Canada on track to surpass U.S. in number of COVID cases relative to population

[Dh8Classic]

Congratulations to people like Rockie who have been misleading you(as usual) on subjects such as the man-made global warming scam and how Canada was so much better than the US when it came to Covid.

As the US opens up while we shut down with all the economic devastation that goes along with it and the endless people with long term after affects of Covid(A third of COVID survivors suffer neurological or mental disorders: study), we can thank Justin Trudeau and those foolish enough to vote for him for the position we are in. Instead of spending his time telling us all how racist we are last summer, he could have been doing what many other countries without vaccination plants did.

Are you really going to vote for him again. The 17 people who died the other day in Ontario wont have a chance. The news today says that more people in Nova Scotia(and no doubt elsewhere) are dying of heart attacks because they are afraid to go to the hospital for early symptoms.

As we wait for the inevitable attempts to deflect by some by saying how terrible Trump is, it doesn't change how incompetent our federal government is. Something that was predicted before he was even elected the first time "Just Not Ready". And as far as I can tell, based on what I have seen here in Canada(witnessing parties and gatherings in weeks gone by), there are probably near as many Canadians acting in a risky manner as Americans.

Now Americans are being advised to avoid Canada. And we are #55 in the world for vaccination rate.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/c ... d=msedgntp

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-heal ... SKBN2BT2ZI


"In a reversal of earlier pandemic trends, Canada is on the verge of matching — perhaps surpassing — the United States in the number of COVID-19 cases relative to its population.

Updated data compiled from the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 dataset shows that the United States sits at roughly 196 COVID-19 cases per one million people, and Canada, as of Tuesday, was at 180 cases per one million people.

While this amounts to, in raw numbers, a difference of some 59 million cases, it’s a worrisome trend, experts say.

Anthony Dale, the president and CEO of the Ontario Hospital Association, said the United States has suffered “the biggest public health catastrophe in probably the modern Western world’s history.”

While the situation is improving south of the 49th because of a massive vaccination campaign, Canada is trending the opposite direction, yet we’re still feeling a bit of “Canadian exceptionalism” Dale said, even as we’re “probably about to surpass” the U.S. in terms of community spread.

“We’ve been somewhat blind to our overall performance internationally because we’re sitting right next door to the United States and the disaster that clearly was their experience during this pandemic,” Dale said. “They have clearly experienced much worse outcomes overall than Canada, make no mistake, however, it’s the future I’m worried about, and we’re trending in a worrisome direction in comparison to them when it comes to community spread.”


The figures come as Canada is solidly in the midst of a third wave of COVID, driven in part by deadly and contagious variants, and a vaccination rate lagging behind many other nations. As of Tuesday, around one-third of Americans have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, compared to 16 per cent in Canada.

When looking at the numbers of residents fully vaccinated, the rates are even starker: The U.S. has fully vaccinated roughly 19 per cent of the population, compared to 1.9 per cent of the population in Canada.

Noel Gibney, a professor emeritus in the faculty of medicine at the University of Alberta, said there’s little question we’ll pass the U.S. in COVID-19 cases on a population basis in the next few days, although the U.S. may catch up again as the variants take hold, even with the vaccination rates where they are.

“It certainly points out that any notion that we’ve been doing particularly well compared to the States doesn’t always hold true. I think we’ve managed the first and second waves better than they did. This one, I think we have really not covered ourselves in glory at all,” Gibney said.

In another blow to Canada’s psyche, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States, in an April 2 update, says Canada’s COVID-19 rate is “very high” — the highest level ranked — and urges Americans against travel to Canada, specifically citing the number of variant cases in the country.

“Because of the current situation in Canada, even fully vaccinated travelers may be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19 variants and should avoid all travel to Canada,” the CDC says.

In a more positive light, Canada outpaces the United States — and many other nations — on different metrics. As of March 27 — more recent data isn’t readily available — Canada had 62 people per million in hospital compared to 104 per million in the United States, 65 per million in the United Kingdom, 80 per million in Israel and 400 per million in France, according to European Union and other government data compiled by Our World in Data.

As well, Canada’s death rate is lower. In Canada, 0.91 people per million have died of COVID-19, according to April 6 data, compared to 2.34 per million in the United States, 0.5 per million in the United Kingdom and 3.96 per million France.

But cases, as Gibney pointed out, are a leading indicator, meaning that as COVID cases climb, hospitalization and deaths will also climb in the coming days and weeks.

The combination of increased case rates — including surging COVID-19 variant cases in some parts of the country — and the slow pace of the vaccine rollout has led to another round of lockdowns. Across the country, there have been more than 16,000 COVID-19 variant cases.

Alberta on Tuesday announced a return to public health restrictions, such as no indoor dining, no solo workouts at gyms, that were in place as the second wave spiralled out of control in December.

On Wednesday, Ontario announced a four-week stay-at-home order to control the virus’s spread and allow time for more people to get vaccinated.

[CpnCrunch]

man-made global warming scam

Oh, so your nice DH8 doesn't generate any CO2 when you spool it up? Amazing!

and how Canada was so much better than the US when it came to Covid.

Well, Canada has a total of 27000 cases per 1M, whereas the US has 95000. So looks like Canada did a hell of a lot better, even though the US has vaccine manufacturing capacity which Canada doesn't. How do you think they managed to do so badly. Here's a hint: it rhymes with Rump.

we shut down

Who's shutting down? I'm in BC and we have never had a lockdown.

On Wednesday, Ontario announced a four-week stay-at-home order to control the virus’s spread and allow time for more people to get vaccinated.

Ah yes, Ontario, run by noted scientist Doug Ford.

[digits_]

So to paraphrase, you blame to government for:
- too many lockdowns which were also too strict
and
- not doing enough to prevent covid spread

[Dh8Classic]

So to paraphrase, you blame to government for:
- too many lockdowns which were also too strict
and
- not doing enough to prevent covid spread

No,

Unfortunately you did not read very carefully(or are intentionally misleading). While other governments were ordering vaccines quickly, our federal government was doing something else, for whatever reason. Now people are dying and our third lockdown is expanding.

I guess one responder on this thread lives in B.C. which has by far the worst amount of the deadly P1 version and is unaware of shutdowns at places like Whistler(and other ski areas), and that tourism will likely wither again this summer, feels that things are reasonably good(perhaps retired).

The initial post had nothing mentioned about whether lockdowns are appropriate or not(although some might want to change the discussion to that for my predicted deflection), it is about the massive economic destruction, significant deaths, and potentially huge numbers of people with long haul symptoms due to our being 55th in vaccination due to complete incompetence in vaccine procurement, quite possible for planned feel good reasons.

[CpnCrunch]

While other governments were ordering vaccines quickly, our federal government was doing something else, for whatever reason.

Our government had signed contracts back in August:

https://www.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca/comm/aic- ... t-eng.html

If anything could be criticized it would be that it took so long for emergency approval compared to the UK. But the US was just as slow as us in approving.

I guess one responder on this thread lives in B.C. which has by far the worst amount of the deadly P1 version and is unaware of shutdowns at places like Whistler(and other ski areas), and that tourism will likely wither again this summer, feels that things are reasonably good(perhaps retired).

I'm well aware of those shutdowns, but really it's not a huge deal. Yes, there is no international tourism and little interprovincial tourism, but there is still a fair amount on within province tourism. The reason Whistler shut down is due to idiots having massive parties. If people just behaved sensibly then there wouldn't have been any need to shut down.

massive economic destruction

What massive economic destruction? Things are going very well, at least here in BC:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british- ... elms%2FCBC)-,New%20Statistics%20Canada%20numbers%20show%20British%20Columbia's%20economy%20is%20nearly,Force%20Survey%20for%20February%202021.

[CpnCrunch]

Here is some background on why our vaccination rate is so slow:

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/202 ... anada.html

and:

https://theconversation.com/the-roots-o ... des-154792

[North Shore]

The reason Whistler shut down is due to idiots having massive parties. If people just behaved sensibly then there wouldn't have been any need to shut down.

The spike in Whistler cases was primarily driven by employees of the mountain: the Brazilian variant was likely brought in by a tourist, and then spread to employees. Sadly, due to the real estate economics of Whistler, most employees in the service industries are crammed in together in whatever accommodations they can find (and still paying through the nose for it) - not the optimal conditions to prevent spread of Covid. This was compounded by (OK, this is hindsight..) BC's insistence on vaccinating by age group rather than risk factor. That is, a 22 year old bartender in Whistler working all hours to make rent has a way higher risk of catching Covid than a 55 year old accountant working from home, and conducting their business online. Yet, the accountant gets vaccinated first ...

[2R]

As if the Vancouver Canucks did not have enough problems , now they have to bench a lot of players due to positive tests .
The good news is the mRNA vaccines are showing promise in the fight against Cancers and HIV . Almost 97 percent effective against some viruses.
The big test will be if those Doctors can cure stupid . If you think the guys who made the little blue pills got rich , the guys who make the stupid fix will be super rich . The downside of it , may be the end of Internet forums . Take away “the stupid “ and what is left ?

I think it was very nice of the Americans to test all these experimental new drugs on themselves first . Truly the land of the Brave

[Dh8Classic]

While other governments were ordering vaccines quickly, our federal government was doing something else, for whatever reason.

Our government had signed contracts back in August:

https://www.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca/comm/aic- ... t-eng.html

If anything could be criticized it would be that it took so long for emergency approval compared to the UK. But the US was just as slow as us in approving.

I guess one responder on this thread lives in B.C. which has by far the worst amount of the deadly P1 version and is unaware of shutdowns at places like Whistler(and other ski areas), and that tourism will likely wither again this summer, feels that things are reasonably good(perhaps retired).

I'm well aware of those shutdowns, but really it's not a huge deal. Yes, there is no international tourism and little interprovincial tourism, but there is still a fair amount on within province tourism. The reason Whistler shut down is due to idiots having massive parties. If people just behaved sensibly then there wouldn't have been any need to shut down.

massive economic destruction

What massive economic destruction? Things are going very well, at least here in BC:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british- ... elms%2FCBC)-,New%20Statistics%20Canada%20numbers%20show%20British%20Columbia's%20economy%20is%20nearly,Force%20Survey%20for%20February%202021.

If you are so ignorant of the economic cost in this country, there is no point of further discussion with you.

[Dh8Classic]

Anybody wonder why the government signed mostly options with the big three vaccine manufacturers(the underlined part of the article). Take a guess. It is one thing to sign a contract back in August. It is another thing to sign an EFFECTIVE contract.



As the U.S. Vaccinates Millions for Covid-19, Most Canadians Are Still Waiting
Canada’s vaccine rollout has been among the slowest in major economies, and it is imposing fresh lockdowns as virus variants spread

The U.S. economy is opening up and Covid-19 vaccines are increasingly available. But its neighbor to the north has had one of the slowest vaccine rollouts among developed economies, and is now imposing new lockdowns to stem a surge in infections.

Canada’s lockdowns come as new, more contagious variants of the coronavirus have taken hold in the country. The rapid spread of the B.1.1.7 variant, first identified in the U.K., and P.1 variant, which originated in Brazil, has forced authorities in Canada’s biggest provinces to impose new stay-at-home orders and in some cases, shut down schools.

The country’s vaccine rollout, stymied by supply-chain problems and a lack of coordination at the federal and provincial levels, contrasts with its initial, aggressive response to securing doses earlier in the pandemic. Canada clinched deals with eight vaccine makers, the bulk of them completed before late last year, for access to as much as 404 million doses—the most doses per capita of any advanced economy.

But Canada has been slow to get those shots into people’s arms, and Canadians have watched with envy the progress in the U.S.

Data collected by the University of Oxford’s Our World in Data shows Canada had provided one or more doses to about 16% of its population as of Tuesday, whereas the U.S. had covered 32% of its population, the U.K. was at 47% and Israel had reached 61%.

As highly transmissible coronavirus variants sweep across the world, scientists are racing to understand why these new versions of the virus are spreading faster, and what this could mean for vaccine efforts. New research says the key may be the spike protein, which gives the coronavirus its unmistakable shape. Illustration: Nick Collingwood/WSJ
The Oxford data indicate Canada is on par with some countries in Europe in terms of how much of its population has received at least one vaccine dose. France had administered at least one dose to 14% of its population as of Tuesday, and Germany had reached 13% of its population.

The situation has prompted some Canadians to head south for a shot.

Andrew Sepielli, a philosophy professor at the University of Toronto, last week drove his family 190 miles southwest to Harborcreek Township in Pennsylvania to get the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine. Mr. Sepielli, a U.S. citizen with permanent resident status in Canada, and his wife, a dual citizen, received their doses last week at a Walmart pharmacy.

“I saw a lot of friends on Facebook in the U.S. posting their vaccine selfies, and I knew that once they had their two shots, they’d be able to go back to their regular lives,” he said.

Vaccines were delayed in Canada partly because of the deals that Canadian officials signed with drugmakers, which “appear to have relied on backloaded contracts, heavy on options to purchase that put Canada back in the queue,” said Mark Warner, a trade lawyer who practices in Canada and the U.S. and whose clients include pharmaceutical companies.

Through a spokeswoman, Canadian Procurement Minister Anita Anand said the government has been able to accelerate the vaccine-delivery timetable “as a result of our ongoing, aggressive negotiations with suppliers.”

For now, the dearth of vaccines has forced Canada into a targeted approach to immunization, which is leaving large portions of the country—such as low-income, essential workers in the Toronto region—vulnerable.

“We haven’t had the luxury of supply to vaccinate indiscriminately,” said Dr. Jeff Kwong, a professor of family medicine and public health at the University of Toronto.

The U.S., by contrast, hasn’t seen as large a spread of the variants possibly because more people there have some form of immunity, either through prior infection or because they have been vaccinated, he added.

Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, said a rapid rise in hospitalizations and admissions into intensive-care units is threatening to overwhelm the healthcare system. Health officials are now worried that Ontario hospitals are running short of drugs used to treat moderately to critically ill Covid-19 patients.

On Wednesday its government declared a state of emergency and issued a four-week stay-at-home order. Toronto, the largest city in Ontario and Canada, closed its schools, forcing over 300,000 students to shift to remote learning.

“We need to get the vaccines where they will have the greatest impact as quickly as possible,” said Ontario Premier Doug Ford. “This will be critical to get a third wave under control.”


Like in Europe, Canada’s slow pace of vaccination was partly due to supply-chain pressures and a decision by Pfizer Inc. in January to retool its vaccine factory in Belgium—with Canada sustaining a 70% cut to shipments for a four-week period that ended mid-February, deeper than most nations. Unlike the U.S. and Europe, Canada doesn’t manufacture the vaccines.

A Canadian official said the government focused on sourcing vaccines from Europe, not the U.S., in part due to the risk that the Trump administration might block the exports of doses. A year ago, the Trump administration initially blocked shipments of N95 masks to Canada and elsewhere, before relenting.

Canada—with a population of over 38 million, or about a ninth of the U.S.—received about nine million doses in the first three months of this year. Shipments are expected to accelerate in the second quarter and reach 44 million in the second quarter.

To bolster immediate supply, Canada tapped additional doses through the Covax global initiative. While intended to provide doses to lower-income countries, Covax allows wealthier countries that contribute, like Canada, to draw on doses “as a critical insurance policy.”

Canada has also been able to broaden its reach due to recommendations by officials to delay a second shot by up to four months.

Sylvanus Thompson, who is 67 years old, arrived early on Wednesday for his vaccination appointment at Toronto’s downtown convention center, which has been refitted into a mass vaccination clinic.

“I’m relieved,” he said after receiving his shot. “We’ve been much slower than the U.S., but we don’t make any vaccines.”

The slow rollout lays bare the gaps in Canada’s healthcare system, said Gary Manson, 68, who was also vaccinated in Toronto on Wednesday.

“It’s a great lesson for Canada,” he said. “We need to invest in the pharmaceuticals industry.”

Gregory Marchildon, a health-policy expert from the University of Toronto, said Canada’s rollout has also been hampered by its decentralized federation, in which the provinces have control over how and when vaccine doses are administered. A coherent approach requires all levels of government “to collaborate much more closely than has actually occurred,” he said.

[CpnCrunch]

Anybody wonder why the government signed mostly options with the big three vaccine manufacturers(the underlined part of the article). Take a guess. It is one thing to sign a contract back in August. It is another thing to sign an EFFECTIVE contract.

I don't think we need to guess. We are in a similar position to the EU, which has a similar % of their population vaccinated. Nothing to do with our government. You can't force a contract to buy something that doesn't exist. How many large contracts have you signed? Maybe you could do better than Canada and EU?

[Dh8Classic]

Anybody wonder why the government signed mostly options with the big three vaccine manufacturers(the underlined part of the article). Take a guess. It is one thing to sign a contract back in August. It is another thing to sign an EFFECTIVE contract.

I don't think we need to guess. We are in a similar position to the EU, which has a similar % of their population vaccinated. Nothing to do with our government. You can't force a contract to buy something that doesn't exist. How many large contracts have you signed? Maybe you could do better than Canada and EU?

I thinks so. Who wants to get anything from China to go in their body. Trudeau did. Is anyone surprised the Chinese government interfered to punish us for holding the daughter of the Hwawei executive. Only Trudeau and his supporters are surprised.

Once cut off by China, they desperately tried to exercise their options on the earlier contracts they signed, only to discover that we were in a long lineup. Here are some people who likely died because of that Chinese vaccine attempt. Sunny ways.

News article #1
"The province’s seven-day rolling average of new cases now stands at 2,862, compared to 2,207 a week ago.

Of the latest fatalities, one person was between 40 and 59 years old, four people were between 60 and 79 and three were 80 or older. No new fatalities were reported among long-term care home residents.

Today's fatalities mark the lowest reported since Mar. 22 when three people died with the virus"


News Article #2

OTTAWA -- A Canadian vaccine researcher says he believes that Chinese political machinations ended a vaccine partnership last summer.

Dr. Scott Halperin, the director of the Canadian Centre for Vaccinology, made the accusation Thursday to the Special Committee on Canada-China Relations.

The partnership was originally planned to be between China's CanSino Biologics and the Canadian Centre for Vaccinology at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia. CanSino had been given a licence by the National Research Council to use a Canadian biological product as part of a COVID-19 vaccine.

China blocked shipments it was supposed to send to Dalhousie researchers by the end of May 2020 to start human trials.

Halperin said he was initially told it was due to bureaucratic issues such as paperwork.

By August, he said, it became clear that the Chinese government had no desire for the vaccine to leave the country.

Halperin said he realized paperwork wasn't to blame after he discovered the vaccine had been given the green light to be shipped out of China to Russia, Pakistan, Mexico, Chile and Argentina -- all of which were countries researchers had planned to stage the third phase of the clinical trials in.

"It was clear that this was not ... that CanSino wasn't able to ship out of the country, but that it was specific to Canada," he said Thursday.

"That's when it became clear it was political and not something that was going to be solved by more paperwork."

CanSino Biologics did not immediately return a request for comment.

Halperin said CanSino officials repeatedly assured researchers that the issue would be sorted out, but the delays quickly led to the work researchers had done to become irrelevant.

"Up until that point the dates of scheduling them kept rolling back and back and back until finally the vaccine had to be shipped back from the airport to the company," he said.

Members of the special committee questioned Halpern over whether he knew that CanSino had connections to the Chinese government before the partnership started.

"I was aware that the founders had previously worked in Canada at Sanofi Pasteur and then had gone back to China to start that company," he said.

Halperin was also questioned over what CanSino gained from the partnership, such as access to Canadian research, without offering anything in return.

"For the Phase 1 study that ended up being cancelled, they gained nothing and we gained nothing because we were not able to generate any data from the planned study," he said.

"It just ended up being a waste of a lot of time on all parties."

[CpnCrunch]

I thinks so. Who wants to get anything from China to go in their body. Trudeau did. Is anyone surprised the Chinese government interfered to punish us for holding the daughter of the Hwawei executive. Only Trudeau and his supporters are surprised.

Once cut off by China, they desperately tried to exercise their options on the earlier contracts they signed, only to discover that we were in a long lineup. Here are some people who likely died because of that Chinese vaccine attempt. Sunny ways.

I doubt Trudeau or anyone else was surprised. Sometimes you just need to stand up to bullies and human rights abuses, otherwise you'll end up like Russia. China and Russia have no concept of justice or human rights. If you want to live in a country like that, feel free to leave. I'm staying here where we have human rights. I'm an immigrant BTW.

[pelmet]

I thinks so. Who wants to get anything from China to go in their body. Trudeau did. Is anyone surprised the Chinese government interfered to punish us for holding the daughter of the Hwawei executive. Only Trudeau and his supporters are surprised.

Once cut off by China, they desperately tried to exercise their options on the earlier contracts they signed, only to discover that we were in a long lineup. Here are some people who likely died because of that Chinese vaccine attempt. Sunny ways.

I doubt Trudeau or anyone else was surprised. Sometimes you just need to stand up to bullies and human rights abuses, otherwise you'll end up like Russia. China and Russia have no concept of justice or human rights. If you want to live in a country like that, feel free to leave. I'm staying here where we have human rights. I'm an immigrant BTW.

Pointless and irrelevant response.

[CpnCrunch]

Pointless and irrelevant response.

Pointless response to pointless question. The OP isn't really interested in the reasons why our vaccines are slow (which I've posted). He or she is only interested in a pointless and timewasting political rant.

[ant_321]

I miss when avcanada was for aviation related topics

[Dh8Classic]

Pointless and irrelevant response.

The OP isn't really interested in the reasons why our vaccines are slow (which I've posted).

In addition to the China stupidity for our slow rollout, I just found this interesting fact:

"The country hedged its bet by mostly going with companies funded by Operation Warp Speed, and so far its strategy has been to overbuy doses in the hopes of securing enough to vaccinate all of its citizens. A mounting critique, however, is that perhaps Canada should have been more specific than “first quarter of 2021” in terms of arranging vaccine-delivery timing. Picard said that Canada, by not giving manufacturers a specific week, or even day, allowed them to push delivery until the outer limit of the quarter."

Maybe Justin wasn't involved in the details. Afterall, he had important things to do last summer like taking the knee for all of us. Priorities.

[PostmasterGeneral]

YES!!!! Canada is finally #1 at something!

Take that Ross Rebagliati!!

[montado]

I miss when avcanada was for aviation related topics

I miss when I was allowed to go in public without a mask, and when I was allowed to visit family. I was told two weeks was all we needed and it’s been over a year

[Heliian]

No, no it's not. Not even close.

Canada, 1.05 million cases, population approx 36million. 2.8%

USA, 31 million cases, population approx 331 million. 9.4%


To reach todays levels of covid in the usa, we would need to rack up another 2.3 million cases while the usa would have to record zero cases for that time frame.


Just get the facts people, ignore the bullshitters.

[montado]

No, no it's not. Not even close.

Canada, 1.05 million cases, population approx 36million. 2.8%

USA, 31 million cases, population approx 331 million. 9.4%


To reach todays levels of covid in the usa, we would need to rack up another 2.3 million cases while the usa would have to record zero cases for that time frame.


Just get the facts people, ignore the bullshitters.

The article is talking about the daily count. So we are now for this first time ever on a daily basis doing worse than Americans. So far this pandemic America had always been worse.

This is what happens when politicians use fake measures and not science. All those people wearing snotty masks being told this is the way to health have been duped, it was never about health and always about politics. Amazing to see Texas coasting as normal while Canadians keep shouting about wearing masks and lockdowns and we are now hitting the highest daily case counts in Ontario ever.

Honestly who is still left to believe in these policies? How do people continue to trust our government? Mask harder everyone... stay home harder.

[CpnCrunch]

Amazing to see Texas coasting as normal while Canadians keep shouting about wearing masks and lockdowns and we are now hitting the highest daily case counts in Ontario ever.

Honestly who is still left to believe in these policies? How do people continue to trust our government? Mask harder everyone... stay home harder.

Texas had a mandatory mask mandate until a few weeks ago, and most businesses still require snotty masks. Really, it's not a big deal wearing a mask, but some people get really upset about it and cause major problems for service industry staff. I hope you're not one of those people.

[montado]

Amazing to see Texas coasting as normal while Canadians keep shouting about wearing masks and lockdowns and we are now hitting the highest daily case counts in Ontario ever.

Honestly who is still left to believe in these policies? How do people continue to trust our government? Mask harder everyone... stay home harder.

Texas had a mandatory mask mandate until a few weeks ago, and most businesses still require snotty masks. Really, it's not a big deal wearing a mask, but some people get really upset about it and cause major problems for service industry staff. I hope you're not one of those people.

How effective is mask policy, and what evidence would you use to support mandatory mask policy? Pretty sure dr. Tam laid out decades of mask research and why telling everyone to assume they are sick was a bad idea. You say wearing a mask is not a big deal? Are you kidding? Just search the internet for how big a deal it is. Hysterical people having planes diverted etc for the stupidity of mask policy. This is exactly what happens with you tell people they are grandma killers for not wearing masks. The pro maskers deliver their rage on people.

It’s not a big deal wearing a mask. It is a big deal to mandate masks s not logical, and is doing little to stop the spread. I’m happy for everyone to who wants to wear a mask to do so. Also happy for business to make them mandatory. Heck it was only a few years ago you were not allowed to wear hoods and masks in some businesses.

I think the stupidity has gone on long enough. Lift blanket idiotic policies and let people decide for themselves. It’s pathetic to see Ontario, one of the most restrictive places in the world with many policies like hotel quarantine and masks, hitting all time highs with covid cases. Obviously there’s more to this pandemic than the so called experts what us to believe.

[flyguy73]

Amazing to see Texas coasting as normal while Canadians keep shouting about wearing masks and lockdowns and we are now hitting the highest daily case counts in Ontario ever.

Honestly who is still left to believe in these policies? How do people continue to trust our government? Mask harder everyone... stay home harder.

Texas had a mandatory mask mandate until a few weeks ago, and most businesses still require snotty masks. Really, it's not a big deal wearing a mask, but some people get really upset about it and cause major problems for service industry staff. I hope you're not one of those people.

How effective is mask policy, and what evidence would you use to support mandatory mask policy? Pretty sure dr. Tam laid out decades of mask research and why telling everyone to assume they are sick was a bad idea. You say wearing a mask is not a big deal? Are you kidding? Just search the internet for how big a deal it is. Hysterical people having planes diverted etc for the stupidity of mask policy. This is exactly what happens with you tell people they are grandma killers for not wearing masks. The pro maskers deliver their rage on people.

It’s not a big deal wearing a mask. It is a big deal to mandate masks s not logical, and is doing little to stop the spread. I’m happy for everyone to who wants to wear a mask to do so. Also happy for business to make them mandatory. Heck it was only a few years ago you were not allowed to wear hoods and masks in some businesses.

I think the stupidity has gone on long enough. Lift blanket idiotic policies and let people decide for themselves. It’s pathetic to see Ontario, one of the most restrictive places in the world with many policies like hotel quarantine and masks, hitting all time highs with covid cases. Obviously there’s more to this pandemic than the so called experts what us to believe.

Since you're sure masks don't work, next time you have surgery, you should give the surgeon the option to not wear a mask. Since it doesn't work anyway, it's their choice, right?

[montado]

I can show you a study about surgical masks that was completed pre covid, and basically lays out that surgical masks don’t conclusively give any difference in results whether used or not.

The image you have of a surgeon is a man in a mask. Sometimes things are a certain way because of our perception and not because of science. Kind of like how your beef has colour added to make it appear fresh. Sometimes things are illusions, based in perception and not reality.

But entertaining your comment, do you not think there is a huge difference between being a medical situation in a surgery room, vs telling everyone who is asymptomatic to assume they are sick to stop the spread? It’s not that “masks don’t work” it’s that when used correctly masks can be a great tool.

Part of using masks correctly, starts with not assuming everyone has covid, this just leads to casual mask use where people don’t use the mask properly. People hang their masks on their rear view mirrors, they use for to long of duration before disposal or washing etc. Dr tam said in specific situations a masks makes sense. For example if you had covid symptoms and were going for a test it would make sense to wear a mask to that test. I think people are getting covid because they are wearing dirty masks and touching their faces, just like dr tam said would happen.

Anyways I don’t know why I have to try to convince people who believe in idiotic policies. As far as I’m concerned the debate is over. Mask policy has not been effective in Ontario, as a year in we still have knee jerk policy changes sometimes with less than 24 hours notice. Places like Texas just further show how little masks have to do with covid cases. Experts warned us that Texas was going to be devastated as mask policy came to an end. Do you really believe we will be on the right side of history... Canadians wore masks and saved lives? Yeah, right,.. masks will be right next to the covid alert app as useless policy that was made up based on fear and not science.

Mandatory Masks were never part of Canada’s pandemic plan, because all the science around masks pointed to it not being an effective way to stop the spread. Slowing the movement of people was part of the original plan, but then they told people wear a mask and go to work... notice all the movement of people and the related covid cases spreading?