All things Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV)

[daftandbarmy]

Get the jab or get the boot. Some health workers are not happy, predictably and unbelievably:

B.C. health minister defends mandatory COVID-19 vaccines for health-care workers​

More than 90 per cent of physicians in the province have been fully vaccinated, according to Henry, while the Hospital Employees’ Union says more than 90 per cent of its members have been vaccinated.

Dix was repeatedly pressed on concerns the province or regions within the province would face labour shortages if health-care workers choose not to get vaccinated by the October deadlines.

“We don’t want to lose anybody,” he said. “But the reality of it is … [immunization] is essential in these times.”

Dix added “it’s not going to be easy, but we’ll be ready” without offering further details on the province’s plans to ensure it was not facing a shortage of health-care workers in the event people choose not to get vaccinated by the October deadlines.

B.C. health minister defends mandatory COVID-19 vaccines for health-care workers

B.C.’s health minister is defending a provincial order requiring all health-care workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by the end of next month amid surging cases brought on by the Delta variant.

www.timescolonist.com

 

[brihard]

I find my self on the angry crowd these days asking what the heck is our government doing when over 200 people have gone to the OCU in two weeks. At this point any restrictions will be too late.

Too late for sure. The die is cast. Within a couple weeks, Alberta’s likely gonna have to load ICU patients on air ambulances and hope BC has room to take them. Saskatchewan sure doesn’t. Alberta’s already transferring ICU patients within the province like Ontario was.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/red-deer-hospital-transfers-icu-covid-1.6176605

 

[daftandbarmy]

Too late for sure. The die is cast. Within a couple weeks, Alberta’s likely gonna have to load ICU patients on air ambulances and hope BC has room to take them. Saskatchewan sure doesn’t. Alberta’s already transferring ICU patients within the province like Ontario was.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/red-deer-hospital-transfers-icu-covid-1.6176605

BC should be putting up one of these signs on their eastern border soon....

 

[brihard]

Alberta presser is now on. Bashing this out in real time:

Kenney:

• I was wrong
• Government has declared a public health emergency
• Current trends are exceeding the worst case model of two weeks ago. Staffed ICU beds will run out soon.
• Thousands of surgeries cancelled.
• This is a crisis of the unvaccinated. 90% of ICU patients are unvaccinated.

-Unvaccinated (missed age range- 18-35? 40?) are now 50-60x more likely to land in ICU than vaccinated.

New restrictions:

• Continued mandatory masking and distancing in indoor public places
• Indoor gatherings for those vaccinated limited to ten people from two households

Individuals living alone allowed up to tw vaccinated close contacts

• No private indoor social gatherings for those unvaccinated (not professional services)
• Outdoor public gatherings limited to 200
• Places of worship limited to 1/3 capacity and mandatory masking
• In person faith group meetings can continue with masks and distancing
• Mandatory masking students grade 4 and up, and staff. Class cohosting is back.
• Youth sports limited to 1/3 spectators
• Mandatory work from home order unless physical presence required for operational requirements. Masks mandatory at workplace except when alone in cubicle or office, includes visitors, delivery etc.

September 20th adds:

• Indoor weddings and funerals capped at lesser of 50 people or half of fire code capacity
• Outdoor same limited to 200
• Liquor sales end at 2200, and consumption ends at 2300.
• All indoor restaurant/bar dining closed
• Max six at outdoor tables, no moving between tables.
• New business measures. Large venues (conferences concerts etc) restricted to 1/3 fire code with masks and distancing
• Retail, museums, libraries, theatres bingo halls, fitness, recreation, sports, yoga, martial arts, pools etc limited to 1/3 capacity.
• No group fitness, team practices etc
• Exercise indoors is basically one on one only
• Casinos 1/3 fire code, 2200/2300 purchase/consume liquor
• Heath professionals remain open in person

September 20th:

• Restrictions exemption program: Proof of immunization or proof of negative test in previous 72 hours will allow some services etc with no restriction except masking. (I think stuff like indoor dining and entertainment?)
• Businesses can choose to participate in restrictions exemption or not. (My note: It basically incentivizes vaccination and competitive business compliance.)
• QR code system coming.

Dr. Hinshaw:

• We’re in a crisis.
• Vaccines are key to protecting the healthcare system
• This wave is already worse than the PDT three
• Healthcare capacity has been increased but it’s not enough
• Hospitals cannot sustain care for all Albertans with the COVID rates seen.
• Delta is extremely infectious.
• Some fully vaxed are still sick and dying
• Third boosters coming for the high risk
• She made decisions with the best information she had and regrets a move to endemic transition as soon as they did. She updated her recommendations based on this.
• New restrictions are province wide. No regionality. Cases are high everywhere. Hospitalization rates in rural areas are ~3x Edmonton or Calgary
• No single sector is driving this. It’s close contacts. No choice but to impact areas where close contacts happen.
• The choice to be immunized saves lives.
• Mandatory isolation with symptoms or close contact saves lives.

Dr Yu (AHS)

• at 156% normal ICU capacity.
• 270 all in in ICU yesterday
• Reaching out to other provinces for ICU space and frontline staff who can come to Alberta
• Continuing to add crit care capacity
• Educating clinical teams on triage protocol
• 29% growth in COVID ICU cases in the past 7 days
• Triage = more ICU cases than capacity. If activated, provincial in scope and applicable everywhere. Not yet implemented; last resort.

I think that’s the bulk of it. What nobody said is that Alberta became the bad lesson everyone else is learning from. Alberta played chicken with Delta and lost. And now we wait and see what the political fallout and sundry stupidity will entail.

 

[Blackadder1916]

Dr Yu (AHS)

• Triage = more ICU cases than capacity. If activated, provincial in scope and applicable everywhere. Not yet implemented; last resort.

For those interested - Alberta protocol for Critical Care Triage during Pandemic or Disaster

https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/assets/about/scn/ahs-scn-cc-critical-care-triage-framework.pdf

edited to add - for those who won't wade through the 52 pages of the above document

FAQs https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/assets/about/scn/ahs-scn-cc-critical-care-triage-faq.pdf
Executive Summary https://www.albertahealthservices.c...cc-critical-care-triage-executive-summary.pdf

 

[Quirky]

No private indoor social gatherings for those unvaccinated (not professional services)

Good luck enforcing that.

 

[Infanteer]

I think that’s the bulk of it. What nobody said is that Alberta became the bad lesson everyone else is learning from. Alberta played chicken with Delta and lost.

Pretty much - compare the epidemiological curve for Alberta, where the West Ed Mall was a free for all, to Ontario, which had yet to open barbers.

 

[brihard]

Good luck enforcing that.

It’ll probably be enforced incidental to other things like noise complaints, disturbances, fights, etc. It becomes a tool in the toolbox.

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

Got my Emergency Alert on my cell phone about it.....come on Saturday.

 

[lenaitch]

Saw this on another forum. Interesting approach. Apparently the development of many vaccines and medications have their origins in cell lines that date back to a single fetus in 1973 (in The Netherlands, by a Canadian researcher). The 'provenance' of that fetus is apparently unknown:

Hospital staff must swear off Tylenol, Tums to get religious vaccine exemption

Explanation of the 'cell lines':

How fetal cells from the 1970s power medical innovation today

It is no secret that thousands of laboratories around the world use cells derived from a fetus that was aborted decades ago to develop vital medicines.

medicalxpress.com

 

[Remius]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/covid-alberta-deena-hinshaw-verna-yiu-1.6178262

Awesome. Send them to ontario…what an avoidable mess.

 

[MilEME09]

It's will be over a week before we see any downward trends, if any, by then our ICU will be at 100% of surve capacity. Hundreds will be dead by then, and that's if it isn't too late, if these new measures have no effect, or a delayed one it will only get worse.

Related note trying to access my health records on AHS's site is a nightmare, I'm #200,604 in line to go onto the website, estimated time I'll get to access them, 3:42am. How can a vaccine passport work if the site yo get them is down or soo backlogged it takes 8 hours to just get on the site.

 

[Quirky]

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/covid-alberta-deena-hinshaw-verna-yiu-1.6178262

Awesome. Send them to ontario…what an avoidable mess.

Completely avoidable if people got their shots, but Alberta is in the running with Florida for levels of stupidity.

 

[daftandbarmy]

Sorry 'Berta... we're full up:

B.C. says it can't take patients from Alberta's overwhelmed ICUs​

B.C. says it won't be able to take any of Alberta's extra intensive care unit patients at a time when that province's hospitals are buckling under the weight of patients who are critically ill with COVID-19.

Dr. Verna Yiu, president and CEO of Alberta Health Services (AHS) said Wednesday it will ask other provinces if they can take ICU patients who need care, or spare staff that can work in intensive care units.

In a statement, B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix said the ministry met with its Alberta counterparts Thursday. But B.C. can't take on Alberta patients now.

"Given the current demands on B.C.'s health-care system, we will not be able to assist with taking patients at this time," Dix said.

"However, we have told Alberta that if there are things we can do to support them, we will. And if we can take patients on in the future, we will.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-alberta-covid-reaction-1.6179099

 

[The Bread Guy]

Comparing Alberta to the neighbours in terms of fully-vaccinated percentages (source), just to throw one more data point in there ...

 

[Good2Golf]

I saw in some reports that Ontario had offered to take ICU cases, but that seems less visible in the media now. Is the offer still valid? I’m visiting in BC at the moment and there was no mention of Ontario’s offer here in BC’s local news.

 

[Remius]

I saw in some reports that Ontario had offered to take ICU cases, but that seems less visible in the media now. Is the offer still valid? I’m visiting in BC at the moment and there was no mention of Ontario’s offer here in BC’s local news.

CityNews

toronto.citynews.ca

 

[Remius]

Might get a few to rethink Wexit given no one out west can help.

 

[brihard]

Might get a few to rethink Wexit given no one out west can help.

I suspect those inclined towards Wexit are not going to have a great deal of overlap with those who take the pandemic particularly seriously. I doubt this will change many minds.

 

[The Bread Guy]

CityNews

toronto.citynews.ca

Might even be hearing a bit more on that around 1400E from Ontario's health minister. Struck out because they're announcing something unrelated to COVID.

So, far, I've only seen B.C. say no room at the inn.

Another look @ the vaccination #s (source) ...