'Convincing' evidence suggests cloth masks may help reduce COVID-19 transmission
'Convincing' evidence suggests cloth masks may help reduce COVID-19 transmission
German government takes controls at Lufthansa with bailout
The largest aviation rescue in Europe is going to have to be approved by Brussels.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/25/german-government-agrees-to-lufthansa-bailout-279392
Europe’s elite skewered for lockdown double standards
British government aide Dominic Cummings is not the only one feeling the heat for lockdown indiscretions.
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/25/europe-elite-lockdown-coronavirus-279215
Experts Knew a Pandemic Was Coming. Here’s What They’re Worried About Next.
Nine disasters we still aren’t ready for.
Little late!
Airbnb hosts are planning to sell off their properties because of the pandemic
Kenny Loggins performs 'Footloose' at an empty Hollywood Bowl to raise money for Covid-19 relief
China’s ‘Bat Woman’ Warns Coronavirus Is Just Tip of the Iceberg
Dr Bonnie Henry's approach is to try and prevent a second wave, and that seems to be the most responsible thing to do, eh!
Stanford coronavirus research: Did politically-motivated scientists hype their speedy study?
Fastidious research standards may seem a luxury during a global pandemic — but they're more important now than ever, say scientists
Dr Bonnie Henry is pleased with BCer's Covid-19 response, and shared the huge demand for camping in BC for BCers only at BC Parks this summer. There was such a demand for the campsites today, Parks BC Website was down at times, as close to 50,000 people tried to log-in today. It shows how much people like being in nature.
I used to book campsites when my kids were younger at Rathtrevor Park. I would go on-line the morning the three month window started for the days I wanted because if you didn't you were SOL. That was twenty years ago so it is no surprise that they crashed the phones this year when we've all been indoors too much. I am looking forward to getting back on my favourite beach when the sun shines again, it was closed until the 15th.
There goes the housing market at least for rentals but probably for buying and selling as well
In the Lower Mainland two bedroom apartment has dropped 15% in rent
Rentals.ca
Virus Hunters Seek To Solve The Mystery Of Coronavirus Origins
It pays to be healthy
Italy says 96% of virus fatalities suffered from other illnesses
Canadian researcher creates virus early warning system
Pandemics will come again in shrinking world
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/health/canadian-researcher-creates-virus-early-warning-system/1853536
Infection rates in Norway 'too low' to justify broad testing
https://www.thelocal.no/20200525/infection-rates-in-norway-too-low-to-justify-broad-testing
COVIDI9: Higher prices at the grocery store are here to stay
Meanwhile, Canadians are spending less on food overall by cooking at home more and visiting restaurants less frequently, analyst says
https://www.straight.com/food/covidi9-higher-prices-at-grocery-store-are-here-to-stay
Booze on the Beach: As Vancouver Eyes Looser Rules, an Expert Warns of Risks
Vancouver council considering push to allow alcohol in parks, but addictions expert warns of downside.
https://thetyee.ca/News/2020/05/26/Risks-Of-Booze-At-Vancouver-Beaches/
Man arrested following another anti-Asian racist attack in Vancouver
COVID19: New survey finds that majority of Canadians believe euthanizing farm animals should be illegal
Millennials felt less strongly about "farmgate waste" than Baby Boomers, according to the national survey
One Vietnamese returning from Russia becomes latest COVID-19 case in Vietnam
A Vietnamese returning from Russia on a flight on May 13 tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 on May 26, becoming the 327th COVID-19 patient in Vietnam as of 6pm on May 26, according to the National Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control.
WHO warns there could be a second peak, not a second wave
The World Health Organization is warning of a second peak – not necessarily a second wave – of coronavirus cases.
During a media briefing on Monday, Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, said right now, we are “right in the middle of the first wave, globally."
“We're still very much in a phase where the disease is actually on the way up," he added.
“We need to be also cognizant of the fact that the disease can jump up at any time. We cannot make assumptions that just because the disease is on the way down now that it's going to keep going down, and the way to get a number of months to get ready for a second wave – we may get a second peak in this way,” Ryan said.
Ryan warned that a second peak or wave could come during the normal influenza season, “which will greatly complicate things for disease control.”
Maria Van Kerkhove, a WHO infectious disease epidemiologist, said “all countries need to remain on high alert here. All countries need to be ready to rapidly detect cases, even countries that have had success in suppression. … Even countries that have seen a decline in cases must remain ready.”
Van Kerkhove said if given the opportunity, the virus will start an outbreak.
“A hallmark of coronaviruses is its ability to amplify in certain settings, its ability to cause transmission – or super spreading events. And we are seeing in a number of situations in these closed settings. When the virus has an opportunity, it can transmit readily," she said.
Coronavirus live news: Putin says Russia past peak of outbreak despite highest daily death toll
WHO warns of second peak as global cases pass 5.5m; Irish taoiseach Leo Varadkar denies picnic with friends was rule breach; world health leaders urge green recovery
Are the Ontario and Quebec Governments not responsible for long-term care facilities in their respective provinces?
Do they not have proper inspections?
And if not, why not?
Boris Johnson approval rating plunges by 20 points in four days amid Dominic Cummings scandal
Approval ratings for Labour leader Keir Starmer nearly doubled overnight
How Hong Kong avoided a single coronavirus death in care homes
Care homes learnt a ‘painful lesson’ from SARS, and quickly sprung into action to make sure the same thing didn’t happen with Covid-19, as Laurel Chor reports
Spain to mourn virus victims for unprecedented 10-day period
Spain will be observing its longest mourning period in democratic times starting Wednesday to recognize the nearly 27,000 people who have died with the novel coronavirus in Spain
BC zero new deaths reported over past 24 hours.
South Korea Reports Biggest Jump in Virus Cases in Almost Two Months
Coronavirus: Plan to boost environment post-virus urged
Most Americans Haven’t Stopped Trusting Scientists
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/most-americans-havent-stopped-trusting-scientists/
BC's Chinese Community could well have been the catalyst for BC's Covid-19 shutdown, and thanks to them our numbers have been low comparatively speaking, eh!
I remember that period watching the stocking up on supplies, starting the wearing of masks, and the physical distancing etc.
Ian Young on How Local Chinese Communities Helped BC’s COVID-19 Fight
And more pandemic insights from an exceptional journalist.
“Cast your mind back to the distant days of January, when the Chinese communities in Richmond started masking up, staying home and avoiding busy places,” Ian Young tells me.
Oh boy. By that time, my relatives were already frantically sending me lists of local places that a rumoured virus carrier had visited. My Chinese landlord in Vancouver knew my dad worked in health care and asked me to help him order boxes of masks. A Chinese friend, from Hong Kong, wanted to wear a mask on a Vancouver bus but was scared about what others might think.
But few other British Columbians were worried about COVID-19. This was before the ubiquity of physical distancing, before the mad rush to stock up on personal products. Dr. Bonnie Henry wasn’t yet a household name. Media were busy reporting on events unfolding in Wet’suwet’en territory.
Among local Chinese, however, it was a different story. Young, a Vancouver-based correspondent for Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post, was watching closely.
https://thetyee.ca/News/2020/05/28/Ian-Young-Local-Chinese-Communities/
Why Can’t Your Pharmacist Prescribe Basic Drugs?
Advocates say the pandemic should have brought an expanded role for pharmacists in the health-care system.
https://thetyee.ca/News/2020/05/27/Pharmacist-Basic-Drug-Prescriptions/
Why ‘Wuhan Diary’ Triggers China’s Rulers
Fang Fang’s book is closely-observed life under lockdown. It’s also an explosive demand for justice.
To Beat Covid-19, You Have to Know How A Virus Moves
As public spaces reopen, scientists are racing to understand the mysterious and turbulent way the disease spreads through air—from person to person, and place to place.
https://www.wired.com/story/to-beat-covid-19-you-have-to-know-how-a-virus-moves/
Ethics Complaint Filed to Force Trump's Covid-19 Vaccine Czar—a Former Pharma Exec—to Submit to Ethics Rules
"Trump has put a pharmaceutical executive in charge of handing out the government contracts for coronavirus vaccine development. How could this possibly go wrong?"
'Grotesque': While 41 Million People Lost Jobs Due to Covid-19, US Billionaires Grew Nearly $500 Billion Richer
"Billionaire wealth is surging at the same time that millions face suffering, hardship, and loss of life. This is a grotesque indicator of the deep inequalities in U.S. society."
Why ‘Wuhan Diary’ Triggers China’s Rulers
Fang Fang’s book is closely-observed life under lockdown. It’s also an explosive demand for justice.
This article made a compelling case for not reading the book being reviewed.
"Fang Fang seems like the kind of neighbour you’d love to have: good-hearted, smart, informed, full of gossip and very opinionated."
"Beijing critiqued right back, with a series of attacks on her in the English-language Global Times that intensified when her diary appeared in English."
I also read the linked to article. I do not know what Beijing has to do with anything reported in it. Here is a quote.
Li wrote about overwhelmed patients and bed shortages in the early days in the first article, and about how everything gradually returned to normal in the second. She also thanked people who had helped her, including doctors and nurses, community workers and netizens who passed on her story and tried to find a bed for her mother. Fang Fang was not among those thanked.
Some 20 days later on May 11, before International Nurses Day, Fang Fang reposted Li's first article and commented that Wuhan residents' struggles and ordinary people's mutual assistance should be memorialized. But Li was not happy that only part of her story had been published, saying that causes a biased narrative. She wrote, "Do not use our experiences as weapons (to attack others), that is the biggest disrespect to the sick and their families."
Li also re-edited the two articles into one long article to give a balanced portrayal of what happened. But she was then attacked by Fang Fang's followers who said she was ungrateful. Netizens who did not know the ins and outs of the situation were now set against Li. The conflict between Fang Fang and Li was thus replaced by conflict between Li and many netizens.
Director appointed to oversee COVID-19 response at B.C. long-term care home after 22 deaths
https://globalnews.ca/news/6998110/fraser-health-langley-lodge-covid-fight/
Dr Bonnie and the BC Government must be under huge pressure to open everything up.
COVID-19: B.C. considering plan to self-isolate NHL teams in bid to match Alberta
Vancouver proclaims May 29 to be a Day of Action Against Racism
Brazil’s Bolsonaro could soon be toppled, analysts say, as coronavirus cases surge
Coronavirus will set women’s progress back decades – but lack of pay data makes it hard to get full picture
‘The way companies respond to the Covid-19 pandemic could result in a step backwards in achieving equal pay within the workforce’, advocacy group Equality Now tells Maya Oppenheim
Dr Bonnie and the BC Government must be under huge pressure to open everything up.
COVID-19: B.C. considering plan to self-isolate NHL teams in bid to match Alberta
This quote is from the article.
League officials have made clear that a strict two-week quarantine would make Vancouver, Toronto and Edmonton ineligible in their bids to to become one of two hub sites for 12-team conference playdowns this summer, because the league does not believe players should be confined to their hotel rooms for such a long period of time.
I guess I was mistaken that players on teams during a Stanley Cup run are under very strict rules and depending on who their Coach and GM are that can mean a virtual quarantine on the road and nothing but rink time when at home.
Of course if we can build pipelines using supersized man camps WTF difference do a few hockey players make? I am more likely to encounter the virus from a worker flying in on his time off than any group that is isolating as a group and then leaving BC. They can always self isolate for 14 days afterwards if they want to enjoy our province to the extent that others are allowed to.
Canada a series of 'regional epidemics,' top doctor says as provinces hit snags
Spike in South Korea virus cases shows perils of reopening
https://komonews.com/news/coronavirus/spike-in-south-korea-virus-cases-shows-perils-of-reopening
New Brunswick's situation is tragic but what do you expect when you try to defy science
Doctor linked to Campbellton COVID-19 cases suspended, 2 patients in ICU
So how's that raw, raw capitalism working out for you now Trudeau!
Nationalize the airlines.
And give the people back their money.
Canadian airlines could 'fail' if forced to refund passengers, says transport minister
Passengers argue they're the ones giving interest-free loans to the airline industry
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/transport-minister-airlines-survival-versus-refunds-1.5590392