COVID-19 'Pandemic'

[taxme]

speaking of pollen, has anyone ever wondered about other things airborne that might spread this virus, like precipitation? do you suppose anyone of the many who are responsible for our defense might ever have considered, and perhaps immediately dismissed because it is rather far-fetched, that suppose IF China was bent on the eventual subjugation of the entire planet, might they seek to attain it through a biological weapon? No, not like covid19 but rather something far more deadly? And covid19 could possibly be being used as a mere testing agent to gauge the efficacy of its deployment, So then could not someone or panel of Chinese logistics/contingency/think-tank types with this end in mind have dreamt up such a bizarre unthinkable therefor unbelievable premise to use their modern military aircraft capabilities to seed the jet-stream with so much virus that nature would just carry it straight across the ocean to be rained down upon an unwitting and totally clueless population? Surely they would only need a handful of the billions of microscopic virions to survive the trip. Nature would do the rest.

Pollen? Well that could have been an added bonus for further dispersal once the rain has fallen.

Has ANYONE? ANYWHERE? EVER THOUGHT TO CHECK RAINFALL FOR THIS VIRUS???

the whole notion first occurred to me last July or August I think, when there were reported covid case spike in all the northern States and out of curiosity I checked where the jet-stream had been, and it aroused further my suspicions to see that's exactly where it was, streaming a straight line across all the northern US States!

So, yeah, damage is done, but seriously, just for the hell of it, and at not much further cost that what this whole charade is costing us, quietly and discreetly check the precipitation for this virus, or whatever future evil thing they may be dreaming up. if the press ever got wind of this kind of testing they'd be the first to blab it to China and all they would have to do is put it on hold for a few decades, while continuing to build and bolster their forces, until they figure the time is ripe to give it another shot.

This Covid 1984 virus could very well be a biological virus and not just an ordinary virus. This could be a test run to see what takes place. Bill Gates and communist China could be working hand in hand in trying to see what this virus can do to the populations of the world. Bill Gates believes that the population of the world must be downsized by the hundreds of billions. Maybe what is in this Covid vaccine has properties in it that could effect the ability for women to get pregnant. No one knows exactly as to what is in those Covid 1984 vaccines.

Everyone should look up the "Georgia Stones" on the web. Written on those stones says that the population of the world needs to be reduced to 500,000 people. Is this the big plans that the likes of B. Gates and his globalist pathetic ilk buddies are trying to do today thru this Covid 1984 vaccine? No one knows for sure.

If there is one thing you should know by now about the media is that the media should never be believed anymore. They lie. The media is nothing more than a bunch of leftist liberal buffoon mouthpieces, including most politicians, for the globalists. When it comes to reporting the truth they have no idea as to what that is or what one is talking about. There are plenty of doctors and scientists out there have said that this Covid virus is not all that dangerous at all if it is just a virus. But yet, the media will avoid talking to these people. The media only wants to report and talk to and get one side of the story and not bother to listen to the other side of the story. Thank gawd that there are thousands of patriots out there who are now questioning and are fighting back and are trying to expose this Convid 1984 hoax and lie for what it really is. One big mother ph--king pile of bull chit. Believe it or not. I now do.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

speaking of pollen, has anyone ever wondered about other things airborne that might spread this virus, like precipitation? do you suppose anyone of the many who are responsible for our defense might ever have considered, and perhaps immediately dismissed because it is rather far-fetched, that suppose IF China was bent on the eventual subjugation of the entire planet, might they seek to attain it through a biological weapon? No, not like covid19 but rather something far more deadly? And covid19 could possibly be being used as a mere testing agent to gauge the efficacy of its deployment, So then could not someone or panel of Chinese logistics/contingency/think-tank types with this end in mind have dreamt up such a bizarre unthinkable therefor unbelievable premise to use their modern military aircraft capabilities to seed the jet-stream with so much virus that nature would just carry it straight across the ocean to be rained down upon an unwitting and totally clueless population? Surely they would only need a handful of the billions of microscopic virions to survive the trip. Nature would do the rest.

Pollen? Well that could have been an added bonus for further dispersal once the rain has fallen.

Has ANYONE? ANYWHERE? EVER THOUGHT TO CHECK RAINFALL FOR THIS VIRUS???

the whole notion first occurred to me last July or August I think, when there were reported covid case spike in all the northern States and out of curiosity I checked where the jet-stream had been, and it aroused further my suspicions to see that's exactly where it was, streaming a straight line across all the northern US States!

So, yeah, damage is done, but seriously, just for the hell of it, and at not much further cost that what this whole charade is costing us, quietly and discreetly check the precipitation for this virus, or whatever future evil thing they may be dreaming up. if the press ever got wind of this kind of testing they'd be the first to blab it to China and all they would have to do is put it on hold for a few decades, while continuing to build and bolster their forces, until they figure the time is ripe to give it another shot.

Only thing is its not good business to wipe out your customer base. As long as we are buying their crap I think we are safe.

 

[spaminator]

U.K. COVID variant 'taking over' Britain and likely to dominate elsewhere: Expert
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Kate Kelland
Publishing date:Mar 11, 2021 • 2 hours ago • 2 minute read • comment bubbleJoin the conversation
In this file photo taken on Jan. 27, 2021 Royal Navy medics prepare syringes ahead of giving injections of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to members of the public at a vaccination centre set up at Bath racecourse in Bath, southwest England.
In this file photo taken on Jan. 27, 2021 Royal Navy medics prepare syringes ahead of giving injections of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to members of the public at a vaccination centre set up at Bath racecourse in Bath, southwest England. PHOTO BY ADRIAN DENNIS /AFP via Getty Images
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LONDON — A coronavirus variant first found a few months ago in Britain is now “taking over” and causing 98% of all cases in the U.K., the scientist leading the country’s variant-tracking research said on Thursday.

Sharon Peacock said the U.K. variant, known as B.1.1.7, also appears to be gaining a firm grip in many of the 100 or so other countries it has spread to in the past few months.


“It’s around 50% more transmissible – hence its success in really taking over the country,” said Peacock, director of the COVID-19 Genomics UK (COG-UK) consortium of scientists monitoring mutations in the coronavirus.

“We now know that it has spread across the U.K. and causes nearly all of the cases of COVID-19 – about 98%,” she told an online briefing for Britain’s Royal Society of Medicine.

“It appears to be the case that the other variants are not getting a foothold in this country.”

The B.1.1.7 variant, first detected in September 2020, has 23 mutations in its genetic code – a relatively high number of changes – and is thought by experts to be 40%-70% more transmissible than previously dominant variants.

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Peacock also noted data released on Wednesday from a U.K. study which found that B.1.1.7 has “significantly higher” mortality, with death rates among those infected with it between 30% and 100% greater than among those infected with previous variants.

“There is a small increase in the likelihood of death from the variant,” she said.

The World Health Organization says B.1.1.7 is one of several “variants of concern,” along with others that have emerged in South Africa and Brazil. The variants are mutant versions of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19, which has already killed more than 2.7 million people in the pandemic.

B.1.1.7 has spread to about 100 countries, according to WHO data, and some of those, including France, Denmark and the United States, have reported swift rises in the proportion of their COVID-19 cases being caused it.

Peacock said evidence from the U.K. suggests B.1.1.7. is likely to become dominant elsewhere too.


“Because of its transmissibility, once it’s introduced, it does have that advantage over other circulating variants – so it is the case that B.1.1.7 appears to be traveling around the world and really expanding where it lands.”

Public Health England (PHE) also said on Thursday that a new coronavirus variant had been identified in the U.K. in two people who had recently been in Antigua. PHE said it shared some traits of other variants but was not classed as concerning for now.

U.K. COVID variant 'taking over' Britain and likely to dominate elsewhere: Expert

LONDON — A coronavirus variant first found a few months ago in Britain is now “taking over” and causing 98% of all cases in the U.K., the scientist leading the coun…

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

FUREY: StatsCan report looks at undetected cancers, other harms caused by restrictions
It's frustrating that more analysis wasn't put into these issues much earlier

Author of the article:Anthony Furey
Publishing date:Mar 10, 2021 • 1 day ago • 3 minute read • comment bubble40 Comments
A patient with a doctor.
A patient with a doctor. Getty Images
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A new Statistics Canada report that highlights delayed cancer screenings, mental health woes and the damage caused to low-income Canadians is a damning indictment on the many voices who called for ever-tighter lockdowns without appropriate concern for the harms that they were inflicting on their fellow Canadians.

“For colorectal cancers, a six-month suspension of primary screening could increase cancer incidence by 2,200 cases, with 960 more cancer deaths over the lifetime,” the report, headlined ‘A One-Year Update on Social and Economic Impacts,’ lays out.


When it comes to breast cancer screenings, StatsCan notes that “a three-month interruption could increase cases diagnosed at advanced stages (310 more) and cancer deaths (110 more) from 2020 to 2029.”

Last month, Toronto’s Sunnybrook Hospital projected that “missing mammograms mean about 200 more women in Ontario have undetected breast cancers.”

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Back in January, Dr. Keith Stewart, director of the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, warned there “may be a tsunami of cancer out there that’s going to suddenly show up.” He based his concerns on data showing that for a two-and-a-half-month period during the first wave, there was a 97% decrease in screening for mammograms through the Ontario Breast Screening Program.

StatsCan doesn’t offer comprehensive projections on all cancers, but if lockdown measures will cause 110 premature deaths from breast cancer alone, you’ve got to think the total numbers for all cancers is so much higher.

The section on mental health highlights how health-care workers are under exceptional stress and also that “calls for police services increasingly linked to mental-health concerns.”


When it comes to the easing of restrictions, this was associated with improved mental health across the board, but in particular among young people. “Self-reported mental health of youth aged 15 to 24 rebounded in the fall as restrictions eased, but fell again in November as tighter public health measures came into effect,” the report explains.

When it comes to feeling the economic crunch, low-wage workers have been the hardest hit. “Sustained work interruptions because of lockdowns have disproportionate impacts on financially vulnerable families and low-wage workers, potentially leading to sharp increases in earnings inequality,” the report breaks down.

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None of this is a surprise. But it’s important to have it quantified and seriously studied. It’s just frustrating that more analysis wasn’t put into these issues much earlier so more could have been done to prevent these outcomes.

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Pharmacy staff at Kingston Health Sciences Centre prepare the first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for southeastern Ontario on Jan. 12, 2021.
FUREY: Ontario's LTC virus mortality has dropped 96%, Science Table report reveals
People wait to ordering takeout outside a coffee shop along Queen St. W. near Trinity Bellwoods Park in Toronto, Ont. on Sunday Feb. 28, 2021.
FUREY: It's not just 'business' that's hurting — it's all of society, it's life itself
Dr. Eileen de Villa, Toronto's chief medical examiner, speaks during a media briefing.
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While cancer screenings were only officially paused for a few months, the incessant rhetoric from officials about how it wasn’t safe to leave the house and how the hospitals were overwhelmed no doubt still kept people away who otherwise should have gone in for tests.

Here’s a prediction: As the months pass by, there will be more and more such reports and stories about the harms of lockdowns. The evidence suggesting that the cure was worse than the illness will mount. This will be maddening for those who have been ringing the alarm bell on this for quite some time, to see their predictions sadly materialize.

Here’s another prediction: All of those politicians, public health officials and talking head medical experts on TV who acted like there could be no negative repercussions from lockdowns will stealthily pivot in the coming months and attempt to rewrite history. They’ll try to say that they were never all that hardline and that they were actually among those voices calling for a more balanced approach.

So here’s a question: Are Canadians going to let them get away with it?

afurey@postmedia.com

FUREY: StatsCan report looks at undetected cancers, other harms caused by restrictions

A damning indictment on the voices who called for ever-tighter lockdowns without appropriate concern for the harms they were inflicting.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

'WE WILL REMEMBER THEM': Canada marks national day of observance for COVID-19 victims
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Publishing date:Mar 11, 2021 • 49 minutes ago • 4 minute read • comment bubble29 Comments
Teachers dressed in red participate in a solidarity march to raise awareness about cases of COVID-19 at Ecole Woodward Hill Elementary School, in Surrey, B.C., on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021.
Teachers dressed in red participate in a solidarity march to raise awareness about cases of COVID-19 at Ecole Woodward Hill Elementary School, in Surrey, B.C., on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021. PHOTO BY DARRYL DYCK /THE CANADIAN PRESS
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OTTAWA — Flags across the country were flown at half-mast and tributes poured in to lost loved ones on Thursday as Canada marked the one-year anniversary of COVID-19 being declared a global pandemic.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rose in the House of Commons Thursday and said March 11, 2020 will always be marked by a before and an after.


Since the pandemic began, 2.5 million people around the world have died due to COVID-19, with more than 22,000 of them in Canada.

“For families and close ones, each death has a before and an after,” Trudeau said.

“Since the great wars of the 20th century, there is a sentence we often evoke, and it’s a sentence that we can bring back for those that we lost this year during the pandemic: We will remember them.”

Commemorations were held in different parts of the country including Quebec, which has accounted for nearly half the country’s death toll with more than 10,500 dead.

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Premier Francois Legault and other elected members carried white roses that were laid at the foot of a wreath during a ceremony in front of the provincial legislature.

In a brief speech, the premier noted that the pandemic has taken a disproportionate toll on the elderly.

“The virus hit very hard, and it above all hit our elders to whom we owe everything, our elders who built the Quebec of today,” Legault said to a small crowd that included cabinet members, opposition party leaders, health-care workers and family members of those who died.

“We lost grandmothers, grandfathers, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters friends, and today Quebec remembers these people that left us too soon.”

Edmonton’s mayor announced the city’s flags would fly at half-mast, while Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he would seek consent from the legislature to observe a moment of silence recognizing all Ontarians who have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a statement, Ford described the pandemic as “one of the grimmest chapters in modern health history,” but one that had also spawned “incredible acts of kindness, compassion and generosity” from front line health care workers, businesses, essential workers and volunteers.


Flags were also flown at half-mast in British Columbia, where Premier John Horgan paid tribute to the nearly 1,400 residents who lost their lives to COVID-19 and the efforts of British Columbians to fight the pandemic.

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“Many people have faced loneliness. All of us have faced uncertainty,” he wrote on Twitter. “But while our lives have changed, the resolve of British Columbians has not.”

Trudeau chose to make Thursday a national day of remembrance because it was the one-year anniversary of the World Health Organization declaring COVID-19 a global pandemic.

The prime minister evoked the memories of Canadians being asked to stay home and stay safe, of essential workers stocking grocery store shelves and of people cheering health-care workers from their balconies.

“Businesses stepped up and produced (personal protective equipment),” Trudeau said. “Some went from making hockey masks to face shields: It doesn’t get any more Canadian than that.”

The prime minister briefly touched on the multiple tragedies in long-term care centres, where seniors across the country died in the thousands from the disease, often in circumstances of labour shortages and immense personal hardship.

“For every senior in Canada, we must do better, and I know that we will,” he said.

Trudeau ended his speech on a hopeful note, telling Canadian that millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccine are on the way, allowing provinces to accelerate their vaccination campaigns. Health Canada has approved four COVID-19 vaccines so far, and 1.5 per cent of the population has been fully vaccinated.

Officials in Canada struck a reassuring tone on the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine on Thursday, after several European countries suspended its use after reports of blood clots following inoculations. At least nine countries fully or partially halted their rollouts of the vaccine pending further investigation, though none suggested there is a link between the clots and getting the vaccine.

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Both Quebec and Alberta’s top public health officials issued statements on Thursday saying there is currently nothing to indicate the vaccine is unsafe, while promising to monitor the situation carefully.

Ontario announced it was placing, Sudbury, Ont., into lockdown as of Friday to curb the spread of more contagious COVID-19 variants and protect health system capacity after a spike in cases.

The province’s science advisers released new modelling that concluded the province’s ability to control the spread of COVID-19 variants over the next few weeks will determine if there will be a third wave of infection.

The province’s Science Advisory Table said that while the drive to vaccinate residents and workers in long-term care has paid off in declining deaths and illness, progress against the virus has stalled outside that sector. It said Ontarians will have to be strict about masking and physical distancing to prevent a new surge linked to variants.

The news was better in British Columbia, where rules were relaxed to allow outdoor gatherings of up to 10 people.

Dr. Bonnie Henry, the province’s chief public health officer, said while the infection curve of the pandemic is trending down on Vancouver Island and in the Interior and Northern health regions, COVID-19 is still circulating in communities, particularly in the Lower Mainland.

Canada’s chief public health officer said in a statement that daily COVID-19 case counts have levelled off after declining nationally from mid-January through mid-February.

Severe outcomes have continued to decline, Dr. Theresa Tam said, with an average of 2,064 people with COVID-19 treated in Canadian hospitals each day in the past week.

'WE WILL REMEMBER THEM': Canada marks national day of observance for COVID-19 victims

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rose in the House of Commons Thursday and said March 11, 2020 will always be marked by a before and an after.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Denmark, Norway and Iceland suspend AstraZeneca COVID shots after blood clot reports
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Nikolaj Skydsgaard and Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen
Publishing date:Mar 11, 2021 • 3 hours ago • 4 minute read • comment bubble6 Comments
A nurse prepares to administer a dose of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine at Dobong health care centre on February 26, 2021 in Seoul, South Korea.
A nurse prepares to administer a dose of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine at Dobong health care centre on February 26, 2021 in Seoul, South Korea. PHOTO BY JUNG YEON-JE-POOL /Getty Images
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COPENHAGEN — Health authorities in Denmark, Norway and Iceland on Thursday suspended the use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine following reports of the formation of blood clots in some people who had been vaccinated.

Austria earlier stopped using a batch of AstraZeneca shots while investigating a death from coagulation disorders and an illness from a pulmonary embolism.


Still, the European medicine regulator EMA said the vaccine’s benefits outweighed its risks and could continue to be administered.

Europe is struggling to speed up a vaccine rollout after delivery delays from Pfizer and AstraZeneca, even as a spike in cases amid a more contagious virus variant has triggered fresh lockdowns in countries like Italy and France.

Denmark suspended the shots for two weeks after a 60-year-old woman, who was given an AstraZeneca shot from the same batch used in Austria, formed a blood clot and died, Danish health authorities said.

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Their response was also prompted by reports “of possible serious side effects” from other European countries.

“It is currently not possible to conclude whether there is a link. We are acting early, it needs to be thoroughly investigated,” Health Minister Magnus Heunicke said on Twitter.

The vaccine would be suspended for 14 days in Denmark.

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In this file photo taken on February 26, 2021 a vial of the AstraZeneca vaccine is seen.
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“This is a cautionary decision,” Geir Bukholm, director of infection prevention and control at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI), told a news conference.

FHI did not say how long the suspension would last.

“We … await information to see if there is a link between the vaccination and this case with a blood clot,” Bukholm said.


Iceland on Thursday suspended jabs with the vaccine as it awaited the results of an investigation by the EMA. Italy, also on Thursday, said it would suspend use of an AstraZeneca batch different to the one used in Austria.

Some health experts said there was little evidence to suggest the AstraZeneca vaccine should not be administered and that the cases of blood clots corresponded with the rate of such cases in the general population.

“The problem with spontaneous reports of suspected adverse reactions to a vaccine are the enormous difficulty of distinguishing a causal effect from a coincidence,” Stephen Evans, professor of pharmacoepidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, told Reuters.

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Evans added that the COVID-19 disease was very strongly associated with blood clotting.

Phil Bryan, head of the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said reports of blood clots so far didn’t exceed what would have occurred naturally in the vaccinated population.

“Available evidence does not confirm that the vaccine is the cause,” he said.

More than 11 million doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine have so far been administered across the UK.

In a statement, AstraZeneca said it had found no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis in safety data of more than 10 million records, even when considering subgroups based on age, gender, production batch or country of use.

“In fact, the observed number of these types of events are significantly lower in those vaccinated than what would be expected among the general population,” it added.

The drugmaker said this week there had been “no confirmed serious adverse events associated with the vaccine.” It said it was in contact with Austrian authorities and would fully support their investigation.

The European Union’s drug regulator, the EMA, said on Wednesday there was no evidence so far linking AstraZeneca to the two cases in Austria.

It said the number of thromboembolic events – marked by the formation of blood clots – in people who have received the AstraZeneca vaccine was no higher than that seen in the general population, with 22 cases reported among the 3 million people who have received the shot as of March 9.

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EMA said it understood the decision by Denmark and Norway was taken as a precaution.

Four other countries – Estonia, Lithuania, Luxembourg and Latvia – have stopped inoculations from the batch while investigations continue, the EMA said.

The batch of 1 million doses went to 17 EU countries.

Swedish authorities said they did not find sufficient evidence to stop vaccination with AstraZeneca’s jab.

“There is nothing to indicate that the vaccine causes this type of blood clots,” Veronica Arthurson, head of drug safety at the Swedish Medical Products Agency, told a news conference.

The Danish Medicines Agency said it had launched an investigation into the vaccine together with corresponding agencies in other EU countries and the EMA.

So far, 138,148 Danes have received a shot with AstraZeneca’s vaccine in a country of 5.8 million. The Nordic country, which also uses vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, is set to receive 2.6 million doses from AstraZeneca over the coming months.

Denmark’s Health Authority said the final date for when it expects all Danes to have been fully vaccinated would be pushed back by four weeks to Aug. 15.

Spain on Thursday said it had not registered any cases of blood clots related to AstraZeneca’s vaccine so far and would continue administering the shots.

COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca: PRAC investigating cases of thromboembolic events - vaccine’s benefits currently still outweigh risks - Update | European Medicines Agency (EMA)

ema.europa.eu

Denmark, Norway and Iceland suspend AstraZeneca COVID shots after blood clot reports

COPENHAGEN — Health authorities in Denmark, Norway and Iceland on Thursday suspended the use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine following reports of the formation of…

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Chinese government interference derailed Canadian vaccine partnership: Researcher
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Publishing date:Mar 12, 2021 • 6 hours ago • 2 minute read • comment bubble9 Comments
Dr. Mark McGuire prepares a COVID-19 vaccine for a United Airlines employee at United's onsite clinic at O'Hare International Airport on March 09, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois.
Dr. Mark McGuire prepares a COVID-19 vaccine for a United Airlines employee at United's onsite clinic at O'Hare International Airport on March 09, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois. PHOTO BY SCOTT OLSON /Getty Images
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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.

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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.

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


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.”

Chinese government interference derailed Canadian vaccine partnership: Researcher

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

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

'CALLOUS DISREGARD': Woman charged in Uber driver assault over face mask
Another suspect said through her lawyer she intends to turn herself in soon

Author of the articleostmedia News
Publishing date:Mar 12, 2021 • 4 hours ago • 2 minute read • comment bubble21 Comments
A video of three women berating an Uber driver in San Francisco has gone viral.
A video of three women berating an Uber driver in San Francisco has gone viral. PHOTO BY SCREENGRAB /@DIONLIMTV/INSTAGRAM
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San Francisco Police have arrested a woman after video surfaced of an Uber driver being berated by three passengers and having his face mask ripped off.


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CCTV video of the interaction between the 32-year-old driver and three women in his backseat on Sunday afternoon showed one woman shouting, “F*** the mask!” before taking off her face mask and coughing in the driver’s direction. The same woman was also seen attempting to grab the driver’s phone from his rearview mirror.

According to SFPD, officers from the Las Vegas Police Department on Thursday arrested 24-year-old Malaysia King — identified on social media as the woman who was wearing a mask around her chin.

Another suspect, 24-year-old Arna Kimiai, identified on social media as the woman who is seen coughing, remains outstanding at this time, but said through her lawyer late Thursday she intends to turn herself in.


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“The behaviour captured on video in this incident showed a callous disregard for the safety and wellbeing of an essential service worker in the midst of a deadly pandemic,” Lt. Tracy McCray said in a press release. “We take this conduct very seriously in San Francisco, and we’re committed to ensuring that justice is done in this case.”

The driver was previously identified as Subhakar Khadka, who was originally from Nepal and has been driving for the rideshare company for three years.

Police said Khadka picked up three women around 12:45 p.m. The driver stopped and ended the ride a few minutes later when he realized one of the passengers was not wearing a mask in compliance with state and local public health orders for COVID-19.


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The driver said that he could not continue the fare unless all passengers were wearing their masks.

“An altercation ensued, and one of the passengers reached over the driver from the rear seat area and stole the driver’s cellphone. The victim grabbed and eventually regained possession of his phone,” police said.

“The suspects then exited the car and another passenger reached into an open window and sprayed what is believed to be pepper spray into the vehicle towards the driver.”

King is charged with assault with a caustic chemical, assault and battery, conspiracy, and violation and health and safety code.


ABC7 journalist Dion Lim, who posted the CCTV video to Instagram, attributed the incident as another hate-motivated crime towards Asians, which have been on the rise in Canada and the U.S.

A GoFundMe that was launched to help Khadka has raised more than $67,000 as of Friday morning.

Donate to Helping Subhakar Khadka (Assaulted Uber Driver), organized by Cyan Banister

We are raising funds for a recently assaulted Uber driver. Two days ago… Cyan Banister needs your support for Helping Subhakar Khadka (Assaulted Uber Driver)

gofundme.com

Dion Lim on Instagram: "𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗬 𝗨𝗕𝗘𝗥 𝗜𝗡𝗩𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥 𝗦𝗘𝗧𝗦 𝗨𝗣 𝗚𝗢 𝗙𝗨𝗡𝗗 𝗠𝗘 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗔𝗖𝗞𝗘𝗗 𝗨𝗕𝗘𝗥 𝗗𝗥𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗥: ⠀ Many have you have asked me how you can support Subhakar, the driver seen in the now viral video getting attacked by 3-female passengers with racial slurs. One

19K likes, 1,193 comments - dionlimtv on March 9, 2021: "𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗬 𝗨𝗕𝗘𝗥 𝗜𝗡𝗩𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥 𝗦𝗘𝗧𝗦 𝗨𝗣 𝗚𝗢 𝗙𝗨𝗡𝗗 𝗠𝗘 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗔𝗖𝗞𝗘𝗗 𝗨𝗕𝗘𝗥 𝗗𝗥𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗥: ⠀ Many have you have asked me how you can support Subhakar, the driver seen in the now viral video getting attacked by 3-female passengers with racial slurs. One grabbed his...

instagram.com

Dion Lim on Instagram: "𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗧! San Francisco Police confirm to me they worked with Las Vegas Police and have arrested Malaysia King (left) for assault on Uber driver Subhakar. ⠀ Arna Kimiai (right) has conveyed through her lawyer she will be turning

7,970 likes, 1,210 comments - dionlimtv on March 11, 2021: "𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗧! San Francisco Police confirm to me they worked with Las Vegas Police and have arrested Malaysia King (left) for assault on Uber driver Subhakar. ⠀ Arna Kimiai (right) has conveyed through her lawyer she will be turning herself...

instagram.com

Alarming surge in anti-Asian hate crimes recorded in U.S., Canada since pandemic started

Hate crimes against Asian communities in the U.S. and Canada have skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic, causing advocacy groups to raise alarm.

ctvnews.ca

San Francisco Police announce arrest in Uber assault and robbery case 21-059 | San Francisco Police Department

sanfranciscopolice.org

'CALLOUS DISREGARD': Woman charged in Uber driver assault over face mask

San Francisco Police have arrested a woman afte an Uber driver was berated by three passengers and had his face mask ripped off.

torontosun.com

 

[Blackleaf]

​

NO NO NO!!!!!! This Cant Be True Can It?​

School allows children to remove masks if they are good. Is this an admission that masks cause discomfort? If so, then it's child abuse.

 

[Twin_Moose]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1370476146371010561

 

[Blackleaf]

​

Incredibly Worrying Development​

 

[spaminator]

Severe kidney problems seen with COVID-19: Study
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Nancy Lapid
Publishing date:Mar 12, 2021 • 20 hours ago • 4 minute read • comment bubbleJoin the conversation
A photo illustration of the coronavirus disease
A photo illustration of the coronavirus disease PHOTO BY FILE PHOTO /Getty Images
Article content
The following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.

Kidney problems from COVID-19 are particularly severe


Sudden kidney problems from severe COVID-19 appear to be worse, and longer-lasting, than kidney problems that develop in other seriously ill patients, a new study found. Doctors at five hospitals in Connecticut and Rhode Island studied 182 patients with COVID-19-associated acute kidney injury (AKI) and 1,430 patients with AKI not associated with the coronavirus. The COVID-19 patients had steeper declines in their kidneys’ ability to filter waste from the blood while hospitalized, the researchers reported. In addition, among patients whose kidneys were still impaired at hospital discharge, those with COVID-19 were significantly less likely to have recovered to their pre-illness kidney status six months later, and their kidney function was predicted to decline over time at a faster rate than in the other patients. The data, published on Wednesday in JAMA Network Open, show that “acute kidney injury associated with COVID-19 has a worse prognosis than traditional acute kidney injury,” said coauthor Dr. Francis Perry Wilson of the Yale University School of Medicine. “Those with COVID-19 associated acute kidney injuries should probably be monitored more closely than others once they are out of the hospital.”

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Second shot should not be delayed for cancer patients

Delayed administration of the second dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine leaves most cancer patients unprotected, a new report warns. In clinical trials last year, the messenger RNA vaccines were tested with second doses given either three or four weeks after the first depending on the vaccine. In January, the UK decided to delay second doses until 12 weeks. At Kings College London, doctors studied 205 adults who received the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, including 151 cancer patients. After the first dose, almost all the healthy individuals had strong immune responses, but that was true for fewer than half of patients with solid tumours and fewer than one-in-seven patients with blood cancers, said Dr. Adrian Hayday. When solid-cancer patients got the second dose at the recommended three weeks, 95% developed robust antibody responses. Among those who did not get the booster dose on time because of the U.K.’s new policy, only 43% of solid cancer patients and 8% of blood cancer patients had antibodies at five weeks. “A single dose of the vaccine left most cancer patients largely or completely unprotected,” Hayday said. The study report has been submitted ahead of peer review to medRxiv but is not yet online. The data are available on the COVID-Immuno-Phenotype website.


Prescription mouthwash cuts viral load in saliva

A commercially available prescription mouthwash can decrease the amount of the coronavirus in saliva in adults with asymptomatic or mild COVID-19, helping to reduce their contagiousness, researchers found. They randomly assigned 154 volunteers, all of whom had been diagnosed within the past week, to rinse three times a day for seven days with a mouthwash containing antiviral beta-cyclodextrin and citrox or a placebo. Four hours after the first use of the antiviral mouthwash, salivary viral load was already significantly reduced, the researchers reported on Wednesday in a paper posted on the preprint server Research Square ahead of peer review. During seven days of treatment, the mouthwash had a particularly beneficial effect on reducing the amount of virus in saliva in patients with high or very high levels to start with, the authors said. “A one-minute rinse with a beta-cyclodextrin and citrox mouthwash reduces the SARS-CoV-2 salivary viral load by 70%” in asymptomatic or mildly ill adults, said coauthor Dr. Florence Carrouel of University Lyon in France. “Thus, this mouthwash is a barrier measure against the spread of COVID-19.”

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mRNA vaccines cut risk of asymptomatic COVID-19

Ten days after receiving a second dose of the messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna , people without COVID-19 symptoms are far less likely to be carrying the virus and unknowingly spreading it, compared with people who have not been vaccinated, according to Mayo Clinic doctors. Their data, published on Wednesday in Clinical Infectious Diseases, come from 39,000 patients who were routinely tested for COVID-19 before undergoing various medical procedures. More than 48,000 screening tests were performed, including 3,000 on patients who had received at least one dose of an mRNA vaccine. Among individuals who had received a single dose of vaccine at least 10 days earlier, they saw a 72% reduction in the risk of a positive COVID-19 test. After adjusting for a range of factors, they found an 80% risk reduction of testing positive for COVID-19 among people without symptoms who had gotten both doses. The authors said their findings underscore the fact that messenger RNA vaccines for COVID-19 can help to significantly limit the spread of the virus by people without symptoms.

Assessment of Kidney Injury and Function After Discharge Among Patients With and Without COVID-19

This cohort study compares kidney function post discharge in patients with and without COVID-19 who experienced acute kidney injury during hospitalization.

jamanetwork.com

Covid vaccination in cancer patients - Covid-IP project

In Covid-IP, we reported a high-throughput characterisation of the immune system in persons infected with SARS-CoV-2, across different levels of severity. At the onset of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, cancer patients, who overall are considered as high-risk for infections, were asked to shield...

immunophenotype.org

Use of an antiviral mouthwash as an additional barrier measure in the SARS-CoV-2 transmission in adults with asymptomatic to mild COVID-19: A multicenter, randomized, double-blind controlled trial

Background The research hypothesis is that commercially available mouthwash with ß-cyclodextrin and citrox (bioflavonoids) could decrease the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) salivary viral load in adults with asymptomatic to mild COVID-19.&n...

researchsquare.com

Impact of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Vaccine on Asymptomatic Infection Among Patients Undergoing Preprocedural COVID-19 Molecular Screening

Among asymptomatic adults undergoing preprocedural SARS-CoV-2 molecular screening, risk of a positive test was lower among those >10 days after the firs

academic.oup.com

Severe kidney problems seen with COVID-19: Study

The following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness c…

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

COVID might have been in Canada earlier than first identified: Expert
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Hina Alam
Publishing date:Mar 13, 2021 • 5 hours ago • 4 minute read • comment bubble25 Comments
Travellers, wearing masks, arrive on a direct flight from China, at Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, B.C. January 24, 2020.
Travellers, wearing masks, arrive on a direct flight from China, at Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, B.C. January 24, 2020. PHOTO BY JENNIFER GAUTHIER /REUTERS
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VANCOUVER — The novel coronavirus might have reached Canada weeks before the first official case was diagnosed in late January of 2020, says an expert who tracks pandemics.

Prof. Sarah Otto of the University of British Columbia said it is possible there were infections of COVID-19 a month or two before the first official case.


A traveller could have returned to Canada and was just getting over the illness or was sick and didn’t go out while they were infectious, she said.

Reconstructing early travel patterns of those carrying COVID-19 around the world might lead to better policies before pandemics take hold, said Otto, who is an expert on the mathematical models of pandemic growth and control in the university’s zoology department.

“I don’t think that we had any cases that then sparked community spread,” she said.

Researchers have developed a phylogenetic or family tree of the COVID-19 strains from around the world to determine when the virus was in the community, she said. They analyzed over 700,000 sequences of its genome from positive cases since it was first found in Wuhan, China, in late 2019.

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“If you trace this family tree, you can go back to the ancestor and figure out when it first arrived in humans,” she said in a recent interview.


“And that family tree kind of funnels together into one place in time, and that is around the end of 2019.”

Otto’s findings are in keeping with a United States study published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases in November, which found the virus was in that country as early as December 2019, although community transmission of COVID-19 didn’t begin until February.

The first media reports about the virus in Wuhan were on Dec. 31 when Chinese experts investigated an outbreak of a respiratory illness after 27 people fell ill.

Dr. Ronald St. John, the former head of the federal Centre for Emergency Preparedness, said that was also the day when Canada was first warned of the disease through the Global Public Health Intelligence Network, an early warning system for public health threats worldwide.

Experts say Canada missed an opportunity to better control the spread of COVID-19 by limiting the flow of people across the border sooner and analyzing outbreaks to alert the public.

St. John said the government was trying to strike the right balance between anticipating the problem and finding solutions. Suggesting the closing of airports and the border with the United States might not have been welcomed, he added.

“Politicians would probably think you would have lost your mind.”

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Wesley Wark said the federal government didn’t appreciate how quickly the virus could spread from China to the rest of the world.

Initially, the federal government’s view of the virus was “rooted in optimistic hope” that COVID-19 would not be as infectious as it turned out to be, said Wark, an adjunct professor at the University of Ottawa who specializes in international affairs and intelligence gathering.

“In retrospect, that idea is baffling,” he said.

“But it was the official wisdom that was contained in the risk assessments that were produced by the Public Health Agency of Canada. And that was a terrible failure of assessment, of judgment.”

Other missteps include allowing travel, confusing messages on physical distancing, hygiene, wearing masks and not acquiring enough personal protective equipment, he said.

“We believed, somehow, that Canada was going to be safe from the kind of global march of this virus,” Wark said.

“We put too much faith in the preparedness of our health system to meet it. We just overlooked so many things. And at the end of the day, if there is any explanation for this it is a combination of hubris that Canada would pull through this and failure of imagination.”

The Public Health Agency of Canada said in a statement its decisions are guided by science, which is constantly “evolving” as scientists understand the virus.

“Every pandemic is different in terms of characteristics, contagiousness and how it affects people,” the statement said.

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The agency is working with all levels of the government, scientific and health care communities to respond to the situation, it added.

Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada released “a lessons learned exercise” in September, outlining the effectiveness of their response to COVID-19 during the first seven months of the pandemic.

“It quickly became evident that the agency did not have the breadth and depth of human resources required to support an emergency response of this never-seen-before magnitude, complexity and duration,” says a report by the office of audit and evaluation.

It details shortcomings in other areas including medical expertise, communications and emergency management.

In interviews, experts laid out steps they would take to improve Canada’s response to emergencies and pandemics.

Julianne Piper, a researcher at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C., said early warning systems are needed so officials can assess what action is needed. There also needs to be a global public health intelligence system to ensure decision makers are aware of the warnings, she said.

“You can think of it as sort of like a smoke detector of global health, that sort of rings and says, you know, something’s not quite right here, sort of be on alert, or gather more information,” said Piper who studies cross-border measures adopted during COVID-19 and their affect on controlling transmission of the virus.

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As part of her work, Piper said it is clear that timing matters when bringing in border measures.

Countries like New Zealand, Vietnam and Australia that had tight border restrictions as part of their early responses to COVID-19 have been more successful at curbing transmission, she said.

Stopping the virus at the gates, combined with additional domestic measures, would have “really helped slow or ideally prevent the spread of the virus,” she said.

“I don’t think that there’s going to be a silver bullet so to speak,” Piper said.

“There’s not a single way to respond to a public health emergency. There are only the tools and the capacities that we know that we have to strengthen.”

COVID might have been in Canada earlier than first identified: Expert

VANCOUVER — The novel coronavirus might have reached Canada weeks before the first official case was diagnosed in late January of 2020, says an expert who tracks pa…

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

BONOKOSKI: Buckle up, year two of the global pandemic has just begun
Even with vaccines, we will still be wearing face masks well into the foreseeable future

Author of the article:Mark Bonokoski
Publishing date:Mar 13, 2021 • 2 hours ago • 3 minute read • comment bubble11 Comments
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau listens while wearing a mask at a news conference held to discuss the country's coronavirus response in Ottawa November 6, 2020.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau listens while wearing a mask at a news conference held to discuss the country's coronavirus response in Ottawa November 6, 2020. PHOTO BY PATRICK DOYLE /REUTERS
Article content
So, a year has now passed since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 to be a virus hurling itself around the globe.

Soon the entire planet was going into lockdown, with our prime minister making daily forays just beyond the porch of Rideau Cottage to give Canadians the latest lowdown on the pandemic.


Journalists had to phone in their questions but the odds of you getting to Justin Trudeau were akin to betting on the long shot.

Unless, of course, you were a “media friendly.”

I managed to get only one question in, but what I wanted was the latest news on Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor — the Two Michaels — who were incarcerated by the Chinese as a quid pro quo for Canadian authorities detaining the communist dictatorship’s hi-tech scion Meng Wanzhou on behalf of the U.S.

But there was no latest news.


The Two Michaels, meanwhile, have been in squalid Chinese jail cells for 826 days as of Sunday.

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But who in government is counting?

When the pandemic turned a year old — Patient Zero, by the way, was here in the nation’s capital — journalists worked hard on echoing the side effects of the lockdown and the pandemic’s reach.

There were mental health issues like depression and loneliness, bankruptcies, struggling small business, surgery cancellations, marital breakdowns, a spike in suicides, severe cabin fever and a hate-on for the Trudeau government for botching its health crisis response.

People were screaming at the television — at least they were at my two-bedroom prison overlooking Parliament Hill.

Trudeau was the recipient of the most colourful invective.

MORE ON THIS TOPIC

A pharmacist technician fills the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA vaccine at a clinic in mid-December.
LILLEY: Lack of vaccine supply behind many of Canada's problems
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has overpaid Canadians, writes Mark Bonokoski.
BONOKOSKI: Trudeau Liberals gaming the relief rollout for votes?
The first anniversary of the first traveller bringing COVID-19 to Toronto's Pearson Airport is now here.
One year ago, an unsuspecting traveller brought the first known case of COVID-19 to Canada

Being in lockdown has troubled my wife, Karen, more than it has bothered me. She is a more social animal and misses those face-to-face friendships that once ruled the world.

Me? I’m more reclusive.

But touch wood. We’ve thus far managed to dodge the bullet. Neither of us has contracted COVID-19 or any of its evil variants.

I’ve reached the conclusion, however, that COVID-19 will likely kill me if I get the short straw — what with a weakened immune system, heart disease, diabetes, plus 28 rounds of radiation therapy and 18 months of ugly hormone injections to fight a high-grade form of prostate cancer.

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Those injections, which are filled with ugly side effects beyond simply chemical castration, also managed to thin my hair and somehow straighten all the curl.

I now look like a tax accountant.


Dr. Bonnie Henry, the television face of B.C.’s pandemic, has just co-authored a book with her sister, Lynn, on the earlier days of the health crisis — Be Kind, Be Calm, Be Safe.

She recounts when she was forced to shut down restaurants, and how she received letters accusing her of ruining lives along with businesses.

“All of this seeped into my heart and soul and left me numb,” she wrote, later saying that “every single death was a tragedy I felt deeply.”

You somehow knew she was telling the truth.

This pandemic is a killer and remains a killer. U.S. President Joe Biden said the other day that the half-million virus deaths in his country was more than the U.S. casualties in the First World War, the Second World War, Vietnam and 9/11 combined.

Let that sink in. COVID-19 is the worst serial killer in the present world’s memory. And it is still out there.

Even with vaccines all in, we will still be wearing face masks well into the foreseeable future.

This is good news for people with weak chins or bad teeth. But good news for no one else.

markbonokoski@gmail.com

BONOKOSKI: Buckle up, year two of the global pandemic has just begun

So, a year has now passed since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 to be a virus hurling itself around the globe.

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Actress strips naked at award show to protest France's COVID-19 strategy
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Publishing date:Mar 13, 2021 • 5 hours ago • 1 minute read • comment bubbleJoin the conversation
Actress Corinne Masiero, wearing a "Peau d'Ane" costume, delivers a speech on stage next to Master of Ceremony Marina Fois during the 46th Cesar Awards ceremony at the Olympia concert hall in Paris, March 12, 2021.
Actress Corinne Masiero, wearing a "Peau d'Ane" costume, delivers a speech on stage next to Master of Ceremony Marina Fois during the 46th Cesar Awards ceremony at the Olympia concert hall in Paris, March 12, 2021. PHOTO BY BERTRAND GUAY /Pool via REUTERS
Article content
PARIS — French actress Corinne Masiero stripped naked on stage during a scaled-back Cesar Awards ceremony in Paris to protest the government’s months-long closure of theaters and cinemas during the coronavirus pandemic.

She had “no culture no future” written on her chest and “give us art back Jean” on her back, in a message to Prime Minister Jean Castex.


Masiero, 57, was on stage to present the award for best costume, wearing a donkey outfit and a blood-stained dress before she stripped before the audience.

France’s answer to the Oscars, the ceremony is in normal times the biggest night on the French cinema calendar but on Friday there were no flashbulbs on the red carpet and no partners on the arms of award nominees.

The ceremony took place at a theater as anger and frustration grows amongst actors, musicians and artists at the government’s unwillingness to set a date for the reopening of museums, galleries, concert halls and movie houses.

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Marina Fois, one of France’s best known comedians, took aim at the government’s months-long closure of theaters and cinemas during the coronavirus pandemic in a searing speech to open the ceremony.

Fois, who hosted the night, took a swipe at Culture Minister Roselyne Bachelot for finding time to write a book during the COVID-19 crisis and said: “I’m losing confidence in you.”

Nor did she hold back from attacking the French government’s broader strategy to counter the COVID-19 crisis, as cases in the country topped 4 million.


“They cooped up our youngsters, closed our cinemas and theaters and banned concerts so that they could open churches, because we’re a secular country, so that old people could go to church,” she said. The majority of French people are Roman Catholic.

Across the capital, several dozen protesters were occupying the Odeon Theatre for an eighth night demanding cultural venues be reopened and more financial support.

Actress strips naked at award show to protest France's COVID-19 strategy

PARIS — French actress Corinne Masiero stripped naked on stage during a scaled-back Cesar Awards ceremony in Paris to protest the government’s months-long closure o…

torontosun.com

 

[taxme]

'WE WILL REMEMBER THEM': Canada marks national day of observance for COVID-19 victims
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Publishing date:Mar 11, 2021 • 49 minutes ago • 4 minute read • comment bubble29 Comments
Teachers dressed in red participate in a solidarity march to raise awareness about cases of COVID-19 at Ecole Woodward Hill Elementary School, in Surrey, B.C., on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021.
Teachers dressed in red participate in a solidarity march to raise awareness about cases of COVID-19 at Ecole Woodward Hill Elementary School, in Surrey, B.C., on Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2021. PHOTO BY DARRYL DYCK /THE CANADIAN PRESS
Article content
OTTAWA — Flags across the country were flown at half-mast and tributes poured in to lost loved ones on Thursday as Canada marked the one-year anniversary of COVID-19 being declared a global pandemic.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rose in the House of Commons Thursday and said March 11, 2020 will always be marked by a before and an after.


Since the pandemic began, 2.5 million people around the world have died due to COVID-19, with more than 22,000 of them in Canada.

“For families and close ones, each death has a before and an after,” Trudeau said.

“Since the great wars of the 20th century, there is a sentence we often evoke, and it’s a sentence that we can bring back for those that we lost this year during the pandemic: We will remember them.”

Commemorations were held in different parts of the country including Quebec, which has accounted for nearly half the country’s death toll with more than 10,500 dead.

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Premier Francois Legault and other elected members carried white roses that were laid at the foot of a wreath during a ceremony in front of the provincial legislature.

In a brief speech, the premier noted that the pandemic has taken a disproportionate toll on the elderly.

“The virus hit very hard, and it above all hit our elders to whom we owe everything, our elders who built the Quebec of today,” Legault said to a small crowd that included cabinet members, opposition party leaders, health-care workers and family members of those who died.

“We lost grandmothers, grandfathers, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters friends, and today Quebec remembers these people that left us too soon.”

Edmonton’s mayor announced the city’s flags would fly at half-mast, while Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he would seek consent from the legislature to observe a moment of silence recognizing all Ontarians who have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a statement, Ford described the pandemic as “one of the grimmest chapters in modern health history,” but one that had also spawned “incredible acts of kindness, compassion and generosity” from front line health care workers, businesses, essential workers and volunteers.


Flags were also flown at half-mast in British Columbia, where Premier John Horgan paid tribute to the nearly 1,400 residents who lost their lives to COVID-19 and the efforts of British Columbians to fight the pandemic.

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“Many people have faced loneliness. All of us have faced uncertainty,” he wrote on Twitter. “But while our lives have changed, the resolve of British Columbians has not.”

Trudeau chose to make Thursday a national day of remembrance because it was the one-year anniversary of the World Health Organization declaring COVID-19 a global pandemic.

The prime minister evoked the memories of Canadians being asked to stay home and stay safe, of essential workers stocking grocery store shelves and of people cheering health-care workers from their balconies.

“Businesses stepped up and produced (personal protective equipment),” Trudeau said. “Some went from making hockey masks to face shields: It doesn’t get any more Canadian than that.”

The prime minister briefly touched on the multiple tragedies in long-term care centres, where seniors across the country died in the thousands from the disease, often in circumstances of labour shortages and immense personal hardship.

“For every senior in Canada, we must do better, and I know that we will,” he said.

Trudeau ended his speech on a hopeful note, telling Canadian that millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccine are on the way, allowing provinces to accelerate their vaccination campaigns. Health Canada has approved four COVID-19 vaccines so far, and 1.5 per cent of the population has been fully vaccinated.

Officials in Canada struck a reassuring tone on the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine on Thursday, after several European countries suspended its use after reports of blood clots following inoculations. At least nine countries fully or partially halted their rollouts of the vaccine pending further investigation, though none suggested there is a link between the clots and getting the vaccine.

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Both Quebec and Alberta’s top public health officials issued statements on Thursday saying there is currently nothing to indicate the vaccine is unsafe, while promising to monitor the situation carefully.

Ontario announced it was placing, Sudbury, Ont., into lockdown as of Friday to curb the spread of more contagious COVID-19 variants and protect health system capacity after a spike in cases.

The province’s science advisers released new modelling that concluded the province’s ability to control the spread of COVID-19 variants over the next few weeks will determine if there will be a third wave of infection.

The province’s Science Advisory Table said that while the drive to vaccinate residents and workers in long-term care has paid off in declining deaths and illness, progress against the virus has stalled outside that sector. It said Ontarians will have to be strict about masking and physical distancing to prevent a new surge linked to variants.

The news was better in British Columbia, where rules were relaxed to allow outdoor gatherings of up to 10 people.

Dr. Bonnie Henry, the province’s chief public health officer, said while the infection curve of the pandemic is trending down on Vancouver Island and in the Interior and Northern health regions, COVID-19 is still circulating in communities, particularly in the Lower Mainland.

Canada’s chief public health officer said in a statement that daily COVID-19 case counts have levelled off after declining nationally from mid-January through mid-February.

Severe outcomes have continued to decline, Dr. Theresa Tam said, with an average of 2,064 people with COVID-19 treated in Canadian hospitals each day in the past week.

'WE WILL REMEMBER THEM': Canada marks national day of observance for COVID-19 victims

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rose in the House of Commons Thursday and said March 11, 2020 will always be marked by a before and an after.

torontosun.com

View attachment 6886​

NO NO NO!!!!!! This Cant Be True Can It?​

School allows children to remove masks if they are good. Is this an admission that masks cause discomfort? If so, then it's child abuse.

But but I thought that some teachers were terrified of catching Covid 1984 from their students? but now it is okay if the little kiddies are good? This just shows that this is all just plain Covid 1984 bull shit. What is being done to children these days is an abuse against children and abuse against humanity. When will people start to smarten up and stop playing this plandemic Covid 1984 game for good? It's all just a joke, don't you know?

 

[spaminator]

Three people in Norway treated for 'unusual symptoms' after AstraZeneca COVID-19 shots
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Gwladys Fouche and Terje Solsvik
Publishing date:Mar 13, 2021 • 4 hours ago • 1 minute read • comment bubble6 Comments
A vial of some of the first 500,000 of the two million AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses that Canada has secured through a deal with the Serum Institute of India in partnership with Verity Pharma at a facility in Milton, Ont., March 3, 2021.
A vial of some of the first 500,000 of the two million AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses that Canada has secured through a deal with the Serum Institute of India in partnership with Verity Pharma at a facility in Milton, Ont., March 3, 2021. PHOTO BY CARLOS OSORIO /REUTERS
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OSLO — Three health workers in Norway who had recently received the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine are being treated in hospital for bleeding, blood clots and a low count of blood platelets, Norwegian health authorities said on Saturday.

Norway halted the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine on Thursday, following a similar move by Denmark. Iceland later followed suit.


“We do not know if the cases are linked to the vaccine,” Sigurd Hortemo, a senior doctor at the Norwegian Medicines Agency told a news conference held jointly with the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.

All three individuals were under the age of 50.

The European medicine regulator, the European Medicines Agency (EMA,) would investigate the three incidents, Hortemo said.

“They have very unusual symptoms: bleeding, blood clots and a low count of blood platelets,” Steinar Madsen, Medical Director at the Norwegian Medicines Agency told broadcaster NRK.

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“They are quite sick…We take this very seriously,” he said, adding that authorities had received notification of the cases on Saturday.

AstraZeneca said an analysis of its safety data covering reported cases from over 17 million vaccine doses given had shown no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis or thrombocytopenia – having low levels of platelets.

“In fact, the reported numbers of these types of events for COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca are not greater than the number that would have occurred naturally in the unvaccinated population,” a company spokeswoman said.

Such trends or patterns were also not observed during clinical trials for the vaccine, she added.

Before Denmark and Norway stopped their rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine, Austria stopped using a batch of the shots while investigating a death from coagulation disorders and an illness from a pulmonary embolism.


The EMA said on Thursday the vaccine’s benefits outweighed its risks and that it could continue to be administered.

Europe is struggling to speed up a vaccine rollout after delivery delays from Pfizer and AstraZeneca, even though new cases have spiked in some countries.

Three people in Norway treated for 'unusual symptoms' after AstraZeneca COVID-19 shots

OSLO — Three health workers in Norway who had recently received the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine are being treated in hospital for bleeding, blood clots and a low c…

torontosun.com

 

[petros]

Are we dead yet?

 

[Blackleaf]

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MASK UP The Mexican Wrestlers are Coming ​

 

[petros]

Viva Lucha libre!