Ontario issues stay-at-home order except for essentials

spaminator

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LILLEY: Ford cites borders as issue again and he's not wrong
Author of the article:Brian Lilley
Publishing date:Jun 02, 2021 • 1 hour ago • 3 minute read • 21 Comments
Ontario Premier Doug Ford, left, and Christine Elliott Ontario Minister of Health arrive as they holds a press conference regarding the plan for Ontario to open up at Queen's Park during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto May 20, 2021.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford, left, and Christine Elliott Ontario Minister of Health arrive as they holds a press conference regarding the plan for Ontario to open up at Queen's Park during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto May 20, 2021. PHOTO BY NATHAN DENETTE /THE CANADIAN PRESS
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It’s an odd comment to make while talking about your decision to not reopen schools for in-person learning, but there was Ontario Premier Doug Ford talking about borders.

Ford cited borders and a lack of proper controls as one of the reasons for not putting kids back in the classroom.


“I implore the federal government to tighten up the borders,” Ford said.

As much as I would have liked to see schools reopen, actually, everything reopen, Ford isn’t wrong about the borders being a problem. I’ve been saying this from the beginning of the pandemic, but the Trudeau Liberals in Ottawa have been denying there is an issue for just as long.

Consider this: The B.1.617 variant first found in India and now called the Delta variant will be the dominant strain of COVID-19 within the month for Peel Region, according to medical officer Dr. Lawrence Loh.

“Preliminary analysis from the science table suggests that in one month the Delta variant will be the dominant strain in our region with the rest of Ontario weeks behind,” Loh said.

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Loh said that this variant is more transmissible than the so-called Alpha variant first found in the U.K. That’s the one that has driven the third wave we’ve been going through in Ontario and the Delta variant could result in a fourth wave if it peaks before vaccinations take hold.

These cases didn’t swim here; they didn’t walk here. They didn’t magically appear here; they came through travel.

Anyone thinking that we are too far along in vaccinations to see another surge needs to look at what is happening in the U.K. with the Delta/Indian variant.

This is a country with just as high a percentage of the population as Canada receiving one dose and nearly 40% getting two doses — compared to our 5%. Yet despite this, and stricter border screening measures, they are looking at the start of a third wave of COVID in the U.K.

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When I wrote about this issue on Monday morning, the seven-day case average in the U.K. was up 26.3%, but now it is up 34.7% with case numbers not seen in close to two months. True, there are fewer deaths with just two to three per day, but deaths are a lagging indicator of the effects of COVID.

Cases are spiking with a new variant, and we are just a few weeks behind them.

Still, the Trudeau government doesn’t see any need to improve what they continue to say are among the “most stringent” border measures in the world. A report last Friday by their own expert review panel showed the holes in our system, including lax quarantine measures.


But the government isn’t acting and the rest of the media is silent on this issue.

You likely heard that this report called for ending the COVID hotels but nothing of the problems with testing and quarantine enforcement.

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The report stated that if COVID hotels are done away with, then border officials must ensure that people entering the country have a suitable quarantine plan. That isn’t happening at the moment and neither is proper screening.

As the federal government’s own expert panel pointed out, 33% of people who entered by air in the time period they studied did not submit a second test once at home. Data from the Public Health Agency of Canada shows that at least 27% of air travellers who test positive do so on the second test.

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Chris Sky (Saccoccia), of King City, is shown last year at a speaking engagement.
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Ontario Premier Doug Ford, left, and Christine Elliott Ontario Minister of Health arrive as they holds a press conference regarding the plan for Ontario to open up at Queen's Park during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto May 20, 2021.
LILLEY: Ford isn't ready to open schools at this point

These are the kinds of problems that we need to fix. We need real screening, proper enforcement of quarantine, and an end to Trudeau’s charade of having the strongest border measures in the world.

If we don’t fix these problems, it could threaten all of Ontario’s reopening and even a return to school in the fall. That’s not something any of us want.
 

spaminator

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LEVY: Feds refuse to admit hotel quarantine flawed
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his advisors have opted instead to raise the fine for refusing to go to a COVID hotel to $5,000

Author of the article:Sue-Ann Levy
Publishing date:Jun 03, 2021 • 2 hours ago • 3 minute read • Join the conversation
Travellers from an international flight are directed to the COVID-19 testing area as part of Canada's measures against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga, February 24, 2021.
Travellers from an international flight are directed to the COVID-19 testing area as part of Canada's measures against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga, February 24, 2021. PHOTO BY CARLOS OSORIO /REUTERS
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Rabbi Moshe Stern and his wife Sarah flew into Toronto from Israel Monday morning armed with two doctors’ letters outlining why they should not be sent to a quarantine hotel.

The letters, from a Toronto and an Israeli doctor, state the respected rabbi emeritus of Shaarei Tefillah on Bathurst St. keeps strictly kosher and suffers from diabetes. His wife, the letters explain, has hypertension and extreme anxiety, which would be exacerbated with confinement to a small hotel room.

The two, said Stern, were fully vaccinated by the end of January in Israel.

But he told me although the letters asking that they be permitted to quarantine in their own apartment were “clear,” the federal public health official they dealt with could not have cared less.

“This person was so cold and her actions so calculated,” the 78-year-old said this week. “It was like I was talking to a wall.”

Rabbi Moshe Stern, 78.
Rabbi Moshe Stern, 78. PHOTO BY SUPPLIED
She refused to look at their vaccination papers and kept screaming at them that they needed to go to a hotel, he claimed.

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When he insisted she check with her boss, she disappeared for a good seven minutes to consult an apparent Health Inspector. When she returned she said the inspector confirmed they don’t qualify for an exemption, he said.

He suspects there was no inspector — as she refused to give her name and the name of her alleged boss.

After Stern reiterated that he’s not going to the hotel because he won’t “risk his wife’s health,” they were each handed tickets.


The two tickets were $3,750 each or a total of $7,500.

“It was so callous,” he said, adding that his 74-year-wife was crying she was so upset. “There was a total lack of empathy.”

Stern — who travelled to Israel before the hotel quarantine was put in place — said it was an experience he never would have believed would have occurred in Canada.

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The hotel quarantine is not only highly undemocratic, it has become laughable– and in some cases dangerous.

There have been COVID outbreaks at GTA airport hotels and a federal advisory panel — responsible for advice on COVID-19 testing and screening — recommended just last week that the feds put an end to the mandatory hotel quarantine.

The panel said some travellers are opting to pay the fine instead of offering a quarantine plan and noted the huge administrative burden with managing the program.

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Travellers from an international flight are directed to the COVID-19 testing area as part of Canada's measures against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga, February 24, 2021.
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Robin St. Jules and her 84-year-old dad, Bob Leishman.
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A group of protesters rally out front of the Radisson hotel on Dixon Rd., where travellers are forced to quarantine after arriving at nearby Pearson International Airport, on Thursday Feb. 11, 2021.
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I would add to this the purely arbitrary nature of the decision-making by border guards and public health officials

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The panel proposed travellers present a quarantine plan upon entry and, if not approved, they be sent to a designated government facility.

But instead of admitting they’ve made a huge mistake, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his advisors have opted to raise the fines handed to those who refuse to go to a hotel to $5,000 per person.

One wonders whether Trudeau and his delegation will all book themselves into a quarantine hotel for three days when they return from the G7 in London, England and the Canadian-European Union Summit in Brussels, Belgium next week. After all, we wouldn’t want them spreading the variants of concern and the hotel quarantine is in place until at least June 21.

I’m guessing not.


That said, a Health Canada spokesperson said until they learn more about the vaccines’ ability to prevent transmission it is important to follow “multiple personal protective practices at once” regardless of vaccination.

“The science is currently unclear on the transmissibility of the virus that causes COVID-19 after someone is vaccinated,” the spokesperson said. “We expect to know more in the coming weeks as research and real-world evidence evolve.”

For heaven’s sake, we have “real-world evidence” south of the border and from Israel.

How long will the government continue to hold us hostage and punish vaccinated Canadian citizens like Rabbi Stern and his wife?

slevy@postmedia.com
 

spaminator

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WARMINGTON: Asking for a cop who identifies as 'Black' upsets DRPS members
Request was for a pay duty officer to be on hand at a mass vaccination event in Ajax

Author of the article:Joe Warmington
Publishing date:Jun 04, 2021 • 1 day ago • 3 minute read • 79 Comments
Durham Regional Police Service logo
Durham Regional Police Service logo Twitter
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A request on the Durham Regional Police’s online “pay duty” assignment board asking for an officer who identifies as “Black” has upset some officers and has their association demanding answers.

In fact, in a Tuesday letter to Chief Todd Rollauer, Durham Regional Police Association president Colin Goodwin pointed out, “My directors, VP and I have been fielding calls, text messages and emails from upset members all weekend because of this posting.”


Goodwin also wrote: “I am reaching out to you about the vaccine clinic pay duty that was posted on the pay duty system for June 6. This pay duty request specified ‘organizers are requesting DRPS officers who identify as black’ for the duty.”

The request was for a pay duty officer to be on hand at a mass vaccination event in Ajax.

“The provincial vaccination strategy for Black communities is hosting a mass vaccination clinic through the Black Physician Association of Ontario in partnership with Ontario Health, Carea, Lakeridge Health, DurhamOne and Durham Regional Health Department– organizers are requesting DRPS officers who identify as Black, reads the posting. “Report to Pickering High School, 180 Church St. N., Ajax.”

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An online poster advertising the event describes it as a “COVID-19 Community Vaccination Pfizer Pop-Up Clinic for Black, African and Caribbean Communities” for a “first dose only — open to individuals 12 plus.”

Several Durham officers who contacted the Toronto Sun said they would be proud to protect people at this important event during a deadly pandemic but don’t have the appropriate race requirement as requested in the notice and thus don’t qualify for the job.

Others said the colour or race of a police office is irrelevant for any policing call.

“A police officer is a police officer,” said a source who was concerned with this kind of specific request. “We are trained, equipped and professional. Our skin colour is not used to determine any deployment.”

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In his letter to the chief, DRPA’s Goodwin said, “This request should never have been entertained and the organizers of the vaccination clinic should have been told this” since “members work hard each day to make inroads with the communities they work for and something like this drives a wedge between the members and the communities they serve.”

Added Goodwin: “It is the position of the DRPA that to select a member for a pay duty based on one of the prohibited grounds contained in the Ontario Human Rights Code would result in a grievance.”


The chief has not commented but a force-wide memo was sent out by the Emergency Operations Centre, which handles COVID-19 issues for the DRPS, saying, “Concerns have been raised about a paid duty that was posted May 27 relating to a vaccination clinic that is to be hosted by the Black Physicians Association of Ontario on June 5 and 6 at Pickering High School.”

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DRPS spokesperson Jodi MacLean told the Sun: “DRPS has a process for assigning paid duties and made no guarantees to the organizers of the clinic that officers identifying as racialized would be assigned.”

It’s still unclear how this ended up in the request, but either way DRPA say they will not partake in seeing any members assigned, or not assigned, based on race. Goodwin said the request for “DRPS officers who identify as Black” was removed from the site and will be handled at the divisional level.

Officers with DRPS, said Goodwin, don’t operate on race and each association member is qualified to take on any pay duty role regardless of the event.

jwarmington@postmedia.com
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spaminator

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Delta variant prompts calls for Ontario to prioritize Peel for second vaccine doses
Author of the article:Canadian Press
Canadian Press
Publishing date:Jun 04, 2021 • 22 hours ago • 1 minute read • 9 Comments
Simran Kaur receives a COVID-19 vaccine inside the International Conference Centre during Peel Region's "Doses After Dark" overnight Covid-19 vaccination clinic in Mississauga on May 15, 2021.
Simran Kaur receives a COVID-19 vaccine inside the International Conference Centre during Peel Region's "Doses After Dark" overnight Covid-19 vaccination clinic in Mississauga on May 15, 2021. PHOTO BY COLE BURSTON /AFP via Getty Images
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Politicians and public health experts are urging the Ontario government to prioritize Peel Region for second doses of COVID-19 vaccines due to a contagious variant threatening the area.

The public health unit west of Toronto has long been a COVID-19 hot spot due in large part to the numerous essential workplaces in the area, and experts warn the Delta variant is now spreading in the region.


Evidence suggests a single dose of COVID-19 vaccine is not as effective against that variant, which first emerged in India, so Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown says the province must prioritize the region for second doses.

He says Premier Doug Ford’s government erred in its initial vaccine rollout when it failed to prioritize hot spots, and must learn from its mistakes.

The co-chair of Canada’s federal vaccine task force tweeted that he agrees the province must send extra shots to Peel.

Dr. Lawrence Loh, the top public health doctor in the region, says Peel has the highest proportion of the Delta variant in the province.

As of Wednesday, the public health unit had detected nearly 100 cases of the variant, and Brown notes that it’s only screening half of all positive tests for the strain.
 

spaminator

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Ontario still bleeding jobs
Author of the article:Antonella Artuso
Publishing date:Jun 04, 2021 • 21 hours ago • 2 minute read • 28 Comments
Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli.
Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli. PHOTO BY JACK BOLAND /Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network
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Ontario lost 31,600 jobs last month as public health measures continued to impact employment.

Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey (LFS) released Friday says 9,100 of the lost positions were full-time employment and another 22,500 were part-time jobs.


The province saw 153,000 jobs disappear in April as a new stay-at-home order was imposed.

Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli said job losses should reinforce for Ontarians the importance of vaccination against COVID-19.

“Even as we begin to see improvements in key public health and heath care indicators, these numbers are a stark reminder of the toll COVID-19 continues to take on individuals, families and businesses across the province,” Fedeli said in a statement Friday. “Because of the collective effort of Team Ontario to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and accelerate the province’s vaccine rollout, there is light at the end of the tunnel.”

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Unemployed due to COVID-19.
THIRD WAVE CRASH: Ontario lost 153,000 jobs last month
An illustration picture shows a smartphone screen displaying a Covid-19 vaccine record on the National Health Service (NHS) app in London, England, on May 18, 2021.
Getting people back to work will likely mean a vaccine passport

The government has also launched a new portal for essential businesses to access free rapid testing to catch asymptomatic cases in the workplace, he said

“Program eligibility was recently expanded to include any business that is allowed to be open and requires staff to work on-site,” Fedeli said.

The provincial stay-at-home order ended Wednesday and the first phase of a reopening plan is expected soon.

Step One of the plan will allow non-essential retail to reopen with strict capacity limits and put restaurant patios back in business.


Private sector employees across Canada were hard hit by the public health restrictions, LFS says.

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“Compared with February 2020, the number of private sector employees was down 564,000 with the gap driven mostly by declines in the number of people working in the accommodation and food services industry, particularly those working in sales and services occupations,” the LFS says. “In the public sector, there was little change in employment in May. Compared with February 2020, the number of employees in the public sector was up 137,000 with gains spread across public administration, health care and social assistance, as well as educational services.”

Youth and woman aged 25 to 54 years-old were the most likely to have dropped out of the labour market last month.

aartuso@postmedia.com
 

spaminator

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VEZINA: The willpower paradox — a lesson for future pandemics
Needing to act on imperfect information is why disaster managers should be in the room when decisions on disasters are being made

Author of the article:Alex Vezina
Publishing date:Jun 07, 2021 • 9 hours ago • 3 minute read • Join the conversation
Pandemic Psychology
PHOTO BY WILDPIXEL /Getty Images
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Willpower may actually be counterproductive in a pandemic.

First, a partial disclaimer: This is still being debated in the scientific community.

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But since disaster management requires constant innovation to save as many lives as possible, sometimes one cannot wait for all the science to be in — much less a scientific consensus — before making a decision.

Needing to act on imperfect information is why disaster managers should be in the room when decisions on disasters are being made.

So, what is the willpower paradox and how does it apply to pandemics?

The willpower paradox proposes that “willing” oneself to do something is less effective than creating a situation where you just happen to do it.


External versus internal motivation, “I will” versus “will I“?

Here are some positive and negative examples from various studies:

People are sorted into several groups to complete a puzzle.

One group is told they “will be doing a puzzle”, another is asked to consider if they “want to do a puzzle”.

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Although it seems counterintuitive, the groups who were asked if they “wanted to do it” completed the puzzle significantly faster.

In a different study, children were put in a room with a marshmallow and told if they did not eat it for 10 minutes, they would get a second marshmallow.

There were no negative consequences for eating the first one before 10 minutes were up, only a decreased reward.

Most of the children who got both marshmallows did not focus on using their willpower to not eat the first one.

Instead, they made a choice, often distracting themselves by making up an activity to do while asking themselves “do I want to engage in this silly marshmallow game?” Deciding to do so, they ended up with both marshmallows. Inadvertently, they “won.”

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In another study, people were presented with beets and cookies on a table, told not to eat the cookies and then given an impossible puzzle to solve.

Those who exerted willpower and either ate nothing or only the beets gave up on the puzzle significantly earlier than the ones who ignored the instructions and ate the cookies.

The first group used up too much mental energy imposing their will against cookie eating, which meant they didn’t have enough in reserve for the puzzle.

This suggests that the “action” itself may not be what is draining. Rather, being forced to use willpower is the issue.

This is a lot like putting in a long day at work, then coming home and trying to “will” oneself into exercising.

Instead of commanding oneself “I will exercise”, the willpower paradox would suggest one should ask, “will I exercise?”

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By adopting a self-reflection, optional mode, instead of a brute-force willpower mode, people are apparently more likely to create behaviours which are less psychologically draining for them than the alternative.

How does this relate to pandemics?

Certain considerations need to be made when you have a disaster which is slow onset with a long duration — such as a pandemic, famine, or drought — requiring the restriction of normal societal privileges and liberties.

If choice is not removed through enforcement of any given risk-reduction measure, then the measure is “voluntary” in practice.

For example, what if, instead of being told to “stay at home to save lives” people were asked, “should you stay at home to save lives?”

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What if individuals were given the perspective that they are making a choice, rather than being told what to do?

Granted some people will do what they want to do no matter what they’re told, but what about most people?

The difference here is subtle but potentially significant.

COVID fatigue might have significantly less mental health impact on us if we are of the mindset that we are making choices during the pandemic.

After all, we are already making choices, it just might not feel like it when governments are constantly telling us what we must do.

— Alex Vezina is the CEO of Prepared Canada Corp. and has a graduate degree in Disaster and Emergency Management. He can be reached at info@prepared.ca
 

spaminator

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City vaccine clinic workers subjected to 'racist, sexist' remarks
Author of the article:Jane Stevenson
Publishing date:Jun 09, 2021 • 14 hours ago • 2 minute read • 7 Comments
A registered pharmacist technician fills the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA vaccine at a vaccine clinic during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto on Tuesday, December 15, 2020.
A registered pharmacist technician fills the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 mRNA vaccine at a vaccine clinic during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto on Tuesday, December 15, 2020. SunMedia
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Staff working at city vaccination clinics are being subjected to “racist and sexist” harassment.

Mayor John Tory said the intolerable behaviour is being directed at employees he called “heroes,” who “are working to get people vaccinated.”


“It’s a very serious matter,” Tory said at his afternoon briefing Wednesday.

“We are hearing about the abuse of the staff at those clinics by the clients. This is going beyond aggressive behavior by people wanting to get their second dose. That is unacceptable on it’s own. We’re hearing reports of racist and sexist comments targeting employees and of harassing behaviour, including the use of photographs which later get posted.”

Toronto Fire Chief Matthew Pegg said a lot of the behaviour was the result of people wanting to take photos inside clinics where photography, unless supervised, is not allowed due to concerns about personal health information.

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“We’re in direct contact with the staff looking to address it proactively from an education standpoint,” said Pegg. “If it continues, and if some things escalate, we’ll deal with that as it comes.”


Otherwise, Dr. Eileen de Villa, Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health, continued to warn about the “more transmissible, more infectious” Delta variant.

“Toronto is on a solid path, though a narrow one, while we watch what the Delta variant does here,” de Villa said at the briefing. “The Delta variant is a force to be reckoned with.”

De Villa said so far there have been 122 cases of the Delta variant identified in Toronto.

“That may not sound like a lot but the confirmation process is complex and takes time and moreover we’ve seen what happens when a variant suddenly explodes,” she said.

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De Villa said that Public Health England reported cases of the Delta variant jumped 90% in the last week and the next phase of their reopening set for June 21 may be delayed.


However, a study by PHE found the Phizer vaccine was 88% effective against symptomatic diseases from the Delta variant, two weeks after the second dose, and that two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine were 66% effective.

The study also shows the just one dose of either vaccine was 33% effective.

One bit of good news is that ten city outdoor pools in Toronto are opening up earlier than usual on Saturday with 25% capacity.

They are Sunnyside Gus Ryder, Riverdale, Pine Point, West Mall, Parkway Forest, McGregor, Grand Ravine, Heron Park, Monarch Park and Alex Duff.

Admission is completely free until Labour Day weekend with a new online system to make reservations for 45-minute-long swim times scheduled to come online Thursday.

“Pools and patios are just days away from opening,” said Tory. “We are getting there.”
 

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Yup, Sweden Got It Right: No Masks, No Lockdowns (WHO 2019 Guidelines)​




⁣Genuine question - is it? And note this is NOT CENSORABLE as it only uses government data, and does not discuss medical information. So is it?
The source article for the Sweden Data:
https://shahar-26393.medium.com/not-a...

Please share as widely as possible - you can download the compressed video here, to upload anywhere:
https://thefatemperor.com/wp-content/...
 

spaminator

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Man punched, stomped on drugstore worker over mask dispute: Cops
Victim hospitalized in serious conditoin

Author of the article:postmedia News
Publishing date:Jun 23, 2021 • 12 hours ago • 1 minute read • 68 Comments
Police seek public assistance in identifying a man involved in a aggravated assault investigation.
Police seek public assistance in identifying a man involved in a aggravated assault investigation. PHOTO BY TORONTO POLICE HANDOUT /TORONTO SUN
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A man is accused of punching a downtown drug store employee and stomping on his head following an alleged dispute about a face mask.

Toronto Police say on Thursday, June 17 at about 4:45 p.m., an unknown man entered a drug store in the area of Yonge St. and Carlton St. According to police, an interaction took place between the man and a store employee about the man’s face mask. The accused became agitated and was escorted from the store. Once outside, police say the accused struck one of the store employees with a closed fist and then stomped on his head.


The store employee was hospitalized and is in serious condition, with possible life-altering injuries. The accused is described as between six feet and 6-foot-2 with a muscular build. He was wearing a black T-shirt, black shorts and black socks. He was wearing a blue face mask, white do-rag on his head and was carrying a black and brown bag.


Anyone with information can call 416-808-5100, Crime Stoppers at 416-222-TIPS, or visit 222tips.com.