COVID-19 'Pandemic'

[spaminator]

'CANADA'S F-----': Joe Rogan sounds off on our country's lockdown measures
Author of the articleostmedia News
Publishing date:May 07, 2021 • 1 day ago • 2 minute read • 19 Comments
Announcer Joe Rogan reacts during UFC 249 at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena on May 09, 2020 in Jacksonville, Florida.
Announcer Joe Rogan reacts during UFC 249 at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena on May 09, 2020 in Jacksonville, Florida. PHOTO BY DOUGLAS P. DEFELICE /Getty Images
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It seems that Joe Rogan has plenty to say when it comes to COVID-19.

One week the outspoken podcaster suggested young people forego getting a Covid vaccine — a comment he later backpedalled on — the next week he is calling out the Great White North for our country’s lengthy and strict lockdowns during the pandemic.


On the April 29 edition of the Joe Rogan Experience, Rogan said “Canada’s fucked” because the country is “so locked-down and I don’t understand why they think that’s good.”

Speaking with Canadian chef Matty Matheson on the podcast, Rogan agreed with his guest that Canada is “juiced” and “f—–” because of the lockdowns.

Matheson told Rogan there’s a lot of overreaction when it comes to the coronavirus. He also called Ontario Premier Doug Ford “a piece of s—.”


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Responding to Matheson, Rogan went on a rant about the strict lockdown orders.

“You can’t do that to Canada,” he said. “You can’t do Canada where you have Gestapo pulling people over for your papers. ‘Why are you out of the house? There’s a cold floating around. Why are you out of the house?’”

Rogan then compared Canada’s handling of the coronavirus to the United States, noting how successful the state of Florida has done things. He said he was just in Florida where it seems like “nothing’s happening” in terms of COVID-19.

“Like maybe you’ll get sick, maybe you won’t,” said Rogan. “But we’re out here with no masks on, 15,000 people in an arena for the UFC fights. It was madness. It was powerful.”

The gabby Rogan then gives Canadians some health advice: “Take your Vitamin D. Sleep. Drink Water. Let’s go.”


Well, Canadians took to social media responded to Rogan and Matheson’s comments. And they didn’t mince words.

“Yeah, Joe Rogan and @mattymatheson, I’m sure water, vitamin D and sleep could’ve saved my former coworker — one of the best guys I ever knew, with eight grandkids — who just got COVID and passed away. Good work, you dangerous loons. Keep killing people,” one person responded on Twitter.


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Some Canadians came to Rogan’s defence and agreed with his stance on lockdowns.

“Good see Joe Rogan calling it how it is on Canada’s lockdowns. I was in the US it’s so much better. People aren’t walking around depressed all the time like here. Never thought I’d have to leave Canada to freely live my life,” one person posted in agreement.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1390356436107079685

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1390344896322621441

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1390086811796574208

#1641 - Matty Matheson

The Joe Rogan Experience · Episode

open.spotify.com

'CANADA'S F-----': Joe Rogan sounds off on our country's lockdown measures

It seems that Joe Rogan has plenty to say when it comes to COVID-19.

torontosun.com

 

[Blackleaf]

Rules @ Mon Boris Is A Genius EXTRA Freedom From Monday Is Final Nail For Keir & Labour​

 

[spaminator]

Public health tweets struggled to reflect local realities at start of pandemic: Study
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Publishing date:May 10, 2021 • 1 day ago • 1 minute read • Join the conversation
Closeup man hands typing write message on smart phone, Chat with friends, social nekwork.
Closeup man hands typing write message on smart phone, Chat with friends, social nekwork. PHOTO BY FILE PHOTO /Getty Images
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A new study that examined thousands of tweets from Canadian public health officials during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic suggests many struggled to tailor messaging to local communities.

The study published online this month in the journal Health & Place analyzed close to 7,000 tweets from public health agencies and officials at all levels of government over the first six months of last year.

Researchers at McMaster University and the University of Waterloo found the tweets initially focused on sharing information from experts, before shifting to promoting health measures such as social distancing.

But they say the messages often failed to reflect the situation in local communities despite the significant variations in transmission levels and other factors.

The study also found only two per cent of tweets addressed misinformation and myths surrounding COVID-19.

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The researchers say acknowledging uncertainty and public concerns is a key part of building trust and promoting health measures during a public health crisis.

“It has been critical for public health officials, who are often considered trusted experts, to provide quick and clear information on disease transmission, what constitutes safe and risky behaviour and what community supports are available to slow the spread of the virus,” lead author Catherine Slavik said in a statement.

“Tweets that focus on community efforts to fight the pandemic… are really important for building institutional trust, for establishing human connections between the community and local officials who are there to serve them. We were surprised public health officials did not put more emphasis on messages showcasing people coming together or local programs helping to keep us safe,” said Slavik, a graduate student of health geography at McMaster University.

Public health tweets struggled to reflect local realities at start of pandemic: Study

A new study that examined thousands of tweets from Canadian public health officials during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic suggests many struggled to …

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

Hundreds of New York coronavirus victims still lie in refrigerated trucks
Between 500 and 800 bodies have been stored in the trucks since April 2020

Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Brittany Shammas
Publishing date:May 10, 2021 • 1 day ago • 2 minute read • 8 Comments
Refrigerated tractor trailers used to store bodies of deceased people are seen at a temporary morgue, with the Statue of Liberty seen in the background, during the COVID-19 outbreak, in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, May 13, 2020.
Refrigerated tractor trailers used to store bodies of deceased people are seen at a temporary morgue, with the Statue of Liberty seen in the background, during the COVID-19 outbreak, in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, May 13, 2020. PHOTO BY BRENDAN MCDERMID /REUTERS
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When New York emerged as the centre of the coronavirus pandemic last spring, the overwhelmed city began storing the bodies of victims in refrigerated trucks along the Brooklyn waterfront.

More than a year later, hundreds remain in the makeshift morgues on the 39th Street Pier in Sunset Park.


In a report to a city council health committee last week, officials with the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner acknowledged that the remains of about 750 COVID-19 victims are still being stored inside the trucks, the nonprofit news website The City reported. Officials said during a Wednesday committee meeting that they will try to lower the number soon.

Dina Maniotis, executive deputy commissioner with the medical examiner’s office, said most of the bodies could end up on Hart Island, off the Bronx, where the has city buried its poor and unclaimed for more than a century.

“We will continue to work with families,” Maniotis told the health committee, according to The City. “As soon as the family tells us they would like their loved one transferred to Hart Island, we do that very quickly.”

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With more than a million people buried there, the mile-long land mass in the Long Island Sound is home to the largest mass grave in the United States.

Up to one-tenth of the city’s coronavirus victims may be interred on the island, according to an analysis conducted through a collaboration between The City and the Stabile Center for Investigative Reporting at Columbia University’s graduate school of journalism. The analysis revealed that at least 2,334 adults were buried on the island in 2020 — more than double the number from 2019.

In March and April 2020, New York City was among the hardest hit areas in the world. The medical examiner’s office, equipped to handle 20 daily deaths, was instead flooded with as many as 200 per day, The Wall Street Journal reported.

“Long term storage was created at the height of the pandemic to ensure that families could lay their loved ones to rest as they see fit,” medical examiner’s office spokesman Mark Desire told The Associated Press on Friday. “With sensitivity and compassion, we continue to work with individual families on a case-by-case basis during their period of mourning.”


Between 500 and 800 bodies have been stored in the trucks since April 2020, according to estimates collected by The City and the Stabile Center.

Most families of the victims remaining in the trucks have said they want the Hart Island burial option, Maniotis told the health commission. In some cases, she said, the city has lost contact with families.

The refrigerated trucks, including 85 sent to the city by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, were parked outside hospitals during the city’s deadliest days of the pandemic, becoming one of the most visible signs of its toll.

The news about the bodies remaining in the trucks comes as New York City prepares to remove most of its remaining coronavirus restrictions in a move toward a kind of normalcy not seen since early 2020.

Hundreds of New York coronavirus victims still lie in refrigerated trucks

Between 500 and 800 bodies have been stored in the trucks since April 2020

torontosun.com

 

[Danbones]

SMOKING GUN VIDEO: Fauci Project Manager Confesses to Creating Covid-19​

SMOKING GUN VIDEO: Fauci Project Manager Confesses to Creating Covid-19

⁣May 11, 2021 The Alex Jones Show The top project manager who organized gain of function studies in Wuhan China and then ran a coverup over the leak, brags about his work pre pandemic. This is damning video for the

brandnewtube.com

VIDEO right from the horse's mouth


HOLY FK...SMH

 

[spaminator]

Holy dosage, Batman, Italian woman gets six vaccine shots
Author of the articleostmedia News
Publishing date:May 11, 2021 • 6 hours ago • 1 minute read • Join the conversation
An Italian woman should have a lot of COVID-19 protection after mistakenly being administered six doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
An Italian woman should have a lot of COVID-19 protection after mistakenly being administered six doses of the Pfizer vaccine. PHOTO BY CIRO DE LUCA /Reuters
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An Italian woman should have a lot of COVID-19 protection after mistakenly being administered six doses of the Pfizer vaccine.

The 23-year-old was safely discharged from a hospital on Monday, according to CNN.


Daniella Gianelli, a spokesperson for Noa hospital in Tuscany, told CNN the woman had been hospitalized for 24 hours as a precaution in case she suffered any adverse reactions but was deemed to be in “good health” with no complications after the mishap.

Apparently, a nurse filled up a syringe with a full vial, instead of only one dose.

“She saw five empty syringes and realized her mistake,” Gianelli told CNN.

The identity of the woman who got the vaccines was not revealed, but the hospital did say she is an intern there in the hospital’s psychology department so it will be easy to monitor her.

The New York Daily Newsreported that experts don’t think getting extra vaccine doses will result in serious complications and that the woman will still have to return for a second shot.

Some American prison inmates reportedly received six times the recommended dose and experienced body aches, fevers and other side effects, but none had to be hospitalized.

Holy dosage, Batman, Italian woman gets six vaccine shots

An Italian woman should have a lot of COVID-19 protection after mistakenly being administered six doses of the Pfizer vaccine.

torontosun.com

 

[B00Mer]

Chinese Virologist Claims China Created And Deliberately Unleashed Coronavirus​

MSN

 

[taxslave]

Chinese Virologist Claims China Created And Deliberately Unleashed Coronavirus​

MSN

No surprise. But it doesn't fit with turdOWE's party line that China told him to promote.

 

[spaminator]

Garneau quarantine travel to Iceland raises government confusion over rules
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Stephanie Taylor
Publishing date:May 12, 2021 • 2 hours ago • 2 minute read • Join the conversation
European High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, left, meets Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau ahead of a bilateral meeting during the G7 Foreign and Development Ministers at Lancaster House on May 4, 2021 in London.
European High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, left, meets Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau ahead of a bilateral meeting during the G7 Foreign and Development Ministers at Lancaster House on May 4, 2021 in London. PHOTO BY JUSTIN TALLIS-WPA POOL /Getty Images
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OTTAWA — Plans for Canada’s foreign affairs minister to take his second international trip in less than a month have raised questions around what’s allowed for those in quarantine and a discrepancy between what Canadians are told and what regulations actually say.

Marc Garneau’s office says he’s in quarantine after returning from a G7 foreign ministers’ meeting in the United Kingdom last week.


His office says he arrived back in Canada on May 6, and stayed for two nights in a federal government-approved hotel in Montreal, as required by Ottawa for those entering the country by air to prevent further spread of COVID-19.

On May 18, one day before he finishes his mandatory 14-quarantine, he’s set to leave for the 12th ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council on May 19-20 in Reykjavik, Iceland.

The trip comes as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Public Health Agency of Canada have spent months telling Canadians to forgo non-essential travel to protect themselves and the country from the novel coronavirus and its more virulent mutations, which are driving a spike in cases and hospitalizations.

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Trudeau has characterized Garneau’s second trip as essential, noting that travel required for work is still allowed and the necessary rules will be followed.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh suggested Garneau should not make the trip.

“As leaders, we need to use our position to set a good example and avoid any non-essential travel,” Singh told a news conference Wednesday.

Singh called it “shocking” the Liberals don’t appear to be following their own rules.


Asked about why Garneau, who was vaccinated with a first doseback in March, is allowed to exit his 14-day quarantine one day early, Global Affairs Canada pointed to a federal regulation.

It reads “a person who is in quarantine after entering Canada by aircraft may leave Canada before the expiry of the 14-day period if they remain in quarantine until they depart from Canada.”

However, that rule is different than what the federal government says on its own website around mandatory quarantine and isolation.

It says people may choose to leave the country before the end of their 14-day quarantine but, “You must use a private vehicle to depart Canada. You will not be allowed to board a flight if you are currently under a quarantine order.”

Similarly, the government’s website says those experiencing COVID-19 symptoms wishing to leave the country before the end of their 14-day isolation must do so by private vehicle and not take public transportation.

When questioned on the discrepancy, a Global Affairs Canada spokeswoman referred back to the federal regulations, including one stating someone in isolation may leave Canada at the discretion of a screening officer before their two weeks is up in a “private conveyance.”

“We invite you to refer to order-in-council 50 for information about quarantine and isolation. For further information about quarantine and isolation, please contact the Public Health Agency of Canada,” reads a statement.

His office said the minister flew commercially to the United Kingdom.

Ricky Landry, a spokesman for Garneau, said the minister will be taking one of the Canadian military’s Challenger jets to Iceland. The aircraft are available to cabinet ministers as well as the prime minister.

Trudeau has said he hopes to travel to the G7 leaders meeting in the U.K. in June.

Garneau quarantine travel to Iceland raises government confusion over rules

OTTAWA — Plans for Canada’s foreign affairs minister to take his second international trip in less than a month have raised questions around what’s allowed for thos…

torontosun.com

 

[taxslave]

Should have given him a one way ticket.

 

[spaminator]

Questions remain about the future of the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot in Canada
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Nicole Thompson
Publishing date:May 12, 2021 • 2 hours ago • 4 minute read • Join the conversation
A health worker prepares a dose of the Covishield AstraZeneca-Oxford's Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine at a vaccination centre in Karachi on May 12, 2021.
A health worker prepares a dose of the Covishield AstraZeneca-Oxford's Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine at a vaccination centre in Karachi on May 12, 2021. PHOTO BY ASIF HASSAN /AFP via Getty Images
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Questions remained Wednesday about the future of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in Canada as the federal government prepared to receive hundreds of thousands of doses while provinces limited use of the shot.

Nova Scotia and Manitoba both announced new restrictions on the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine Wednesday, following similar news out of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Quebec a day earlier.


Most provinces said they’re pausing the use of AstraZeneca for most — if not all — first doses due to a lack of supply, and it wasn’t immediately clear how the 655,000 doses Ottawa expects to distribute next week will affect those plans.

But Manitoba, Ontario and Nova Scotia have pointed to a connection between the AstraZeneca vaccine and a rare blood-clotting condition as part of the reason for their pause.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, for his part, said he intends to get a second jab of AstraZeneca.

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“I talked to my doctor just last week and he recommended that I indeed get a second dose of AstraZeneca in the coming weeks or months when it becomes available,” he said in question period on Wednesday.

Trudeau urged others to consult with their doctors, too.

MORE ON THIS TOPIC

Residents living in Ottawa hot spots Overbrook and Vanier get their vaccine at a pop-up clinic at the Howard Darwin Centennial Arena on May 11, 2021.
Ontario targets June to vaccinate youth ages 12 and up
Helen Briggs, a pharmacist, holds up a tray of syringes as Lirie Palamind an RPN (background) loads up them up with Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the Humber River Hospital clinic held at Downsview Arena on April 21, 2021.
Delaying second COVID-19 vaccine doses can help reduce deaths: Study

Manitoba, for one, has said it will continue administering first doses of AstraZeneca to those who are unlikely to get other shots, but will otherwise reserve its supply for second doses.

It’s due to receive 20,000 doses of AstraZeneca in the next shipment.

Ontario, meanwhile, is deciding when and whether to offer second doses of AstraZeneca to those who got a first shot of that vaccine.

The province is due to receive a quarter-million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine next week, in addition to about 50,000 doses it has sitting in refrigerators with an expiry date just weeks away.

“We don’t expect that there will be any, or perhaps just a few doses, that may expire,” Health Minister Christine Elliott said. “However, this is out of an abundance of caution, because the safety and well-being of the people of Ontario has to be our top priority.”

British Columbia, too, has said it intends to use most of its few remaining AstraZeneca doses to give people their second jabs.

The uncertainty over AstraZeneca has rankled some who already received their first dose of that vaccine and are undeterred by the risk of vaccine-induced thrombotic thrombocytopenia, also known as VITT.

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A group of scientists advising the Ontario government has pegged the rate in Canada at one in 55,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine as of May 8, though it noted that some presumptive cases were still being investigated.

More than two million Canadians have received AstraZeneca and 17 have been confirmed to have VITT. Three women have died.

Alison Meek, who received her first dose of AstraZeneca last week, said she’d take a second shot of the same vaccine “in a heartbeat.”


“I would have taken any of the ones that was offered. I think it is important not just for our own health, but to protect those around us. I think it’s needed to get out of this — these lockdowns that we’re in,” said Meek, who lives in London, Ont., and teaches history at Western University.

She said she had muscle aches and a fever after the shot but is happy with her decision.

“I have no regrets whatsoever, and would happily take the second dose,” Meek said.

Toronto writer Emily Saso, 40, also stands by her decision to get the AstraZeneca shot in late April to guard against the risk of her husband bringing the COVID-19 virus home from work.

But Saso said shifting messages surrounding the AstraZeneca vaccine have done little to quell her long-standing fear of blood clots.

“It was definitely a failure of communication,” she said. “And that added to my anxiety, which was already high.”

Experts have noted that the risk of clotting is much higher among people diagnosed with COVID-19 than those who received the AstraZeneca shot.

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Health Canada’s chief medical adviser has said that from an authorization perspective, AstraZeneca’s benefits against COVID-19 still outweigh the rare risk of VIIT.

As questions over the use of AstraZeneca continue to swirl, however, health officials in all provinces are watching for the results of a British study on mixing and matching vaccines.

Data could come on AstraZeneca and Pfizer as early as this week, with many health experts expecting very positive results from combining two different vaccines.

The ongoing questions surrounding AstraZeneca come as the rate of COVID-19 infection drops modestly, though daily case counts remain high.

Alberta continued to have the highest infection rate in the country Wednesday. It reported 1,799 new cases and four additional deaths due to the virus.

Saskatchewan counted 183 new cases and two more deaths, while Manitoba recorded 364 new infections and three additional deaths.

Ontario had 2,320 new COVID-19 diagnoses and 32 added deaths, while Quebec reported 745 new cases and 11 more deaths.

Farther east, New Brunswick added nine new cases of the virus, Nova Scotia reported 149 and Newfoundland and Labrador saw 10.

Nunavut, meanwhile, logged eight new cases.

Yukon, which has one active case and did not report any more on Wednesday, announced it will vaccinate all kids aged 12 and up with the Pfizer shot.

It’s aiming to administer first doses by the end of the school year, and fully vaccinate the youths by mid-July.

Questions remain about the future of the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot in Canada

Questions remained Wednesday about the future of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in Canada as the federal government prepared to receive hundreds of thousands of dos…

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

LILLEY: Land border crossers not being tested
Author of the article:Brian Lilley
Publishing date:May 12, 2021 • 2 hours ago • 3 minute read • Join the conversation
A car waits to enter Canada at the Canada-United States border crossing at the Thousand Islands Bridge in Lansdowne, Ont., Sept. 28, 2020.
A car waits to enter Canada at the Canada-United States border crossing at the Thousand Islands Bridge in Lansdowne, Ont., Sept. 28, 2020. PHOTO BY LARS HAGBERG /REUTERS
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Just 16% of all the people who have entered Canada at a land border crossing since Feb. 22 have received a COVID-19 test.

The figures come from a comparison of data from the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency.


The news comes the day after Postmedia reported that almost one-third of air travellers were deemed exempt from the government’s quarantine hotels. Just as with that National Post story, the Public Health Agency of Canada refused to explain why there was such a wide discrepancy.

Between Feb. 22 and April 18, more than 575,000 people crossed into Canada from the United States at a land border station. That figure does not include commercial truck drivers who are exempt from testing requirements and counted separately by CBSA.

Yet data from PHAC shows that just more than 120,000 people were tested at land borders between Feb. 22 and May 4. Given that more than 75,000 people per week have been crossing the land borders in recent weeks, that means that more than 750,0000 people have crossed into Canada but just 16% have been tested.

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The only answer from PHAC was to send a link to a government website on who is exempt. That would include essential workers, government officials, diplomats, and members of the Canadian Armed Forces.

None of that would explain why more than 80% of the people crossing the border are not being tested.

Essential workers such as nurses who take positions in American hospitals were still going across the border a year ago during COVID and yet land border crossings for most of April were double what they were a year ago. There is also the growth over the last few months from 63,600 people crossing during the week of Feb. 22 to 79,400 people crossing the week of April 12.

Yet the government still maintains that they have prohibited non-essential travel into Canada, a claim made just last week by Minister of Intergovernmental Relations Dominic Leblanc in a letter to the Ford government in Ontario.


“This includes the unprecedented step of closing the border with the United States for all but essential supply lines and workers who deliver food and medicines, as well as for a very limited number of exceptions for humanitarian purposes,” Leblanc wrote.

Really, then why were there 79,400 people crossing the land border during the week of April 12, 2021 but only about 37,000 people crossing in the same period in 2020?

Leblanc goes on to tell other whoppers about the border, including making statements that would make you believe that only Canadians are allowed in.

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“Foreign nationals are prohibited from entering Canada for non-essential purposes, with a very limited number of exemptions,” Leblanc wrote, while listing off some exemptions but not all. What he left off the list is that Canadian citizens can bring in a long list of non-citizen relatives from step-siblings to grandparents.

As I keep pointing out, it’s illegal for me to visit my mother 45 minutes down the highway but perfectly legal for her to bring her brother over from Scotland.

Still, Leblanc wrote that “Canada has the most comprehensive border measures in the western world.”

Those are the same measures that let a number of variants into the country, including the B.1.1.7 variant from the U.K. that is now driving the third waves in Ontario and Alberta. Fully, 90% of the cases in Ontario are this variant which came in via travel.

MORE ON THIS TOPIC

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau looks on during a news conference in Ottawa, March 30, 2021.
LILLEY: Trudeau dismissive of border concerns as fear of fourth COVID wave looms
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (L) and Premier Doug Ford
LILLEY: Ford correct to say Trudeau's border measures don't go far enough
LILLEY: Variants arriving shows Canada must tighten border restrictions

Amid all the other problems in Canada’s border and quarantine system, we now know that 30% of air travellers get to skip the quarantine hotel and just 16% of land entrants are tested. The government won’t explain either of these discrepancies, just claim that we have the strongest border measures in the world.

Sadly, the journalists in Ottawa covering Trudeau and his government won’t call him out on these lies and simply repeat them ad nauseam.

LILLEY: Land border crossers not being tested

Just 16% of all the people who have entered Canada at a land border crossing since Feb. 22 have received a COVID-19 test.

torontosun.com

 

[B00Mer]

2 quarantine hotels in the GTA hit with COVID-19 outbreaks

2 quarantine hotels in the GTA hit with COVID-19 outbreaks - CityNews Toronto

Two quarantine hotels in the GTA, where international travellers are required to stay after arriving at Pearson International Airport, have been hit by COVID-19 outbreaks.

toronto.citynews.ca

 

[spaminator]

'JUST SNAPPED': Wife claims COVID drove her to murder love rival
Michelle Boat, 59, was convicted of killing Tracy Mondabough, 46, in May 2020

Author of the article:Brad Hunter
Publishing date:May 12, 2021 • 13 hours ago • 2 minute read • Join the conversation
Michelle Boat blamed COVID for her killing her love rival in a jealous rage.
Michelle Boat blamed COVID for her killing her love rival in a jealous rage. PHOTO BY HANDOUT /IOWA DEPT. OF CORRECTIONS
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An Iowa housewife who claimed the COVID-19 pandemic drove her to kill her hubby’s younger girlfriend has been convicted of first-degree murder.

Michelle Boat, 59, fatally stabbed Tracy Mondabough, 46, in May 2020.


She showed no emotion as the verdict was being read, CourtTV reported. Boat will be sentenced at a later date, however, the verdict carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison.

On the witness stand Monday, Boat claimed she “just snapped.”

“I grabbed the knife. And I just stabbed her, and I dropped the knife,” Boat testified.

Her legal team argued that she suffered a mental breakdown as a result of the pandemic and the charge should have been lowered to manslaughter.

Boat’s timeline of despair began on March 12, 2020 as the pandemic was gaining steam. While working in the laundry room of a local hospital, she discovered her husband was dumping her for a younger woman.

“Heartbroken, sad, despondent, devastated, destroyed. Like my whole life had just walked out the door. There weren’t going to be any more Thanksgivings or Christmases without him (husband Nicholas),” she said when she discovered her husband was leaving her.

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Tracy Mondabough, 46, was murdered in May 2020.
Tracy Mondabough, 46, was murdered in May 2020. PHOTO BY HANDOUT /IOWA STATE POLICE
By May 18, 2020, Boat was stalking Mondabough.

The younger woman was sitting in her car outside her apartment building when Boat struck, stabbing her.

Witnesses heard the attacker scream: “He don’t belong to you!”

And even Boat’s lawyer, Jill Eimermann, told jurors that cops got the right woman.

“This isn’t a movie, it’s not TV. What’s happening in here is a real-life tragedy,” Eimermann said in her opening argument.

“I will tell you that Michelle Boat is responsible. Michelle Boat is the one who had the knife … Michelle Boat is the one who stabbed her.”


But she said her client didn’t feel jealous or scorned, just the realization she was alone as the pandemic raged.

Her ex-husband said he met Mondabough on Facebook in early March 2020 and they soon began dating.

Prosecutors described Michelle Boat as a killer whose bloodlust was fuelled by jealousy. The murder was calculated, they argued.

Boat had marked off each day on a calendar since her husband had left.

bhunter@postmedia.com

@HunterTOSun

'JUST SNAPPED': Wife claims COVID drove her to murder love rival

Michelle Boat, 59, was convicted of killing Tracy Mondabough, 46, in May 2020

torontosun.com

 

[spaminator]

U.S. CDC identifies 28 clotting cases after J&J vaccine
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Publishing date:May 12, 2021 • 9 hours ago • 1 minute read • Join the conversation
Vials labelled "COVID-19 Coronavirus Vaccine" and syringe are seen in front of displayed Johnson & Johnson logo in this illustration taken, February 9, 2021.
Vials labelled "COVID-19 Coronavirus Vaccine" and syringe are seen in front of displayed Johnson & Johnson logo in this illustration taken, February 9, 2021. PHOTO BY DADO RUVIC /REUTERS
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NEW YORK — The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday it had identified 28 cases of serious, potentially life-threatening cases of blood clotting, among the more than 8.7 million people who had received the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.

The CDC said in a presentation that current evidence “suggests a plausible causal association” with the J&J vaccine and the cases of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS). TTS involves blood clots accompanied by a low level of platelets – the cells in the blood that help it to clot.


Three of the 28 have died. Previously, as of April 25, the CDC had reported 17 cases of clotting among nearly 8 million people given vaccines.

It said the events appear similar to what is being observed following administration of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in Europe.


The syndrome does not appear to be associated with either of the COVID-19 vaccines produce by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SA or Moderna Inc.

Most of the cases were among women aged 18 to 49, the CDC said. Rates among women aged 30-39 and 40-49 were particularly high, according to the presentation, at 12.4 cases per million and 9.4 cases per million, respectively.

Only six of the clotting events identified were in men.

U.S. CDC identifies 28 clotting cases after J&J vaccine

NEW YORK — The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday it had identified 28 cases of serious, potentially life-threatening cases of blood …

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Ohio governor offers chance at $1 million prize to get vaccinated
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Dan Whitcomb
Publishing date:May 12, 2021 • 55 minutes ago • 1 minute read • Join the conversation
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks with Ohio Governor Mike DeWine upon arrival at Rickenbacker International Airport in Columbus, Ohio on Oct. 24, 2020.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks with Ohio Governor Mike DeWine upon arrival at Rickenbacker International Airport in Columbus, Ohio on Oct. 24, 2020. PHOTO BY MANDEL NGAN /AFP via Getty Images
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As U.S. political leaders grow increasingly desperate to persuade Americans to get the coronavirus vaccine, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on Wednesday topped offers of baseball tickets and beer with a $1 million prize drawing.

DeWine, a Republican, said five Ohio residents would win the money in once-a-week drawings for adults who have received at least one dose of the now-plentiful vaccines. The funds will come from federal pandemic relief funds.


“I know that some may say, ‘DeWine, you’re crazy! This million-dollar drawing idea of yours is a waste of money,'” the governor said on Twitter. “But truly, the real waste at this point in the pandemic – when the vaccine is readily available to anyone who wants it – is a life lost to COVID-19.”

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Roughly 117 million Americans, more than one-third of the U.S. population, had been fully inoculated as of Wednesday, according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.

The pace of vaccinations has slowed in recent weeks due to ambivalence or skepticism about the medication and declining infections. The number of Americans seeking vaccinations has dropped by a third in recent weeks, according to the CDC.


New Jersey and Connecticut have made deals with bars and brewpubs to offer a free drink to the newly vaccinated. Maryland state employees who get inoculated are offered $100.

Last week, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the Mets and Yankees baseball clubs would hand out free tickets to fans who got inoculated at their parks before games.

Many U.S. states were expected this week to begin inoculating children aged 12 to 15 with the vaccine manufactured by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE after a CDC panel approved the plan earlier on Wednesday.

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Ohio governor offers chance at $1 million prize to get vaccinated

As U.S. political leaders grow increasingly desperate to persuade Americans to get the coronavirus vaccine, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on Wednesday topped offers of …

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Canadian maker of promising mRNA vaccine looks to test it against Pfizer in new trial
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Mia Rabson
Publishing date:May 13, 2021 • 10 hours ago • 3 minute read • Join the conversation
Brad Stevens, left and Brad Sorenson of Providence Therapeutics, were photographed at Northern RNA in Calgary on Jan. 25, 2021.
Brad Stevens, left and Brad Sorenson of Providence Therapeutics, were photographed at Northern RNA in Calgary on Jan. 25, 2021. PHOTO BY GAVIN YOUNG /Postmedia Network
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OTTAWA — A homegrown mRNA vaccine for COVID-19 shows promising results in its first small trial and its maker is hoping to test it directly against the vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech.

Calgary-based Providence Therapeutics says its vaccine produced no serious adverse events and developed good antibodies against COVID-19 that “compare favourably” with the two mRNA vaccines already on the market from Pfizer and Moderna.


“We’re extremely pleased,” said Providence CEO Brad Sorenson.

The Phase 1 trial included 60 healthy adults between 18 and 64, with more than half of them receiving two doses of the vaccine, four weeks apart. The results have not yet been peer-reviewed.

Sorenson said the next step is supposed to be a Phase 2 head-to-head trial that would test the effectiveness of Providence against Pfizer. Most vaccines in Phase 2 have been tested only against a placebo, but Sorenson said in a pandemic he feels it is unethical to give someone a placebo when they could otherwise be vaccinated.

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But to do the trial, Providence needs 500 doses of Pfizer, which he said neither the company nor the National Research Council has been willing to provide.

A spokeswoman for Pfizer said Thursday the company’s focus is only on getting the vaccine to meet an “urgent public health need” and will only sell its vaccine to the federal government.

“As such, we are not providing supply of our vaccine to third-parties to study the vaccine in comparative trials,” said Christina Antoniou.

Pfizer is the main component of Canada’s vaccination campaign to date, accounting for two-thirds of the deliveries as of this week.

A spokesman for Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said the government has informed Providence Ottawa is willing to help fund its Phase 2 trial, and continue to work with the company.

“Minister Champagne has spoken directly with Providence Therapeutics’ CEO and the chair of their board of directors to discuss our continued support for their work as they bring their vaccine candidate through the early stages of development,” said John Power.

A spokesman for the National Research Council said it doesn’t have access to doses of Pfizer or Moderna to help Providence, but is discussing the request with other departments that might be able to help, including Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Sorenson said Providence is also discussing with the World Health Organization the possibility of doing a Phase 3 trial in a developing country.

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Sorenson said if Health Canada supports both trials, they could be wrapped up by the end of the year. But Sorenson said he doesn’t feel supported by Ottawa and has threatened to take the business outside the country.

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The company has production agreements in place that should be able to produce 200 million doses a year, he said.

Providence is one of six Canadian companies that received funding from the National Research Council for COVID-19 vaccines that were in early stages of development.

The company received $4.9 million last October to help fund its Phase 1 trial. It also received $5 million in January from the next-generation manufacturing supercluster to help scale up its manufacturing of mRNA.

Canada currently doesn’t make any of the vaccines it is using — Pfizer is being made in Europe and the United States, Canada’s doses of Moderna are all coming from Europe, and Oxford-AstraZeneca is coming from the United States, India and South Korea.


The only Canadian-made vaccine among the seven procured by Canada for COVID-19 to date is Medicago’s plant-based protein vaccine, which is now in a Phase 3 trial and could be ready for mass production before the end of the year.

Medicago received $173 million in October to push its vaccine forward as well as an undisclosed sum for a contract to provide Canada at least 20 million doses if it is approved. Some of it will be made in Canada, but production will also take place in the U.S.

A lack of domestic drug manufacturing hurt Canada’s vaccination program, particularly early on, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the government is intent on fixing that ahead of the next global health crisis.

Canadian maker of promising mRNA vaccine looks to test it against Pfizer in new trial

OTTAWA — A homegrown mRNA vaccine for COVID-19 shows promising results in its first small trial and its maker is hoping to test it directly against the vaccine from…

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Maj-Gen. Dany Fortin leaves vaccine rollout post pending military investigation
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Publishing date:May 14, 2021 • 10 hours ago • 3 minute read • 69 Comments
Vice-President of Logistics and Operations at the Public Health Agency of Canada Major General Dany Fortin attends a news conference, as efforts continue to help slow the spread of COVID-19 in Ottawa, Dec. 7, 2020.
Vice-President of Logistics and Operations at the Public Health Agency of Canada Major General Dany Fortin attends a news conference, as efforts continue to help slow the spread of COVID-19 in Ottawa, Dec. 7, 2020. PHOTO BY BLAIR GABLE /REUTERS
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OTTAWA — The officer in charge of Canada’s vaccine rollout has left his assignment with the Public Health Agency of Canada pending the results of a military investigation.

The Department of National Defence announced in a news release Friday evening that Maj.-Gen. Dany Fortin is off the high-profile job.


There was no information released about the nature of the investigation.

The release says acting chief of the defence staff, Lt.-Gen. Wayne Eyre, will be reviewing next steps with Fortin.

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan issued a brief statement.

“As I have stated previously, I am committed to working to build a true culture of inclusion for the Canadian Armed Forces and the Department of National Defence, where everyone is treated with dignity and respect,” he said in an email.

“We are committed to this lasting change — one that sheds toxic and outdated values, practices, and policies.

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“The Acting Chief of Defence Staff has advised me that MGen Fortin has stepped aside. As there is an ongoing investigation, I will have no further comment at this time.”

Sajjan said the Canadian Armed Forces continues to fully support the vaccine rollout and the rest of the government’s response to COVID-19 across Canada.


The Public Health Agency of Canada and Health Minister Patty Hajdu’s office refused to comment on the impact of Fortin’s departure on the vaccine campaign. They referred all questions to the Department of National Defence.

Last November, Fortin was appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to oversee what he called the “greatest mobilization effort Canada has seen since the Second World War.”

Fortin has served in the military for almost 30 years. He commanded NATO’s training mission in Iraq and led Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan at the height of the fiercest fighting there.

It’s the latest blow for the military, which is currently dealing with the fallout from a sexual impropriety allegation levelled against the former chief of defence staff, retired general Jonathan Vance.

Military police are investigating allegations that Vance had a sexual relationship with an officer under his command and that he sent an off-colour email to a junior offer in 2012, before taking the military’s top job.

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Vance has not responded to requests for comment, but Global News, which first reported the allegations, says that he has denied any inappropriate conduct.

Shortly after reports of the Vance allegations, his replacement as chief of the defence staff, Admiral Art McDonald, stepped aside due to an unspecified allegation of misconduct. He, too, is now under military police investigation.

And another top commander, Vice-Admiral Haydn Edmundson, is also being investigated by the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service.

Maj.-Gen. Steve Whelan officially took over on Wednesday as the new officer responsible for human resources in the military, the position that Edmundson held before he was put on leave pending the results of the investigation.

Brian Greenspan, a lawyer for Edmundson, said Friday his client denies the allegations.

“It is regrettable that after 37 years of loyal service to Canada, Vice-Admiral Edmundson has been replaced in his role without an opportunity to appropriately respond and defend against untested allegations which he categorically and unequivocally denies,” Greenspan said in a statement.

Greenspan added that Edmundson wishes Whelan and his team “best wishes for success in their future endeavours and expresses his appreciation for their dedicated service to our country.”

There is nothing in Friday’s news release that suggests the investigation against Fortin deals with sexual allegations.

Maj-Gen. Dany Fortin leaves vaccine rollout post pending military investigation

OTTAWA — The officer in charge of Canada’s vaccine rollout has left his assignment with the Public Health Agency of Canada pending the results of a military investi…

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Irish health service hit by 'very sophisticated' ransomware attack
Author of the article:Reuters
Reuters
Padraic Halpin
Publishing date:May 14, 2021 • 1 day ago • 3 minute read • Join the conversation
A hooded man holds a laptop computer as cyber code is projected on him in this illustration picture taken on May 13, 2017.
A hooded man holds a laptop computer as cyber code is projected on him in this illustration picture taken on May 13, 2017. PHOTO BY KACPER PEMPEL/ILLUSTRATION /REUTERS
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DUBLIN — Ireland’s health service operator shut down all its IT systems on Friday to protect them from a “significant” ransomware attack, crippling diagnostic services, disrupting COVID-19 testing and forcing hospitals to cancel many appointments.

An international cyber crime gang was behind the attack, Ireland’s minister responsible for e-government said, describing it as possibly the most significant cyber crime attempt against the Irish state.

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Ireland’s COVID-19 vaccination program was not directly affected, but the attack was affecting IT systems serving all other local and national health provision, the head of the Health Service Executive (HSE) said.

“This is not espionage. It was an international attack, but this is just a cyber criminal gang looking for money,” minister Ossian Smyth told the national broadcaster RTE, saying he was unable to share all the information he had.

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The HSE had not yet received a ransom demand, officials said. The gang exploited a previously unknown vulnerability, a so-called “zero-day” attack because the software maker has had zero days’ notice to fix the hole.

It shut down the system as a precaution after discovering the attack in the early hours of Friday morning and will seek to gradually reopen the network over the course of the weekend or possibly longer, Smyth said.

The attack was largely affecting information stored on central servers and officials said they were not aware that any patient data had been compromised. Hospital equipment was not impacted, with the exception of radiography services.

“More services are working than not today,” the HSE’s Chief Operations Officer Anne O’Connor told RTE.

“However, if this continues to Monday, we will be in a very serious situation and will be canceling many services. At this moment, we can’t access lists of people scheduled for appointments on Monday so we don’t even know who to cancel.”


While scheduled COVID-19 tests will go ahead as planned on Friday, the HSE said its referrals system was down, meaning anyone else requiring a test must attend walk-in sites which are currently operating in just over half of Ireland’s 26 counties.

It was also unable to take new vaccine appointments but did not expect that to delay the rollout given the lag between registration and the administering of the jab.

A major Dublin maternity hospital canceled all outpatient appointments on Friday other than those for women 36 or more weeks pregnant or in need of urgent care. Routine appointments were also canceled in some but not all other hospitals.

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The state’s child and family agency, Tusla, said its IT systems, including the portal through which child protection referrals are made, are not currently operating.

At Cork University Hospital, the largest in Ireland’s second city, staff arrived to find IT systems paralyzed, with all computers switched off.

“Our main concern is patient safety and results that might be outstanding, laboratory data that needs to be available to manage patient care today. It’s very distressing for patients,” Medical Oncologist Seamus O’Reilly told RTE.

Ransomware attacks typically involve the infection of computers with malicious software, often downloaded by clicking on seemingly innocuous links in emails or other website pop-ups. Users are left locked out of their systems, with the demand that a ransom be paid to restore computer functions.

They differ from a data breach or other types of hacking, which may steal large batches of customer data or other information from companies or individuals.

Irish health service hit by 'very sophisticated' ransomware attack

DUBLIN — Ireland’s health service operator shut down all its IT systems on Friday to protect them from a “significant” ransomware attack, crippling diagnostic servi…

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