes being made late at night?) aren't worth it.

It's now 19 days since Victoria's last locally acquired case and over a week for the whole country.

Edit: The wording of the original article was confusing; I believe they were actually referring to the Oxford vaccine being made here, not the Pfizer one.

 

[Karin1984]

So that was the first weekend of the curfew in NL. We have survived. A bit ;-) We made the world and mainly European news!
In general, it is a handful of people and 99,9% of the population is not rioting. But yeah... it was rough.

- Low point: People throwing rocks and fireworks at the police, and at a hospital
- Over 5.700 fees have been issued for people ignoring the curfew
- Over 300 people got arrested last night, youngest is 14, oldest is 56.
- In several cities shop keepers in the city center are barricading their shops to prepare for tonight.
- In several cities the majors have issued an emergency ordinance in certain areas of their cities. This means if you get arrested here, you have a bigger problem than when you are out during the curfew.
When you get a fee for not obeying the rules once, it doesn't get on your record. Unless it happens several time, then it will. Also during this time police has more opportunities, like preventive search on people or in cars etc.
- 2 people working for the vaccination centers have been arrested for selling personal data, they tried to sell it on Telegram.
- Also on Telegram, rioters are encouraging each other to go rioting and to bring molotov cocktails.

And in good news:
- Tomorrow we will start with vaccinating the 90+ group, who still live at home.
- Research in one of our provinces is that last year, people have used 50% less antibiotics than 2019. Probably due to the handwashing and social distancing.
- An NL board game company made 50% more profit than other years (They are in my town, I should see if they are hiring. The airline industry is not very sustainable ;-) )

And finally, my mom's neighbour did test positive for Covid as well, my mom luckily not

 

[Karin1984]

The riots are still ongoing, and more is expected for tonight. But a shocking message came just in: On social media there are messages going round to go to Efteling to riot. Efteling is our most well known Themepark, older than Disneyland Anaheim, and said to be an inspiration for Walt Disney. The park is closed, but there are people working on maintenance, refurbishment and some office staff. They were all send home.

This themepark is located in a small village where most people who live in the village work directly or indirectly for the park. It confirms that most rioters come from other cities and places to riot and loot.



Tomorrow there is a debate about the approach, and how to react nationally. Our minister of defense will be there in case they decide to use the army.
At a later point in time there will be a debate about the entire thing. At the moment politicians are pointing at each other. Some say certain politicians on both sides have instigated the riots on social media (not writing any more to prevent to be thrown off the Dis for being too political ;-) )

 

[TLSnell1981]

USA Covid cases per million: 76,018
Canada Covid cases per million: 19,399

USA Covid deaths per million: 1,268
Canada Covid deaths per million: 496

Yes, Canada has had much tougher restrictions but the USA has four times the amount of cases per million people and almost three times the amount of deaths per million.

I really think that the numbers speak for themselves.

Maybe. It depends on how they are counted and who’s tallying them up.

 

[BadPinkTink]

https://www.rte.ie/news/2021/0126/1192030-ireland-covid-latest/
Irish Government Extends Lockdown To March 5

The Irish Government has decided to extend the Level 5 restrictions until 5 March with a view to crushing the numbers of those contracting the disease and in turn the numbers needing hospitalisation and intensive care.

People travelling into the country without a negative Covid-19 test along with arrivals from Brazil and South Africa will face a mandatory quarantine period in a hotel of up to 14 days.

Speaking at a press conference this afternoon, the Prime Minister said the message for the next six weeks is very simple, stay at home, do not travel, do not make any journeys outside your 5km unless you absolutely have to.

All people arriving in the state are now legally required to quarantine for the first time.

The Deputy Prime Minister said some of this quarantining will be done in hotels, some in people's homes. But he conceded that parts of the new system would take several weeks to become operational.

Legislation will be needed to underpin the move to hold Irish and EU citizens without a negative Covid test in hotels.

It has also been confirmed that those returning from overseas to the State via Northern Ireland will be subject to the same legal requirements.

Fines for those outside the 5km travel limit who are intending to travel abroad will be increased from the current €100.

The increase has not been decided on yet but sources indicated it could rise to €500.

The Prime Minister said that the number of incoming travellers has "absolutely collapsed" and he said they have taken a number of decisions today to further suppress that number.

He said a very important point he wanted to make on travel is that the evidence so far shows that the majority of people travelling and coming back into the country are Irish citizens.

"Quite a number went on holiday during the Christmas period and are coming back," he said.

Additional Police are being deployed to ports and airports and he said those found going outside their 5km limit will be subject to increased fines.

"The road we are on is hard. The length of time we have had to live with restrictions makes it even harder but it is the road we must take together," The Prime Minister said.

Deputy Prime Minister said the reasons for extending restrictions until next month are "four fold".

He said it is firstly to reduce case numbers by 5 March; secondly to allow hospitals and ICUs and those who work in them time to recover from the current surge in capacity; thirdly to allow for the phased opening of schools across February and March; and finally to get the vaccine out to more people in the first quarter of this year.

He said the Government is bringing in "significant policy changes" to foreign travel so that anyone entering the State from overseas will be required to mandatory quarantine in a hotel or their home.

It is mandatory, not advisory.

The current travel regulations applicable to those who travel to Ireland from overseas also apply to those who route their journeys via Northern Ireland.

Passenger locator forms will be amended to require all incoming passengers including those going on to Northern Ireland to provide a place of residence and address on the form.

 

[Karin1984]

So, the last two nights it was quiet again in the Netherlands. The riots stopped, although there were some small incidents. People forgot that instigating a crime can get you up to 5 years in jail , and that everything on the internet can be traced. The past few days and the coming days/weeks people will be arrested. Some people who were rioting and arrested on those nights are already convicted to a few weeks in prison. We have a speedtrack in our justice system for cases like this. For the damage these people have done cars have been taken away, bank accounts emptied.



Also in todays news an article about which countries bought how many vaccines. And it claimed that Canada bought so many shots to vaccinate their population 5 times... Canadians, what's up with that?

 

[ronandannette]

So, the last two nights it was quiet again in the Netherlands. The riots stopped, although there were some small incidents. People forgot that instigating a crime can get you up to 5 years in jail , and that everything on the internet can be traced. The past few days and the coming days/weeks people will be arrested. Some people who were rioting and arrested on those nights are already convicted to a few weeks in prison. We have a speedtrack in our justice system for cases like this. For the damage these people have done cars have been taken away, bank accounts emptied.

Also in todays news an article about which countries bought how many vaccines. And it claimed that Canada bought so many shots to vaccinate their population 5 times... Canadians, what's up with that?

It's kind of a complicated story relating to a failed partnership with Chinese pharma to develop a vaccine of our own. When that burned down our government jumped on many of the promising vaccines that were in development at that time just to be sure we would have supply. Although details on what the plan is for the excess have not been announced, as of now there certainly is no excess as Pfizer has stopped our supply due to their own internal production issues. They're currently in breach of their agreements with Canada and if it wasn't for the Moderna contracts we doubled-down on, we'd have nothing right now. We also apparently have contracts in place with Astra-Zeneca and Johnson&Johnson for their products as soon as the approvals are in place.

ETA: This just in...apparently the EU is looking at imposing control on exports of the vaccines to other countries (including Canada) in order to ensure supply to the EU itself:
Trudeau doubles down on promise of vaccines for all Canadians by fall. Is that still a realistic target? (msn.com)

 

[Aladora]

Also in todays news an article about which countries bought how many vaccines. And it claimed that Canada bought so many shots to vaccinate their population 5 times... Canadians, what's up with that?

The last report I saw said that we had ordered 40M doses. The population of Canada in 2020 was around 38M, with over 30M of those being over the age of 16. Since everyone needs 2 doses of the vaccine, that means that we have secured enough for 20M people.

Edited to add: we have orders in for much more than the 40M but most of those are for vaccines that have yet to be approved by Health Canada, which is probably where the 5 times came from.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

The last report I saw said that we had ordered 40M doses. The population of Canada in 2020 was around 38M, with over 30M of those being over the age of 16. Since everyone needs 2 doses of the vaccine, that means that we have secured enough for 20M people.

That's not what I read. "Trudeau said that between April and June, Canada would have enough doses for 20 million people. Canada’s population is just over 38 million." That might be what you were reading. What I was reading is between Pfizer and Moderna Canada has a deal for a total of "80 million doses of their COVID-19 vaccines to be delivered this year." So if there is partnerships and/or options to buy/pre-purchases with other vaccine makers that might be where the additional amounts Karin is discussing.

 

[Aladora]

That's not what I read. "Trudeau said that between April and June, Canada would have enough doses for 20 million people. Canada’s population is just over 38 million." That might be what you were reading. What I was reading is between Pfizer and Moderna Canada has a deal for a total of "80 million doses of their COVID-19 vaccines to be delivered this year." So if there is partnerships and/or options to buy/pre-purchases with other vaccine makers that might be where the additional amounts Karin is discussing.

Sorry, I had edited my post to add that info about Canada ordering much more but most of those are for vaccines that have yet to be approved by Health Canada but you must not have seen the edit before you replied!

I assume what the thinking was is that the goverment ordered as many as possible from as many sources in the hopes that we could get enough *approved* vaccines for our entire population.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Sorry, I had edited my post to add that info about Canada ordering much more but most of those are for vaccines that have yet to be approved by Health Canada but you must not have seen the edit before you replied!

I assume what the thinking was is that the goverment ordered as many as possible from as many sources in the hopes that we could get enough *approved* vaccines for our entire population.

Yup I understand ordering more (it's at least a better position to be in ), looks like roughly you'd get all with just 2 companies. That should, if all goes well with those 2 companies, free up supply for the rest of the world should other manufacturers be approved. I believe J&J is really close at least for the U.S. That one is desperately needed here because it only requires 1 shot, it would be very useful for the homeless population (and those in shelters for other reasons) and even for the elderly who would and have had issues with technology getting just the 1 dose.

 

[ronandannette]

Sorry, I had edited my post to add that info about Canada ordering much more but most of those are for vaccines that have yet to be approved by Health Canada but you must not have seen the edit before you replied!

I assume what the thinking was is that the goverment ordered as many as possible from as many sources in the hopes that we could get enough *approved* vaccines for our entire population.

...and not a bad plan in light of what's now happening with Pfizer. If we do end up with a large surplus, it can always be donated to lesser-developed nations through the Covax consortium, to which Canada is a major contributor.

 

[elphaba91]

Sorry, I had edited my post to add that info about Canada ordering much more but most of those are for vaccines that have yet to be approved by Health Canada but you must not have seen the edit before you replied!

I assume what the thinking was is that the goverment ordered as many as possible from as many sources in the hopes that we could get enough *approved* vaccines for our entire population.

That is what Australia is doing too - not putting all our eggs in one basket! We have a population of about 25 million. We are getting 10 million doses of Pfizer, 50 million of Astra Zeneca (being made locally) and 50 million of Novavax. We have also then invested in COVAX through the WHO, which will allow us to purchase 25 million doses of the 9 vaccines on their list if needed and also included paying $80 million to assist lower income countries in accessing the vaccine. So technically we have enough doses for almost 3x our population. One of the vaccine candidates we invested in earlier (the University of Queensland/CSL) was cancelled (it unfortunately caused everyone to test positive to HIV even though they weren't) so I think it's a good strategy.

 

[ronandannette]

No Spring Break for You!! OK, I guess, but why then still allow flights to/from the US, UK, Europe and beyond?
Canada airlines agree to cancel all flights to warm destinations - PM Trudeau | National Post

 

[Jrb1979]

No Spring Break for You!! OK, I guess, but why then still allow flights to/from the US, UK, Europe and beyond?
Canada airlines agree to cancel all flights to warm destinations - PM Trudeau | National Post

They are hoping that the $2000 hotel cost upon return will stop that. Along with the mandatory test.

 

[Aladora]

They are hoping that the $2000 hotel cost upon return will stop that. Along with the mandatory test.

Along with the quarantine at a government facility for all positive tests for travelers and they are instituting tests at land borders for non-essential travelers. (finally!)

 

[ronandannette]

They are hoping that the $2000 hotel cost upon return will stop that. Along with the mandatory test.

I'm curious how that jibes with the current airport/border crossing pilot projects for rapid-testing and shortened quarantine? Those are Federal programs - have they revoked them? Also, here in Alberta people are provided with cost-free hotel quarantine arrangements if they do not have an approved quarantine plan in place. That's a provincial program available in Calgary, Edmonton and Peace River and not totally travel-related. Where are all these Club Feds going to be set up and how fast? Is awarding the contracts going to end similarly to the WE deal? All I'm looking for here is some coherent policy.