How safe do you feel in your area (covid safe)?

[stevenanto]

With the cases going up in across globe and even here in Canada I would like to start a discussion on how safe you feel in your area. 

Im from the province of Quebec and we are about to go in a more serious lockdown than before. right now all restaurants have been closed for dine in, gyms and other recreational activities have been shut down. Stores like costco and walmart can only sell essential items like food. We can't buy clothes or boots. Our premier will be making an announcement sometime today about the even stricter rules. 

I know Ontario is in pretty much the same boat with some differences. 

That being said I feel pretty safe in my area 8/10 because yes there are quite a few cases in my area but we are careful when we go out to stores. Although I do find that costco is cleaner and more attentive to cleanliness than others. 

[will13am]

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@stevenanto wrote:

@popping I am on the same page as you. I remember Trudeau and other leaders saying last march that it will be at least 18 months before we start to see the first vaccines starting to rollout. I find that this is pretty fast and not comfortable with it as well. There is a lot flipping and flopping, something is not right. 

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To be fair to the drug makers and decision makers, minimum data is needed to support emergency use authorization.  Keep in mind that the current authorization is for emergency use.  In normal times, a lot more data would be required.  So as new data comes along, the authorizations need to be updated.  Looking at brighter side, the learnings from the covid vaccine development has likely accelerated future breakthroughs in cancer treatment by decades.  

[stevenanto]

@popping I am on the same page as you. I remember Trudeau and other leaders saying last march that it will be at least 18 months before we start to see the first vaccines starting to rollout. I find that this is pretty fast and not comfortable with it as well. There is a lot flipping and flopping, something is not right. 

[popping]

We are in the middle of a biggest medical experiment of our lifetime

Why? What experiment?

- The experts were saying that it will take at least 2 years to get the COVID vaccine.  A vaccine was approval in less than a year.  

- The experts told us to get the second dose 12 weeks after getting the first dose.

- Now, the experts told us that we can take the second dose after 4 months.

- When AstraZeneca was approved, the experts says that AstraZeneca is not suitable for age 65 and over.  Now, the experts are recommending for the age 65 and over.

If the vaccine is not ready, why the experts approved the vaccine one year ahead of normal vaccine development time frame?

Are we actually participating in the final phrase of the COVID-19 vaccine trial before after the vaccine approval?

I am glad that they developed more than 1 vaccine quickly.  I am wondering after watching what was going on since January.

[stevenanto]

I don’t know, every part of the world deals with things different and there’s always something that another country does better. But here in Quebec it’s a big joke, they just come up with new rules and regulations with no scientific backbone to their statements. 

There are even even clips in the early Covid days where a journalist asked three of the ministers about having a curfew and one of them went off by saying it’s the dumbest thing as people will be more active and crammed in the day hours and transmittting it more, fast forward to this January and he says the opposite haha. 

They also say that ventillators dont help, air purifiers in classrooms with 37 students won’t help, opening a window at minus 20 is the best option especially when we have temperatures of 17-18 degrees with windows closed. 

[will13am]

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@SparkleHeart82 wrote:

What kind of gong show leadership you have up there? Of course, with every briefing here, people seem more concerned with the election being canceled and getting ballots out as soon as possible. Seems like health and safety is on the back burner.

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I loathe to turn this into a political debate, honestly any political party trying to take advantage of the pandemic should be voted out of office.  As much as the US has been a $#*@ show with their handling of the pandemic, they sure are hitting it out of the park at the moment with vaccinations.  This country goes through mass vaccinations every flu season.  Why is it really that different to purchase and coordinate vaccination for covid?  

[SparkleHeart82]

What kind of gong show leadership you have up there? Of course, with every briefing here, people seem more concerned with the election being canceled and getting ballots out as soon as possible. Seems like health and safety is on the back burner.

[stevenanto]

Our media or government does t want to confirm what they said three days ago about the new variant. They said there might be 44 new cases of the variant in Montreal and awaiting confirmation lol. This is also the same time that our minster said it might be better to wear two masks, soon he’ll be telling us what trump said with Clorox. 

[SparkleHeart82]

@stevenanto  Not so fortunate now as we're on lockdown. They confirmed last night that the cluster of cases in NL this past week is the UK variant. Anxiety through the roof. 😰

[stevenanto]

@SparkleHeart82 Wow that is absolutely great to hear that they are closing schools. Here in Quebec we are doing quite the opposite, our schools have been open since the week after our holiday break. Our minister is also in the process of opening the college and universities. 

You are fortunate to be in NL.

[SparkleHeart82]

@stevenanto Cases are skyrocketing here. Schools are closing and businesses closed for contact tracing in the St. John's and Eastern Region. 53 confirmed cases and 32 presumptive positive. I am doing my own quarantine and only leaving the house for necessities. I expect to hear about more today. 

[SparkleHeart82]

I'm 5.5 hours away from St. John's but will not venture anywhere near there anytime soon. All high schools in that area have been closed until further notice. I expect to hear talk of more today when they have an update. Highest daily case since April. 

[stevenanto]

@SparkleHeart82 Wow that is a lot for NL standards. hopefully they gain control of it quickly to ring these numbers back down. I still cant believe how well NL is doing compared to other provinces. I would still like to be in city right now 

[SparkleHeart82]

Breaking news about community spread in Newfoundland linked to a restaurant, an outbreak at a school and the RCMP headquarters in the capital city. 11 cases in a day and over 500 in isolation right now. My anxiety is through the roof again. 😕

[stevenanto]

@Runs_on_Coffee we are allowed to walk the dog within 1km from house I believe during the curfew hours. Our schools are still more open than ever. Im a teacher and they are shutting down classes everyday. One class had 6 cases in the same week. wonderful. 

Ontario seems like they are doing a better job than quebec. 

[Runs_on_Coffee]

Well I can understand the curfew, I am so glad Ontario didn't adopt that.  Not that I even go after that much after 8pm, but I would hate the feeling of not being able to grab the mail if I needed to or walk the dog after the kids go to bed.  I feel for you.  I am just hoping that our schools can safely resume soon!

[stevenanto]

@Pawprints1986 you could not have said that any better!

[Pawprints1986]

@stevenanto that must have been so awful for them having to work almost a year on a knee that needs surgery 😕 yikes

My city is actually reporting a bit better last couple days. I'm sure it won't last cuz imo they've been reopening too soon and then it just all start again. I get they're worried about economy, but there's a pattern forming here. Economy can bounce back, but dead people can't 😕

[stevenanto]

@popping Yes i heard of that home. The fact of the matter is that the QC is definitely not willing to spend extra. They have said it many times that they are taking calculated risks. So Health care and teachers are taking the brunt of it. 

[stevenanto]

@darlicious Yeah its that bad here. It was pretty before covid, this just made it worse. 

Every province has its perks I guess. 

[popping]

We know at the early days of COVID-19 that the seniors 70 and over may die if those seniors get COVID-19.  But our governments did not target the long term care (LTC) homes.   After they found out LTC workers are working in more than one LTC facilities.  New governments rules do not allow LTC workers work in more than one facilities. 

I think our governments are doing it all wrong.  We should have quarantine all LTC workers to sleep and work in the LTC homes making each LTC home as an individual bubble.  If our governments is willing to pay the LTC workers an extra quarantine pay, LTC workers will stay in the LTC bubble.  There is a LTC home called Manoir Stanstead in Quebec.  The LTC workers in that facility formed a bubble since the beginning of COVID last year, this LTC home has zero COVID case ATM.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/staff-at-quebec-long-term-care-home-move-in-to-keep-covid-...

The cost of lockdown the whole country by federal government alone was $380 billion last year, never mind the cost to the provinces.  If our governments are willing to spend $1 - $2 billion or more to pay the LTC workers to stay and to work at the LTC bubble, the dead toll may not be as high as it is now.

Stay positive and test negative.  I wish everyone has a better and better days.  We will get through this together - but not too closely.

[darlicious]

@stevenanto 

Wow that's how backed up the elective surgeries are in Quebec?  I already knew BC had done a great job at scheduling surgeries almost around the clock but had no way to compare it until now. I had hip surgery scheduled on March 17th 2020. It was cancelled on March 16th. I was eventually rescheduled June 19th 2020.

After my 90 day check up I signed back up for my left and have about 6 more months to wait for that surgery. Its going to take years for Quebec to catch up from that kind of backlog unless they start taking drastic measures  immediately after they bend the curve and lessen the covid 19 burden on hospital capacity.

[stevenanto]

@Pawprints1986Hey it could be much worse. We could be in the states right now, it’s a total disaster there. I can’t believe that you cannot be compensated for having health issues which don’t allow you to work. It’s absolutely crazy. 

I have a neighbor who is nurse and she has a bad knee. She was scheduled for operation literally the week of March 15 right when Covid hit. They have stopped all non lifethreatening surgeries. She had to work throughout and could barely walk, doing double shifts it’s was only before Christmas that she was able to get off of work and now they have scheduled an operation for her. Tell me how that makes sense. 

[Pawprints1986]

@stevenanto nope, I'm home without work pay, I'm a cashier which is pretty impossible from home... But luckily I do still have external income support

Mostly everything delivered or curb side. As someone who already hated most shopping, I've grown to love curb side lol

I actually double masked the other day I had to go to the pharmacy, and to bring my work an updated note. It was legit hard to breathe (I struggle with breathing related health issues already) but I did feel as safe as possible. Thankfully only a few minutes each time. There's no way I could work like that for even 20 minutes. I haven't double masked in the past but we are a hot spot worse than the first wave right now... Very scary 

I'm really hoping places keep curb side even post covid. I find it difficult to navigate big stores in normal times with my health issues. In this way the world has become more accessible for those with limited mobility

[SparkleHeart82]

What sucks is that grocery stores in communities have stopped making deliveries for seniors and shut ins. When Newfoundland's Level 5 started, volunteers from local churches would deliver groceries, which was great for myself(having to travel an hour or so), and my parents who are both in their 70s and have health issues. I have bad anxiety and ocd, so when they stopped this service, I would have to do the shopping and that in itself was a challenge. It's only because the cases in here are so low that I am willing to venture out. I wouldn't venture through the door otherwise. I am also asthmatic so if I were to get COVID-19 I would probably be doomed. 

[stevenanto]

@Pawprints1986 Home is the best place to be for a person like you right now. 

Was it easy to stay home from work? Are they making you work from home? or did you have to take a leave at your own cost? 

Im guessing youre getting everything delivered to you or friends and family are doing a good chunk of your shopping

[Pawprints1986]

As someone high risk with compromised immunity, I only feel safe at home. My work is open but they won't be seeing me anytime soon, we're a hot spot right now in my city and I work with the public. To make things worse I can't get the vaccine for the same reason... So I'm worried about the vaccine causing covid to become much more invisible in others but still able to travel between people asymptomatic until it hits a vulnerable person and causes the same havoc as now... That's probably the scariest part is they don't even know that. And they won't. Without symptoms no one will get tested, so 0 contact tracing... 

Yeah, it's scary to be a vulnerable person right now. 

[ElizabethButt82]

That's ridiculous. Schools shouldn't even be open 😒 

[stevenanto]

@SparkleHeart82 I wish I was in Newfoudland right now. When i check the daily cases they are always in the single digits. QC on the other hand is a disaster but it looks like the numbers have calmed down. Our premier also mentionned that he doesnt like the rapid testing to be done in schools as they arent accurate. Lol this guys cracks me up everytime. 

They are good to use worldwide in hospitals, airports, other schools worldwide but no not in QC. What a joke. 

[SparkleHeart82]

Personally I don't believe that schools should be open. 

I'm not too bad here in Newfoundland. Only a handful of active cases but in saying that I don't go out unless it's essential (ie. Grocery shopping or anything else that is necessary). I don't want to get too comfortable.

I'm really concerned for my sister and brother in law who's in New Brunswick. The cases have risen substantially since Christmas. Thankfully they are not exactly social butterflies and take precautions all the time.

[stevenanto]

@Jovi Ait definitely is but with three kids under 4 years old they are usually in bed and wife and I are watching tv. We will see next week as schools open up and the cases rise.