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Tag Archives: Testing

Covid-19 (16): The Freedom we have …

28 Thursday May 2020

Posted by michelinewalker in Canada, Covid-19, The Armed Forces

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Covid-19, Flouting rules, freedom, Premier Doug Ford, Premier François Legault, Testing, The Armed Forces, Young People

Dr Li Wenliang (Photo Credit: The Standard, UK)

a group of people standing in front of a crowd: A statement released by the City late Saturday night says thousands of people packed Trinity Bellwoods Park on one of the first warm days of the year, flouting physical distancing regulations.

© Dr. Eileen de Villa / Twitter A statement released by the City late Saturday night says thousands of people packed Trinity Bellwoods Park on one of the first warm days of the year, flouting physical distancing regulations.

Looking at the photograph above, I cannot help remember earlier posts. You  may recall that once the lockdown was being lifted, Quebec Premier François Legault urged Montrealers returning to the workplace to wear a face mask. The province was about to reopen, but the virus had not gone away. A lady, a journalist I suspect, stated that the Premier, monsieur Legault, was walking a fine line. He wasn’t. I believe the lady was referring to Quebec’s Bill 21, which imposes complete secularization. But the wearing of a mask is a health measure.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford listens to speakers at the opening of a new Daily Bread Food Bank in Toronto on Monday, May 25, 2020.

© THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn Ontario Premier Doug Ford listens to speakers at the opening of a new Daily Bread Food Bank in Toronto on Monday, May 25, 2020.

Freedom

  • an anecdote
  • flouting rules
  • Trinity Bellwoods Park

I once told my students that they had kept me awake most of the night and that they should know better. It was frosh (first year students) week. Someone objected that students were adults and that consequently they were free.

Free, I exclaimed? First, I said that since they were adults and therefore free, I would no longer telephone campus security, but the RCMP (the Royal Canadian Mounted Police). Second, I explained to them that one’s freedom ended where the freedom of others began and that this they had to remember for the rest of their life.

On 23 May, thousands of sun worshippers gathered in Toronto’s Trinity Bellwoods Park defying all regulations. They did not stand at a distance from one another and they did not wear a mask, which is now recommended by Canada’s top doctor. Premier Doug Ford had to extend the state of emergency.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/trinity-bellwoods-park-to-get-painted-physical-distancing-circles/ar-BB14HWRN?ocid=msedgdhp

We were unprepared, but they knew…

When outbreaks of Covid-19 reached Canada, we were not prepared. But last Saturday, if a person did not know about aggressivity and transmissibility of novel coronavirus, that person had spent the entire lockdown in a coma. Therefore, it would be my opinion that these  young people were engaging in reckless endangerment of human life, no less. There was a flare-up, une flambée, which forced Premier Ford to extend the state of emergency. 

https://www.cp24.com/news/it-s-selfish-officials-disappointed-to-see-large-crowds-at-downtown-toronto-park-amid-pandemic-1.4951953

Canadians have received a great deal of information regarding Covid-19. At no point, did anyone say that the pandemic was over. On the contrary, Premiers and top doctors stated, in both English and French, that Covid-19 was here to stay and recommended the wearing a mask after the lockdown. It may be that Covid-19 will never go away completely. In Montreal, the situation is still critical, but I have not heard of violations of regulations. People wear their mask. In fact, persons using public transportation will be given a face mask and subways will not be crowded. It must end.

The Freedom we have …

It would be useful for people to look upon social distancing and the wearing of a mask as the freedom we have. The virus may linger, but if precautions are taken, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, doctors, opthalmologists, dentists, taxi drivers, etc. will be available. We need services. During the lockdown, nearly all services were closed. As well, thousands of people are now tested everyday.

The Armed Forces

Members of the Canadian Armed Forces were not doing what they do normally. But we could not have managed without them. They worked relentlessly in long-term care facilities, cleaning and sanitizing these facilities, and helping feed patients. Premier Legault will ask that they remain until September while CHSLDs are refurbished and air-conditioned. This is work that cannot be postponed. The province is also hiring healthcare givers for these nursing homes. The Armed Forces have now been called in Ontario where long-term care facilities are built like Quebec’s and are understaffed.

To my knowledge, no one in my building has been infected.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/military-report-reveals-what-sector-has-long-known-ontarios-nursing-homes-are-in-trouble/ar-BB14EL4s?ocid=msedgdhp

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/video/news/military-report-on-quebec-long-term-care-homes-released/vi-BB14GTxd?ocid=msedgdhp

Would that Dr. Li Wenliang had been heard. Instead, he was silenced, reprimanded, infected and died.

RELATED ARTICLE

  • Chronicling Covid-19 (14): The Mask (15 May 2020)

There are 87,481 confirmed and presumptive cases in Canada.

  • Quebec: 49,139 confirmed (including 4,228 deaths, 15,319 resolved)
  • Ontario: 26,483 confirmed (including 2,155 deaths, 20,372 resolved)
  • Alberta: 6,901 confirmed (including 139 deaths, 6,048 resolved)
  • British Columbia: 2,541 confirmed (including 161 deaths, 2,122 resolved)
  • Nova Scotia: 1,053 confirmed (including 59 deaths, 975 resolved)
  • Saskatchewan: 634 confirmed (including 8 deaths, 549 resolved)
  • Manitoba: 281 confirmed (including 7 deaths, 269 resolved), 11 presumptive
  • Newfoundland and Labrador: 260 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 255 resolved)
  • New Brunswick: 122 confirmed (including 120 resolved)
  • Prince Edward Island: 27 confirmed (including 27 resolved)
  • Repatriated Canadians: 13 confirmed (including 13 resolved)
  • Yukon: 11 confirmed (including 11 resolved)
  • Northwest Territories: 5 confirmed (including 5 resolved)
  • Nunavut: No confirmed cases
  • Total: 87,481 (11 presumptive, 87,470 confirmed including 6,760 deaths, 46,085 resolved)

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 27, 2020.

The Canadian Press

Love to everyone 💕

—ooo—

Frederica von Stade: Trois airs français

Three airs français arranged by the Norwegian musicologist Arne Dørumsgaard. From a recital in Edinburgh, 1976, with Martin Isepp, piano.

479px-Rembrandt_Harmensz._van_Rijn_033

The Good Samaritan by Rembrandt (Wikiart.org)

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Chronicling Covid-19 (13): Reopening

08 Friday May 2020

Posted by michelinewalker in Canada, Covid-19, Pandemic

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Doug Ford, François Legault, Pandemic, Quebec, Reopening, Testing, The Good Samaritan, Top Doctors

800px-Balthasar_van_Cortbemde_-_The_Good_Samaritan

The Good Samaritan by Balthasar van Cortbemde (Wikipedia)

479px-Rembrandt_Harmensz._van_Rijn_033

The Good Samaritan by Rembrandt (Wikipedia)

I’ve been away for a long time. I had to attend to various little duties and I remain very sad. So many have died and they are mostly older people, the poor, the black, the homeless. Covid-19 does not discriminate, but too many victims had no shelter or false shelters.

Scheherazade

For my part, an old injury resurfaced: ulcers. I also remembered my mother teaching us that death, God Himself, came in the night, like a thief, and took us away. Vigilance was necessary. We prayed before going to bed, but all I had to ask God was to wait another day. Asking for more would burden Him. Scheherazade told the first part of a tale that so intrigued the king that he let her live another day to hear the remainder. He didn’t kill her until the story had been told in full. Centuries later, perhaps millennia, a little child in Quebec prayed so her death would be postponed by one more day.

As you can see, Covid-19 has taken its toll on me. Why am I thinking that death will take me in the middle of the night? That feeling is best described as archaic, but we die.

Schools

Today’s big debate in Quebec and the rest of Canada is whether and when to reopen schools. Life at home with the children may be too difficult. In theory, schools were to reopen on Monday, May 4th, but although governments have a duty to provide children with an education, reopening was postponed until May 19th , but the government will not demand that parents send their children to school. Reopening may again be postponed. The virus is still active and remains lethal in too many cases. Viruses run their course and find epicenters. The State of New York and New York city were the United States’ epicenter. I hope therefore that United States President Trump will bail out the State of New York. In Canada, Quebec was targeted and Montreal was Covid-19’s epicenter. All one could do was create rules of engagement: washing one’s hand, distancing, wearing a mask and locking down infested areas.

We have learned, however, that long-term care facilities could not cope with this new reality. One could not distance patients or residents so, the staff of these homes were overwhelmed. Many walked out for fear of catching an easily transmissible virus.

We have also learned that certain populations were more vulnerable than others. The old are at risk, but also the black. Scientists have therefore begun studying vulnerability. I quoted Dr. Vinh-Kim Nguyen in my last post. (See RELATED ARTICLE)  Dr Vinh-Kim Nguyen has been studying Aids/Sida, and his regional area of expertise is West Africa (see Dr Vinh-Kim Nguyen). Studying regions, populations, and the origin of a pathogen is legitimate. Other scientists study the benefits and harm attached to confinement.

BB13GlT5 (1)

© Pierre Obendrauf. “We’ve done things in grocery stores to make them safer,” says Dr. Jay Kaufman, regarding the plan to let other businesses in Montreal reopen on May 18. “If we can go into a store safely to buy a head of lettuce, we should be able to go into a store and safely buy a pair of shoes.”

BB13AeoN

© Provided by The Canadian Press, Dr Theresa Tam

Canada’s top doctor, Dr Theresa Tam is continuing to focus on her work, despite allegations of conspiracy with China. Determining the origin of the outbreak is necessary, but accusing Dr Theresa Tam of conspiracy with China smacks of racism. Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland has defended Dr Tam.

https://globalnews.ca/video/6903338/coronavirus-outbreak-when-it-comes-to-anti-chinese-sentiment-freeland-says-a-canadian-is-a-canadian-is-a-canadian

One of the good news is that an antibody could prevent infections. This is progress. But  we are dealing with the novel coronavirus. It is a new virus and it may have infected people months before its breakout in Wuhan.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/groundbreaking-discovery-of-antibody-which-prevents-infection/ar-BB13AyKM

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/shutdown-must-end-with-safety-measures-says-mcgill (this link has expired)

It has been noted that the poor are at risk. Montreal’s outbreak has affected the residents of Montreal-North. Its residents are poor. They do not have computers, cell phones. In short, they did not have access and protective garments (PPE). Finding masks, gloves and shields, PPE, has bedeviled the pandemic, but it killed the poor and the homeless. Shame on us.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling for a national policy on contact tracing, even at this point. Had such a policy been put into place at an early date, it would have lessened the severity of the pandemic. But it seems we were all caught by surprise.

https://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB11L7dC.img?h=579&w=799&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=1175&y=632

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/ontario-calls-for-a-national-strategy-on-contact-tracing-of-covid-19-cases/ahttps://globalnews.ca/news/6907247/coronavirus-doug-ford-local-medical-officers-testing/

However, testing is slow, which is the main problem. Had it worked immediately, the Spartan cube could have helped determine who was infected and who wasn’t. This would have benefited the economy. However, the Spartan Cube has not proven as reliable “in person” as it did in a lab. Adjustments have to be made. This is a sign of the times. Covid-19 is a new virus and we were not prepared when it hit.

Both Doug Ford, Ontario’s Premier and François Legault, Quebec’s premier, hesitate to lift the lockdown. It could backfire, so everyone is worried.

There is some validity to the notion of herd immunity, but there can be no doubt that self isolating and distancing have spared countless lives. It is as in Giovanni Boccacci’s Decameron. Therefore, Premiers Doug Ford of Ontario and François Legault of Quebec are not pushing people back to work. They are testing, and testing, and testing, but cannot test everyone.

https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/news/2020/05/update-on-canadian-armed-forces-response-to-covid-19-pandemic.html

BB13LnZz

Conclusion

I believe this is my last post on the pandemic. It tested us and researchers will have much to study. I have in fact discovered areas of learning. Our top doctors are the heroes of the day. Dr Bonnie Henry of British Columbia looks very tired, but women want to purchase the shoes she wears. Premiers Doug Ford and François Legault joined hands in battling a common enemy that has yet to be defeated. There may be a second and a third wave. I expect changes in many sectors.

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/a-matter-of-trust-covid-19-pandemic-has-tested-public-confidence-in-science-like-never-before/ar-BB13LaM5?ocid=msedgdhp

I offer my deepest condolences to the persons who have lost a dear one or dear ones.

The latest numbers of confirmed and presumptive COVID-19 cases in Canada as of 4 a.m. ET on May 8, 2020:

There are 64,922 confirmed and presumptive cases in Canada.

  • Quebec: 35,238 confirmed (including 2,631 deaths, 8,673 resolved)
  • Ontario: 19,121 confirmed (including 1,477 deaths, 13,569 resolved)
  • Alberta: 6,017 confirmed (including 114 deaths, 3,809 resolved)
  • British Columbia: 2,288 confirmed (including 126 deaths, 1,512 resolved)
  • Nova Scotia: 1,007 confirmed (including 44 deaths, 708 resolved)
  • Saskatchewan: 531 confirmed (including 6 deaths, 329 resolved)
  • Manitoba: 272 confirmed (including 7 deaths, 243 resolved), 11 presumptive
  • Newfoundland and Labrador: 261 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 244 resolved)
  • New Brunswick: 120 confirmed (including 118 resolved)
  • Prince Edward Island: 27 confirmed (including 26 resolved)
  • Repatriated Canadians: 13 confirmed (including 13 resolved)
  • Yukon: 11 confirmed (including 11 resolved)
  • Northwest Territories: 5 confirmed (including 5 resolved)
  • Nunavut: No confirmed cases
  • Total: 64,922 (11 presumptive, 64,911 confirmed including 4,408 deaths, 29,260 resolved)

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 8, 2020

RELATED POST

  • Chronicling Covid-19 (12): The Caregivers (17 April 2020)

JS Bach, Partita in A minor, BWV 1013 —Emmanuel Pahud

See the source image

Girl Sleeping by Rembrandt (art.com)

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Chronicling Covid-19 (9): Testing

15 Wednesday Apr 2020

Posted by michelinewalker in Canada, Covid-19, Pandemic

≈ Comments Off on Chronicling Covid-19 (9): Testing

Tags

Pandemic's Industry, Telemann, Testing, The Elderly

Prefatory miniature from a moralized Bible of “God as architect of the world”, folio I verso, Paris ca. 1220–1230. Ink, tempera, and gold leaf on vellum 1′ 1½” × 8¼”. Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna 2554. (See Bible moralisée, Wikipedia.)

The Spartan Cube

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/spartan-covid19-test-kit-new-1.5530669
video

Production

The Spartan Cube, a Covid-19 testing device, is exclusive to Canada. I suspect that Spartan Bioscience is unable to manufacture an extremely large number of cubes. The Spartan Cube is a DNA analyzer that isn’t brand new. Spartan Bioscience adapted a test used to diagnose Legionnaire‘s disease. As I noted, in an earlier post, the cube is about the size of a large coffee mug, which makes it portable, and results are available in a half hour. It was developed in less than 25 days and could perhaps be improved. But it might suffice to replicate and manufacture the Cube in facilities outside Canada. The Spartan Cube will be available to Canadians at the beginning of May.

Distribution

At the moment, we are told to self-test according to symptoms and phone if symptoms are severe. This is a way of tending to the sick. But our economy cannot survive if the healthy cannot leave home and work.

I would propose taking the cubes to the people in unsophisticated, but disinfected buses. The test would be administered by health professionals and, for safety reasons, I don’t think people should enter the bus. However, people should be comfortable and could sit in a second bus.

For many health professionals, a half hour is too long. But, quite frankly, at the testing phase, most people will test negative. Care is not given at that time.

Residences for the Elderly & Hospitals

Covid-19 attacks the elderly who have entered a residence. These individuals cannot self-isolate easily. They eat in a dining-room. They use common areas and most do not have a private room. I believe wards are a mistake as are unlimited visiting hours and unlimited number of visitors.  We have turned hospitals into institutions where people get sick.

We also need masks, gloves, ventilators, beds, people who disinfect the street, etc. These are in short supply. We therefore need businesses that would manufacture the materials needed by health-care professionals and the public.

The novel (new) coronavirus is an unknown. We learn something new every day. So, in no way should we allow persons who test positive not to be treated. Nor should those who have been hospitalized return to work prematurely. In North America, the disease has not peaked.

A long time ago, I posted articles on illuminated manuscripts. Jean de France, duc de Berry, had the Limbourg brothers ornament his Très Riches Heures. Jean de France died of the plague, so did the artists who made his Très Riches Heures de Jean de France, duc de Berry. All died in 1416.

Humanity has suffered too many natural disasters, but we have not been taking good care of Mother Earth or our societies. After this calimity, we will need to revisit many areas. The poor live in cramped quarters and the not-so-poor in areas that are simply too small.

  • Chronicling Covid 19 (8): The Spartan Cube (13 April 2020)
  • Les Très Riches Heures de Jean de France, duc de Berry (21 December 2012)

Love to everyone 💕

Georg Philipp Telemann

99957-050-F95C3124

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Chronicling Covid-19 (7): The Plan

Featured

Posted by michelinewalker in Pandemic

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

Expertise, Organization, Testing, The Economy

Europe a Prophecy, copy D, object 1 (Bentley 1, Erdman i, Keynes i) British Museum.jpg

Europe a Prophecy, by William Blake (Wikipedia)

Testing

I would invite you to reread the article I posted yesterday.

I have not changed my mind. I believe that we have to test people and let the healthy return to the workplace. Self-isolation alone will not keep us safe. Not if we can no longer work and earn a living. There is no overnight miracle, but testing may allow the economy to recover more quickly.

Testing is much easier than discovering a vaccine. As I mentioned yesterday, there is an American group who is working with doctors and scientists and would send the healthy back to a safe workplace. Testing would be needed.

A vaccine will be produced, but it may not be produced in the foreseeable future, luck being a factor. Who will come up with the brilliant idea that will allow a cure and also allow the world to be as it should be. We can now see the magnificent Himalayan range of mountains.

Leaders, doctors and scientists must work together, but expertise must inform decisions made by elected officials. Mr Trump is ready to send people back to work to save the economy. But we cannot allow people who test positive to return to work. They must still self-isolate, or the pandemic will continue.

A Triage: Testing

What I am suggesting is a triage that would separate the healthy from the sick and allow those who test negative to return to work. The sick would be treated, but the healthy would keep the economy alive. We have new tools: Skype, etc. Although humanity has been scourged for millennia, it has survived.

I have a healthy nephew whose employees are healthy, but they are not allowed to work. So why do we not test them? Testing was carried out in Germany quite successfully.

We cannot close the future down. We cannot let massive unemployment follow the pandemic. That is a grim scenario. Scientists would continue to search for a vaccine, but the economy would not crumble. Testing may be difficult to organize, but it has to be organized. There is no other way.

Expertise is what world leaders need. I do not wish to trivialize world leaders, but they need guidance from doctors, scientists and economists, which is leadership in the days of the novel coronavirus.

Streets would still be disinfected as well as the workplace, but we would ensure economic stability and lift the world’s morale. Can we truly justify the self-isolation of my nephew and his healthy employees?

I am not a medical doctor, a scientist, or an economist. I am quite simply civic-minded. If we test and test, we will find those who test negative. I’m scared, because this virus may be airborne. Hence cleaning the workplace. But why isolate people who would test negative and create a new nightmare.

RELATED ARTICLE

  • Chronicling Covid-19 (6), a Plan (11 April 2020)


The Creation
, Die Schöpfung, by Joseph Haydn

Jerome_Adams_2019

Jerome Adams, Surgeon General of the United States.

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