Sources

Publications

https://springmag.ca/articles
https://www.spectator.co.uk
https://off-guardian.org
http://inproportion2.talkigy.com/

Media links:

[[https://amp.ft.com/content/10d8f5e8-74eb-11ea-95fe-fcd274e920ca?fbclid=IwAR1byzFqrLqqzcCoGoCAlL8nmtpaVYiPT1jQmJvm0L3rRuMwF8QqZBFM0PM | Arundhati Roy: ‘The pandemic is a portal’ | Free to read The novelist on how coronavirus threatens India — and what the country, and the world, should do next ]]

When lockdown measures are applied globally ...

Will the Largest Quarantine in History Just Make Things Worse? Jan. 27, 2020

More often than not, health officials are several steps behind a spreading epidemic. And when they aren’t, the history books show, they tend to act too fast (costing a fortune) or unfairly (discriminating against some populations). In 2009, during the first days of an H1N1 influenza outbreak in Mexico, the Health Ministry immediately deployed a spate of 1918-style measures. Suspected cases were isolated. Schools were closed. Public gatherings were banned, including a regional soccer tournament. Although those moves did work to limit new cases of influenza, they were abandoned 18 days later, partly because of the huge social and economic costs. More important, even as the H1N1 influenza virus circulated widely — the outbreak was, indeed, a pandemic — it turned out to not be nearly as deadly as a garden-variety seasonal flu. (The common flu kills about 35,000 people a year in the United States alone.) The Mexican government concluded, appropriately, that the stringent measures it had adopted should be lifted given the disease’s relatively limited total toll — between 4,200 and 12,000 dead in the end — even if it might keep spreading.

Ukraine protesters attack buses carrying China evacuees : Feb 21, 2020

COVID-19 pandemic means it's time for Canada to get serious about aggressive social distancing: experts March 12, 2020: the day school shut downs was announced, the day after March 11, when WHO says: We have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic

At nail and hair salons, more hand sanitizer and free cancellations — and fewer hugs Before essential businesses were shut down in the US

Gov. Walz will allow Minnesota golf courses to open, other outdoor actvities to start Saturday April 18 2020

'Maybe we can hang on': New child-care business sees no financial help in sight April 15 2020

Essential or Expendable? Gig Workers at Instacart & Grocery Stores Demand Safety Gear & Hazard Pay

Canada Government links:

Community-based measures to mitigate the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Canada First read in March, later edited in April, now archived for review, pdf from Aprill.

Whenever public health authorities impose restrictions on individual freedoms, the intervention should be proportional to the magnitude of the threat. This principle of 'least restrictive means' should always be a consideration when enacting social distancing measures. The CPIP Public Health Measures Annex outlines the ethical considerations with respect to the selection and use of PHMs in a pandemic.

Public health measures: Canadian Pandemic Influenza Preparedness: Planning Guidance for the Health Sector Final: December 18, 2018

2.5 Ethical Considerations Ethical decision-making also involves openness and transparency, accountability, inclusiveness and reasonableness. These principles should guide all decision-making around the selection and implementation of public health measures in an influenza pandemic, including those situations in which information is limited.

Communications and Stakeholder Liaison Annex

Leading causes of death, total population, by age group STAT CAN

2019-2020 : 42,526 Seasonal Influenza, Avian Influenza and Pandemic Influenza IPAC case numbers

https://ipac-canada.org/coronavirus-resources.php | IPAC on Covid 19]]

Ontario

“...if passed, would immediately provide job-protected leave to employees in isolation or quarantine due to COVID-19, or those who need to be away from work to care for children because of school or day care closures.”

https://news.ontario.ca/opo/en/2020/03/premier-ford-announces-job-protection-for-workers-during-the-covid-19-situation.html?fbclid=IwAR3ezjQHMQ7m8ZZY7sxbt7QI6uOMxgYUX0-e6hHBJoLxcUlT6S3HNBIPY5s | Premier Ford Announces Job Protection for Workers during the COVID-19 Situation]]

Toronto and municiple

Update on COVID-19 Dr. Eileen de Villa, Medical Officer of HealthMarch 13, 2020at 5p.m. The day before schools were shut down

COVID-19: Orders, Directives & Bylaws Last updated: April 24, 2020 at 12:45 p.m

Public Health Ontario: Synopsis of Key Articles – Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) À https://www.publichealthontario.ca/en/diseases-and-conditions/infectious-diseases/respiratory-diseases/novel-coronavirus/articles

Other Gov. websites:

Leading Causes of Death CDC

Deaths: Leading Causes for 2017, table 1

Number of deaths for leading causes of death

    Heart disease: 647,457
    Cancer: 599,108
    Accidents (unintentional injuries): 169,936
    Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 160,201
    Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 146,383
    Alzheimer’s disease: 121,404
    Diabetes: 83,564
    Influenza and pneumonia: 55,672
    Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 50,633
    Intentional self-harm (suicide): 47,173

Source: Deaths: Leading Causes for 2017, table 1 pdf icon[PDF- 2 MB]

In 2017, a total of 2,813,503 resident deaths were registered

note: 2017 had higher flu deaths than other years: 35,000 deaths a year is the general estimate: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/index.html

Organizations

WFP Chief warns of hunger pandemic as COVID-19 spreads (Statement to UN Security Council) April 21 2020

March 11, when WHO says: We have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic

Websites

Canadian Civil Liberties Association

• EMERGENCY MEASURES ACROSS CANADA IN RESPONSE TO COVID19 CRISIS

Column: Emergency orders created 'arbitrary patchwork' of rules, some of which don't serve public health Mau 7th 2020

So, what’s the difference between walking along the beach versus the park? Or parking in a church parking lot to hear a preacher over the car radio versus sitting in traffic at Commissioners and Wellington Roads listening to a podcast?

And, surely, I’m at a lot more risk in a grocery store aisle, even wearing a mask.

Initial panic led to a flood of snitch line complaints, leading to provincial and local government overreach and a hodge-podge of emergency orders and bylaws. You end up with “absurd situations,” Bryant said, like the woman ticketed in Aurora for standing still too long.

There’s good reason for confusion, says Michael Bryant, executive director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and “because of the confusion, there is a presumption of guilt as soon as somebody goes outside.”

Instead of treating the pandemic as a public health issue, it’s become a public order issue. People are being punished for benign behaviour instead being educated about social distancing and staying home.

• Promoting Health, not Authoritarianism Guest blogger April 27 2020: David Sweanor

Take a moment to reflect on the fact that use of our abundance of public parks is now largely banned. If you are not living in a cramped apartment, possibly with young children, imagine those who are. To quote from our city’s State of Emergency declaration: “Walking through a park to reach your destination or for exercise is permitted provided you do not linger or gather with others, play or undertake any other activity.”

Meet the 17-Year-Old Behind a Website Tracking Coronavirus Cases That Is Now a Vital Global Resource March 13 2020: nCov19.live

• Survival Rate Calculator

What Recent Strikes in U.S. at Whole Foods, Amazon Disclose About Canadian Labour Law ...non-union workers in Canada never have a legally protected right to strike. Not ever. Canadian workers have an individual right to refuse unsafe work, but that can be a treacherous right to exercise in practice ... they would be in fundamental breach of their employment contracts. This would be grounds for termination” I didn’t know this. And with no legislated protection under ESA, those who are even at more “risk” do not feel like they can ask for leave or protest for better conditions. The only catch is that more people will now be looking to take on jobs that pay under the $1000 per month CERB allows for. So strength on numbers maybe. And more attentive research into my online shopping delivery company April 1 2020

Open air Therapy

[[https://www.journalofhospitalinfection.com/article/S0195-6701(19)30153-7/fulltext | The open-air factor and infection control April 09, 2019]]

Patients were nursed next to open windows in cross-ventilated wards or put outside, in their beds, to breathe fresh outdoor air. This was believed to aid their recovery and reduce the risk of cross- and re-infection.

The Open-Air Treatment of PANDEMIC INFLUENZA

The H1N1 “Spanish flu” outbreak of 1918–1919 was the most devastating pandemic on record, killing between 50 million and 100 million people. Should the next influenza pandemic prove equally virulent, there could be more than 300 million deaths globally...However, more might be gained by introducing high levels of natural ventilation or, indeed, by encouraging the public to spend as much time outdoors as possible

Social media

Alexis Shotwell March 12

So, in my class today we decided that we should start calling it "physical distancing" instead of "social distancing," since we all need lots and lots of social solidarity and closeness but lots and lots of physical boundaries to protect the vulnerable.