Coronavirus: what Canadians need to know

Pondering wrote:

Aristotleded24 wrote:

Pondering wrote:

I agree. We already get proof of vaccination card or paper when we get any vaccination so if it is required for a specific type of employment it can be requested but it has to be justified, like someone working with a vulnerable population.

The issue of health professionals having to be vaccinated for the flu (which is the only situation where I can see the ethical argument for mandatory vaccinations) has already been decided in court in favour of the worker's right to refuse.

The flu and covid are not the same thing. The flu generally isn't asymptomatic so we can tell when someone is sick.  We have widespread vaccination for the flu that we know is effective and we know how frequently it must be given and that it is safe for the elderly.We aren't there yet for Covid. For Covid we know that when the vulnerable are infected it spreads like wildfire and kills in high numbers. No one should be permitted to work in a seniors care home. The residents have a right not to be exposed to a deadly virus.

Try understanding my post. I clearly said this is one case where I feel there is a solid ethical argument in favour of mandatory vaccination for health care workers. When the issue was brought up in court before, the court decided in favour of the worker's right to refuse vaccination. If this sets a precdent, health care workers may very easily have the right to refuse the vaccine for covid, especially given how new it is and the lack of information about it.

I'm really tired of seeing a virus that many people survive without presenting with symptoms of illness as "deadly." This is what I think of when I hear the term "deadly virus." There have been serious outbreaks, but none of them have been anywhere near that level.

https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/quebec-hotel-covid-patients_ca_5fde6...

“The situation is critical in some hospitals,” Dube told reporters during a virtual news conference. “We’ve had to prepare beds for COVID patients in what we call, non-traditional locations, because we lack beds in hospitals.”

“In Quebec City, we installed beds at Hotel Le Concorde,” he said, “we are even going to be forced to use the reception rooms.” 

COVID-related hospitalizations in Quebec have risen 50 per cent in the past three weeks, for a total of 1,011. The number of patients in intensive care rose by seven compared with Thursday, to 141.

Getting ready for January/February which will be brutal. 

Aristotleded24 wrote:

Here is an interveiw that I know many here are going to love:

Why Sweden is headed for disaster with Fredrik Elgh

I didn't get past the first couple of minutes. He doesn't seem to have anything new to say. I'm getting the feeling most of us are satisfied by the news we are getting from our local health professionals working in hospitals and care centres. We are 10 months in watching the numbers rise and fall and various restrictions occurring and being lifted then reimposed.  The vaccines will likely take all of 2021. This isn't a political or debatable issue for me. It is purely a health issue. 

NDPP wrote:

'It'll be alright' is what many victims said before they caught it. Be safe. Don't give/get the 'gift' of COVID with loved ones this holiday.

Instead, we can just keep avoiding them until they die of something else. Nobody knows with any certainty that they are going to be alive next Christmas. People need to discuss the risk with their families, and come to a decision that is right for them. For some families, that will be a Zoom call. For others, that will be an in-person gathering. Nobody has any business interefering with what is a very personal choice.

JKR wrote:

Aristotleded24 wrote:

NDPP wrote:

'It'll be alright' is what many victims said before they caught it. Be safe. Don't give/get the 'gift' of COVID with loved ones this holiday.

Instead, we can just keep avoiding them until they die of something else. Nobody knows with any certainty that they are going to be alive next Christmas. People need to discuss the risk with their families, and come to a decision that is right for them. For some families, that will be a Zoom call. For others, that will be an in-person gathering. Nobody has any business interefering with what is a very personal choice.

From what we've seen from around the world, governments have the right and responsibility to deal with Covid-19.

Then they should actually deal with covid 19. How people manage the risk in the context of their families  is a personal matter. Other than providing information and support, the government has absolutley no business restricting which family and friends people are allowed to visit. You can't go so overboard on stopping covid that you strip life of the very things that make being alive worthwhile. Family is a very important thing that people live for. It is so important that when it comes to elderly couples, when one partner dies the other is not that far behind. "We shouldn't visit grandpa this year because he might catch covid. Maybe next year," we say. Suppose you follow this advice, thinking you'll visit next Christmas, but he suddenly dies of a heart attack in the spring. Are you going to feel good knowing he spent his last Christmas without you? Maybe canceling the in-person visit meant that this grandpa never had a chance to hold his new grandchild. Are you that myopically foused on covid that you can't see anything else that is happening?

NDPP wrote:

COVID-19 hospitalizations, deaths worldwide reach record highs

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/12/24/covi-d24-1.html

"All over the world, the 2020 holiday season is dominated by the tragic reality that 1.7 million human beings, cut down by the coronavirus pandemic, will never again have the opportunity to visit and celebrate with loved ones..."

While we forget that, if recent years are any indication, similar numbers of people worldwide have died from tuberculosis and from diahhreoal diseases. But these maladies mostly affect the developing world so nodoby is going to pay any attention to them.

While we forget that, if recent years are any indication, similar numbers of people worldwide have died from tuberculosis and from diahhreoal diseases. But these maladies mostly affect the developing world so nodoby is going to pay any attention to them.

People are and have been paying attention to those diseases. Having said that most people are more concerned about threats in their own communities than threats elsewhere. 

NDPP wrote:

"One per thousand Americans have now died from COVID-19. How does that compare with 12 other select countries with > 20 million population?

https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1342991509814083584

Deaths Per Population: India - 1 per 9,365

                                                 Canada - 1 per 2,552

Who's the loser?

Why?

How much colder does it get in Canada during the winter as opposed to India?