The COVID-19 pandemic

[danbrotherston]

I don't think anyone is pretending the virus is gone. It will likely never be, no more than Swine influenza strains vanished when that pandemic subsided. But with hospitalization rates and death rates so low all over the world, we're likely entering the endemic phase of this virus seeing as how most first world nations are removing restrictions at this point. Computer models can only show us so much, so many countries are now trying to remove restrictions. The mitigation tactics have been largely successful depending on where one lives, but they've also caused harm to things like political issues, economic disaster, mental and physical health problems (depression, obesity etc) not to mention suicide and self-harm from isolation, problems with social development in children, problems with drug addiction and overdoses, businesses failing, people being thrown into poverty and homelessness not to mention the breakdown of our social order and political cohesion that this has all had on people.

There's a very, very, very fine balance between balancing public health responses and balancing all of that stuff (and more), which is also impacting or even taking the lives of people around the world. Our response to this pandemic had been nearly as novel to the virus itself has been on our health. We've been trying things that have rarely or if ever been utilized during a pandemic and it's very apparent that they've had serious impacts on people.

If the test centre needs to reopen to test higher volumes than what can be done at the hospital, it will likely reopen, but the directors of the hospital as well as regional public health have come to the conclusion that it isn't needed any longer. Test positivity isn't too high at this point and the amount of people needing to be hospitalized or dying is very small. Of course, people will still suffer from that, but it's getting no worse than seasonal influenza. I suppose we can thank the fact 90%+ of us have been vaccinated.

But I don't wish to detail this thread and make it about the pandemic. It's shutting down and so we'll see what happens with that as well as what happens with this site. It's a prime location of land and I hope the Region of Waterloo doesn't blow this opportunity to potentially create an amazing public space that can benefit the community. It's time to use this. And there is limited space downtown so they ought to capitalize on this. We'll probably have a million people living in this region by 2050 if not sooner, so now is the time to put this location to good use for everyone. The building itself is garbage given its age. The roof leaks, there's taps that have been running water since the day it closed down (and I mean really leak...when I was there, enough water was pouring out of two taps they could fill a swimming pool each week but the region apparently didn't want to fix that since the entire building was not being used) and the basement levels are flooded. There's so much potential here once we knock down this ugly postmodern structure and build something new.

You're literally talking about them shutting down the COVID testing centre, so it sure seems like we're pretending it's gone.

Yes, lots of the mitigation measures are hard (although some of the things you cite like suicide have been thoroughly debunked), which is why I am blind with rage that we aren't doing the easy things like ventilation, testing, masking, and vaccinating to limit the spread of the virus and avoid having to take those extreme measures again.

But to my point, it seems very likely that it will spike again, if not now, then in the fall, and they are likely to have to reopen the centre.

But again, I don't think it matters to redevelopment...development isn't going to happen for years and years...our government is nothing if not slothlike.

[KevinL]

They've not completely shut down testing, it's just they can now accommodate the demand at the GRH site. It does make a presumption that demand will not increase beyond that capacity, granted.

[Bytor]

not to mention suicide and self-harm from isolation

Please, just stop with that misinformation rightnow, you only give theloons more fodder. Just go check out the numbers on StatCan. Suicides were down in 2020 at around 3,838 compared to 16,685 from covid-19.

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/...1310015601

[ac3r]

You're literally talking about them shutting down the COVID testing centre, so it sure seems like we're pretending it's gone.

Yes, lots of the mitigation measures are hard (although some of the things you cite like suicide have been thoroughly debunked), which is why I am blind with rage that we aren't doing the easy things like ventilation, testing, masking, and vaccinating to limit the spread of the virus and avoid having to take those extreme measures again.

But to my point, it seems very likely that it will spike again, if not now, then in the fall, and they are likely to have to reopen the centre.

But again, I don't think it matters to redevelopment...development isn't going to happen for years and years...our government is nothing if not slothlike.

They are shutting it down because they no longer need the facility, they're not pretending it's gone. Do you really think GRH would just bury their head in the sand? They've done an incredible job over the last two years. They're simply moving the testing facility which is all I was trying to bring up with my post, because it can now open up more interest in redevelopment for this location. It might take years indeed, it might not. Who knows. I can definitely say there are developers already interested, however, so we may see things happen here sooner than we anticipate. It'll depend on what the region wants to do, though. Sadly, knowing how they work (the new train station being a good example), it could sit dormant for a while. Though there is some interest in potentially using the site for one-off or pop-up events. Blue Dot in Space, a local underground experimental electronic music and arts festival, was going to hold another festival in the building but sadly the pandemic threw a wrench in that. There has also been some interest from the arts community to hold temporary exhibitions there.

But ultimately, it is costing GRH a hell of a lot of money to rent that from the Region of Waterloo, not to mention staff it for 12 hours a day with nurses, clerical staff, a physician, cleaners and security officers from Paladin. Testing isn't as easy to get now due to provincial guidelines, but even without those changes, most people are not getting tested due to the fact omicron ultimately did not have much of an impact on personal health as initially anticipated especially with the high vaccination rates (of course, due to how easily it spreads, it did cause a huge spike at first, but that rapidly subsided). Most people get better very fast or do not even feel anything. The guidelines are something like you must isolate for 5 days or whatever. I'm too lazy to look up specifics of that.

If they need to reopen it they will surely do so, or at least find a new location. But as it stands now, it's not needed. I knew someone who works there at times and they barely test anyone. Perhaps 50-60 people per day, if that. She was pulled back to the main hospital, though. The nurses are there 12 hours a day and apparently do almost nothing. It's better that they get pulled back to the hospital to work there where they are needed, rather than wasting our limited health care staff to sit around and watch Netflix. They'll be operating at 40 Greene Street which is part of the hospital, but reducing testing hours to 8 hours and cutting the staff so they can back up colleagues on other hospital units and save money.

There are still options to get tested with a PCR test either for free or at cost and rapid antigen tests are given out for free at many locations. Contrary to initial popular belief, they are actually highly sensitive. I was talking to a microbiology staff member I know from GRH and mentioned the inaccuracies of antigen tests, but he said they are actually pretty good and suffice for where we are right now.

[ac3r]

not to mention suicide and self-harm from isolation

Please, just stop with that misinformation rightnow, you only give theloons more fodder. Just go check out the numbers on StatCan. Suicides were down in 2020 at around 3,838 compared to 16,685 from covid-19.

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/...1310015601

Again with the numerical statistics...lmao. You miss the point. People have killed themselves over the social isolation, poverty, unemployment and so much more over the last 2 years. Doesn't matter how many people have done so, there are people out there doing it because of this. Covid-19 has had extreme impacts on mental health. If you don't want to believe this, you go right head and Google some things to convince yourself otherwise, I don't really care.

[ijmorlan]

Please, just stop with that misinformation rightnow, you only give theloons more fodder. Just go check out the numbers on StatCan. Suicides were down in 2020 at around 3,838 compared to 16,685 from covid-19.

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/...1310015601

Again with the numerical statistics...lmao. You miss the point. People have killed themselves over the social isolation, poverty, unemployment and so much more over the last 2 years. Doesn't matter how many people have done so, there are people out there doing it because of this. Covid-19 has had extreme impacts on mental health. If you don't want to believe this, you go right head and Google some things to convince yourself otherwise, I don't really care.

Not sure I really want to wade into this, but I think the point is that suicides are in fact down, as in if you count the number of people who committed suicide in 2021 and in 2016 you get to numbers in 2016 that you don’t reach in the 2021 count.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHVVKAKWXcg

That’s not to say that people aren’t having problems and that some of those problems stem from Covid and from the response to Covid; but if I understand correctly suicides aren’t up.

[jeffster]

Current 7-day Covid-19 cases per 100k

• Northwestern Health Unit 358.1
• Algoma Public Health 277.9
• Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington Public Health 264.2
• Porcupine Health Unit 228.9
• Thunder Bay District Health Unit 177.4
• Public Health Sudbury & Districts 151.2
• Hastings Prince Edward Public Health 138.9
• North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit 122.5
• Grey Bruce Health Unit 111.8
• Timiskaming Health Unit 110.1
• Windsor-Essex County Health Unit 104.0
• Middlesex-London Health Unit 95.0
• Durham Region Health Department 93.1
• Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit 91.7
• Niagara Region Public Health 90.8
• Lambton Public Health 90.1
• City of Hamilton Public Health Services 90.0
• Huron Perth Public Health 81.6
• Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit 81.5
• Leeds, Grenville & Lanark District Health Unit 78.0
• Peterborough Public Health 76.4
• Chatham-Kent Public Health 76.2
• York Region Public Health 74.5
• Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health 74.4
• Renfrew County and District Health Unit 71.8
• Halton Region Public Health 69.8
• Ottawa Public Health 68.6
• Southwestern Public Health 68.1
• Toronto Public Health 67.8
• Brant County Health Unit 64.4
• Eastern Ontario Health Unit 59.4

• Region of Waterloo Public Health and Emergency Services 53.6

• Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit 52.4
• Peel Public Health 48.4

• TOTAL ONTARIO 83.3

[danbrotherston]

Please, just stop with that misinformation rightnow, you only give theloons more fodder. Just go check out the numbers on StatCan. Suicides were down in 2020 at around 3,838 compared to 16,685 from covid-19.

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/...1310015601

Again with the numerical statistics...lmao. You miss the point. People have killed themselves over the social isolation, poverty, unemployment and so much more over the last 2 years. Doesn't matter how many people have done so, there are people out there doing it because of this. Covid-19 has had extreme impacts on mental health. If you don't want to believe this, you go right head and Google some things to convince yourself otherwise, I don't really care.

I'm confused...are you arguing that less people dying from suicide isn't a good thing?

You are arguing that restrictions have caused suicides...but the data shows there are less suicides...

As for the loss of social cohesion and the breakdown of civil society, you're absolutely on point for that. I put the blame for that squarely on the anti-social pro-disease contingent in our society.

[tomh009]

If the test centre needs to reopen to test higher volumes than what can be done at the hospital, it will likely reopen, but the directors of the hospital as well as regional public health have come to the conclusion that it isn't needed any longer. Test positivity isn't too high at this point and the amount of people needing to be hospitalized or dying is very small. Of course, people will still suffer from that, but it's getting no worse than seasonal influenza. I suppose we can thank the fact 90%+ of us have been vaccinated.

Almost 30% today. I think that's still pretty high, although the test volumes are super low now.

Anyway, am moving this discussion over to the COVID thread.

[jeffster]

Current 7-day Covid-19 cases per 100k

• Northwestern Health Unit 469.9
• Algoma Public Health 303.2
• Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington Public Health 258.6
• Porcupine Health Unit 195.3
• Thunder Bay District Health Unit 168.7
• Hastings Prince Edward Public Health 156.1
• Public Health Sudbury & Districts 151.7
• Timiskaming Health Unit 122.4
• North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit 114.1
• Windsor-Essex County Health Unit 100.7
• Huron Perth Public Health 98.0
• Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit 97.9
• Middlesex-London Health Unit 96.2
• Grey Bruce Health Unit 95.4
• York Region Public Health 91.2
• Niagara Region Public Health 91.2
• Lambton Public Health 89.3
• Durham Region Health Department 86.0
• City of Hamilton Public Health Services 84.3
• Renfrew County and District Health Unit 82.8
• Chatham-Kent Public Health 81.8
• Peterborough Public Health 77.7
• Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit 74.5
• Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health 73.1
• Leeds, Grenville & Lanark District Health Unit 72.8
• Southwestern Public Health 71.9
• Toronto Public Health 71.7
• Halton Region Public Health 69.0
• Brant County Health Unit 67.7
• Ottawa Public Health 65.2
• Eastern Ontario Health Unit 64.2

• Region of Waterloo Public Health and Emergency Services 59.2

• Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit 53.5
• Peel Public Health 48.0

• TOTAL ONTARIO 85.8

[jeffster]

Current 7-day Covid-19 cases per 100k

• Northwestern Health Unit 676.4
• Algoma Public Health 290.1
• Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington Public Health 254.8
• Porcupine Health Unit 196.5
• Thunder Bay District Health Unit 155.4
• Hastings Prince Edward Public Health 153.7
• Public Health Sudbury & Districts 149.2
• Timiskaming Health Unit 119.3
• North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit 106.4
• Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit 104.7
• Huron Perth Public Health 103.8
• Windsor-Essex County Health Unit 102.2
• Grey Bruce Health Unit 100.7
• Middlesex-London Health Unit 93.0
• York Region Public Health 91.9
• Niagara Region Public Health 90.4
• City of Hamilton Public Health Services 82.6
• Lambton Public Health 82.5
• Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit 79.8
• Durham Region Health Department 78.6
• Renfrew County and District Health Unit 78.2
• Chatham-Kent Public Health 78.1
• Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health 74.7
• Southwestern Public Health 74.7
• Peterborough Public Health 73.7
• Toronto Public Health 73.5
• Leeds, Grenville & Lanark District Health Unit 69.9
• Halton Region Public Health 65.3
• Brant County Health Unit 64.4
• Ottawa Public Health 63.0
• Eastern Ontario Health Unit 59.9

• Region of Waterloo Public Health and Emergency Services 57.2

• Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit 55.0
• Peel Public Health 46.6

• TOTAL ONTARIO 86.2

[jeffster]

Current 7-day Covid-19 cases per 100k

• Northwestern Health Unit 661.5
• Algoma Public Health 279.6
• Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington Public Health 235.1
• Porcupine Health Unit 188.2
• Thunder Bay District Health Unit 158.0
• Hastings Prince Edward Public Health 146.6
• Public Health Sudbury & Districts 145.2
• Timiskaming Health Unit 119.3
• Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit 107.6
• Windsor-Essex County Health Unit 107.3
• Grey Bruce Health Unit 102.4
• Huron Perth Public Health 100.9
• North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit 100.2
• Niagara Region Public Health 94.6
• York Region Public Health 93.4
• Middlesex-London Health Unit 92.6
• Lambton Public Health 92.4
• City of Hamilton Public Health Services 84.9
• Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit 79.8
• Durham Region Health Department 78.3
• Southwestern Public Health 76.1
• Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health 76.0
• Renfrew County and District Health Unit 75.5
• Toronto Public Health 75.3
• Peterborough Public Health 75.0
• Chatham-Kent Public Health 73.4
• Leeds, Grenville & Lanark District Health Unit 69.9
• Brant County Health Unit 69.6
• Halton Region Public Health 63.3
• Ottawa Public Health 61.5
• Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit 57.7

• Region of Waterloo Public Health and Emergency Services 57.2

• Eastern Ontario Health Unit 53.7
• Peel Public Health 47.8

• TOTAL ONTARIO 86.5

[jeffster]

Current 7-day Covid-19 cases per 100k

• Northwestern Health Unit 622.8
• Algoma Public Health 274.4
• Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington Public Health 242.1
• Porcupine Health Unit 159.4
• Hastings Prince Edward Public Health 154.9
• Thunder Bay District Health Unit 154.0
• Public Health Sudbury & Districts 139.7
• Timiskaming Health Unit 116.2
• Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit 112.4
• Windsor-Essex County Health Unit 111.6
• North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit 98.6
• Huron Perth Public Health 98.0
• Grey Bruce Health Unit 96.5
• York Region Public Health 96.3
• Lambton Public Health 95.4
• Niagara Region Public Health 94.6
• Middlesex-London Health Unit 91.8
• City of Hamilton Public Health Services 84.3
• Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health 83.4
• Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit 79.8
• Durham Region Health Department 79.4
• Peterborough Public Health 79.1
• Southwestern Public Health 78.0
• Toronto Public Health 76.0
• Brant County Health Unit 75.4
• Leeds, Grenville & Lanark District Health Unit 72.2
• Renfrew County and District Health Unit 68.1
• Chatham-Kent Public Health 65.8
• Halton Region Public Health 63.6
• Eastern Ontario Health Unit 61.8
• Ottawa Public Health 61.0
• Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit 58.7

• Region of Waterloo Public Health and Emergency Services 57.5

• Peel Public Health 48.8

• TOTAL ONTARIO 87.2

[ac3r]

Province wide, wastewater testing is showing an increase: https://covid19-sciencetable.ca/ontario-...atersignal

Locally, however, things seem to be holding steady: https://www.regionofwaterloo.ca/en/healt...lance.aspx

[ac3r]

Another spring wave, though I don't think anyone cares at this point: https://globalnews.ca/news/8720190/canad...explainer/