Ontario is moving schools online for at least two weeks, temporarily closing indoor dining and gyms and pausing non-urgent medical procedures as it faces record-high case counts that, according to public health officials, threaten to overwhelm the province's health-care system.

Premier Doug Ford announced the changes at a morning news conference Monday. He was joined by his ministers of health, education and finance, as well Ontario's chief medical officer of health and the CEO of Ontario Health.

France detects new COVID-19 variant 'IHU', more infectious than Omicron.
The new variant — B.1.640.2 — which has been detected in 12 patients near Marseille, contains 46 mutations, making it more resistant to vaccines and infectious

This site tells me no. Global death rate seems pretty consistent over the years. Wasn't COVID supposed to be decimating our population? I'm just surfing on my phone so if someone can find a better site that offers something different, please add it. Just kinda thinking out loud here.

https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/WLD/world/death-rate

Edit: seems that previous link was a projection so that's not relevant.

This one seems to be a Canadian stat for 2020, but also protection. https://www.statista.com/statistics/434353/death-rate-for-all-causes-in-canada/

Best I could find was WHO estimate of excess mortality in 2020 of 3 million (actual 1.8 million reported). So we're talking about ~0.03% excess mortality.

Omicron was in Nova Scotia wastewater before it was identified in South Africa
'Our team detected Omicron, retrospectively, in Nova Scotia wastewater in mid-November,' Dalhousie researchers say

ER is definitely a gong show full of people looking to get PCR tests. Come on people, gtfo!

As far as offload delay, it's not too bad here in Toronto.
Scarborough was having a tough time about a month ago because they launched a new software that people were acclimatizing to. But otherwise, not bad.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-quebec-to-impose-tax-on-unvaccinated/

Quebec will impose a tax on those who aren’t vaccinated against COVID-19 to offset their disproportionate cost to the health care system and encourage more people to get their shots.

Premier François Legault pointed to the makeup of intensive-care hospitalizations in Quebec as the driver for the levy. Unvaccinated Quebeckers make up just 10 per cent of the province’s adult population but comprise about half of those admitted to ICU with the disease, he said.

“It’s a question of equity,” he said. “Right now, these people put a very important burden on our health care network. I think it’s normal that the majority of the population are asking that there be a consequence.”

Compounds in cannabis can prevent infection from the virus that causes Covid-19 by blocking its entry into cells, according to a study published this week by researchers affiliated with Oregon State University. A report on the research, “Cannabinoids Block Cellular Entry of SARS-CoV-2 and the Emerging Variants,” was published online on Monday by the Journal of Natural Products.

The researchers found that two cannabinoid acids commonly found in hemp varietals of cannabis, cannabigerolic acid, or CBGA, and cannabidiolic acid, also known as CBDA, can bind to the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. By binding to the spike protein, the compounds can prevent the virus from entering cells and causing infection, potentially offering new avenues to prevent and treat the disease.

It's Friday!!! Puff, Puff, don't pass.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ajherringto...sh=2b0ae7241753

I ran down a few rabbit holes lately, and ... haven't found solid evidence to go one way or the other....

a) If someone was PCR = positive, how long after infection would they continue to show positive in PCR tests? I'm reading 'up to 3 mths', which confuses me since ... How would people TRAVEL? (i.e. negative covid test to fly, etc.)

b) How soon is too soon, to get a PCR test, should you come in contact with a confirmed positive case? (I'm just hearing shit like 'PCR test is very sensitive, hence a) above, etc. etc. etc.')

Meanwhile, we're pretty much getting daily updates from pre-school about confirmed positive cases, etc.. (Whether it's PCR or other, no clue.) And we're about to put the toddler back tomorrow.

Alot of restaurants claim lockdowns killing them but we're already on a downhill before the pandemic. Tell me how some restaurants are making even more now because they changed their business model. If they haven't adapted by now they probably should have cut their losses a year ago. It's a pandemic. Alot of people are going to eat out anymore, lockdown or not.

This is probably true to some extent. Some restaurants have been able to take advantage of the pandemic by reducing their employees, going down to a skeleton crew, and moving entirely to pick-up / delivery. Good for them, if we accept that dining out and the whole hospitality experience has marginal value. That'll depend on the type of business you're running. So yeah, there were a lot of small businesses in trouble before the pandemic, and covid put the reality check on them. Guess what else was happening before the pandemic? Hospitals being overwhelmed. LOL. Google that shit. Basically every year. Chicken little.