Worldwide stats provided by worldometers put the global COVID-19 number of reported cases today at 18,266,117. (Deaths: 693,467 and Recovered: 11,464,299) I emphasize reported because there is a wide variance in testing and manner of reporting from country to country and place to place.
As of 8:00 a.m. ET on Monday August 3, 2020:
From Global News, Canada reported 116,118 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
The official Province of Ontario website is reporting 39,499 total confirmed cases and 2,778 total deaths. Currently, there are 72 people are in hospital with 26 of those in ICU. 35,259 cases have been resolved.
Quebec continues to have the highest reported cases in the country with 59,599.
The Region of Durham reported 1,803 confirmed cases of COVID-19. The site also reports 1 current outbreak (Hospitals, LTCF's and Retirement Homes) at Reachview Village LTCF with 35 outbreaks having been "concluded." Currently, Clarington still sits at 102 total cases. (95 are resolved and 7 people have passed away. Hospitalized currently: "Zero")
In international news,
This story absolutely breaks my heart; I love Mexico and I love the people. Mexico 3rd in global virus deaths; storm could hinder U.S. response. Mexico now has the third most COVID-19 deaths in the world, behind Brazil and the United States, where a hurricane bearing down on the East Coast on Saturday is threatening to complicate efforts to contain the virus. Hurricane Isaias' imminent arrival forced the closure of some outdoor testing sites even though Florida has become a major hot spot, and other states in the path of the storm prepared emergency shelters that comply with social-distancing measures. "We had to put safety first," Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez said Friday. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said no immediate evacuation orders have been given and that hospitals in general are not being evacuated of coronavirus or other patients. Meanwhile, Mexican health officials on Friday reported 688 new deaths, pushing the country's confirmed total to over 46,600. That put Mexico just ahead of the United Kingdom, which has more than 46,100, according to the tally by Johns Hopkins University.
We really miss travelling, but for us cruise ships are just not an option, nor will they be in the future. One of the first cruise ships to resume operations reports COVID-19 cases. Four crew members on one of the first cruise ships to resume operations after they were halted amid the COVID-19 pandemic have tested positive for the disease. Cruise liner operator and owner Hurtigruten said in a statement that the four staff aboard the Roald Amundsen tested positive after the ship docked in the port of Tromsoe, Norway, on Friday. "The four crew members were isolated several days ago due to another illness, without symptoms of COVID-19. When the ship arrived in Tromsoe on Friday night, however, everyone was routinely tested," Hurtigruten explained in the statement translated from Norwegian.
From Reuters, the next big COVID-19 treatment may be manufactured antibodies. As the world awaits a COVID-19 vaccine, the next big advance in battling the pandemic could come from a class of biotech therapies widely used against cancer and other disorders - antibodies designed specifically to attack this new virus. Development of monoclonal antibodies to target the virus has been endorsed by leading scientists. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious diseases expert, called them “almost a sure bet” against COVID-19. When a virus gets past the body’s initial defenses, a more specific response kicks in, triggering production of cells that target the invader. These include antibodies that recognize and lock onto a virus, preventing the infection from spreading. Monoclonal antibodies - grown in bioreactor vats - are copies of these naturally-occurring proteins. Scientists are still working out the exact role of neutralizing antibodies in recovery from COVID-19, but drugmakers are confident that the right antibodies or a combination can alter the course of the disease that has claimed more than 675,000 lives globally.
This is a sad article from Reuters, so be warned before you read on. There may never be a 'silver bullet' for COVID-19, WHO warns. The World Health Organization warned on Monday that, despite strong hopes for a vaccine, there might never be a “silver bullet” for COVID-19, and the road to normality would be long. More than 18.14 million people around the world are reported to have been infected with the disease and 688,080 have died, according to a Reuters tally, with some nations that thought they were over the worst experiencing a resurgence. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and WHO emergencies head Mike Ryan exhorted all nations to rigorously enforce health measures such as mask-wearing, social distancing, hand-washing and testing. “The message to people and governments is clear: ‘Do it all’,” Tedros told a virtual news briefing from the U.N. body’s headquarters in Geneva. He said face masks should become a symbol of solidarity round the world. “A number of vaccines are now in phase three clinical trials and we all hope to have a number of effective vaccines that can help prevent people from infection. However, there’s no silver bullet at the moment - and there might never be.”
In national news,
Canada extends travel ban to August 31, launches COVID-19 contact tracing app. Canada on Friday extended a measure barring most foreign travelers from entering the country and launched a new contact tracing app as part of its fight to control the “gate-crashing” coronavirus pandemic. Sorry, not sorry but this app is not going into my phone. The extension to Aug. 31 applies to foreign travelers entering Canada from outside the United States. It came despite calls from Air Canada and some European aviation companies for Ottawa to restore safe travel. Canada has a separate agreement for border crossings with the United States. The two countries earlier this month agreed to extend restrictions on non-essential travel to Aug. 21. While new infections and deaths in Canada have moderated in recent weeks, officials have urged people to stay on high alert and border restrictions are aimed at preventing a second wave. Canada’s chief public health officer warned Canadians on Friday that the “gate-crashing” virus could flourish again if they fail to follow guidelines.
From the "Well, duh" file, Canada tightens border rules for travelers headed to Alaska. (finally) Canada is tightening its rules for foreign travelers who must transit through the country to get to Alaska, the government said on Thursday, after several U.S. citizens were fined by police for making detours to sightsee. The Canada-U.S. border has been closed to non-essential travel since mid-March, but returning Canadians, essential workers, truck drivers, foreigners reunifying with family, and people driving to Alaska have been allowed in. Canada has significantly slowed the spread of the coronavirus compared to the United States, where on Wednesday the country’s three biggest states all set one-day records for fatalities from COVID-19. Deaths in all of Canada have been in the single digits several times in the past two weeks. Everyone entering Canada except essential workers currently must quarantine for 14 days, but not all have complied. Some people — including U.S. citizens who have stopped at the picturesque Banff National Park while en route to Alaska — have been fined by police. As I mentioned last week, just try messing around at the U.S. border and see what happens.......but, not us.
In Ontario,
'It's been 19 weeks now': COVID-19 'long-hauler' describes her lasting symptoms. An Ontario woman says she’s been living with COVID-19 symptoms for 19 weeks, and she’s sharing her story in hopes of warning others about possible long-term side effects of the virus. Susie Goulding, a self-described “long-hauler” from Oakville, Ont. said she is among many Canadians who have contracted the virus and continue to exhibit symptoms for months, even after testing negative. Goulding said she became ill in March after attending a yearly examination at a hospital. Two days after her appointment, she noticed a mild sore throat, but after five days her symptoms became more severe. While some patients only suffer from a few symptoms, Goulding said she experienced dozens of side effects including sinus issues, loss of taste, shortness of breath and a dry cough — all symptoms linked to COVID-19, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada. “It felt like a big lump was in my throat and I was having a lot of trouble swallowing. My throat felt like it was paralyzed,” Goulding said. On June 2, months after she first fell ill, she was tested for COVID-19 and her results came back negative. She was told by her doctor that she most likely had the virus at some point, given her symptoms.
Mentioned before, but worth repeating: With mandatory masks, Ontario aims to reopen public schools in September. Ontario plans to reopen all its publicly funded schools in September, with elementary-age students returning to classrooms on a full-time basis and class sizes at some secondary schools limited to about 15 students who will attend on alternate days, the Canadian province announced on Thursday. Ontario closed its schools in mid-March to limit the spread of the new coronavirus. The question of how to safely reopen schools has been closely watched in the province, the most populous in Canada and home to some 2 million students. Students in grade 4 and up must wear masks at all times, although some exceptions can be made at the discretion of schools and their boards. Ontario’s government said school boards must prepare to offer online learning for parents who choose not to send their children back to school.
Slightly more than one per cent of Ontarians, roughly 160,000 people, were infected and had recovered from the novel coronavirus by the end of June, Public Health Ontario says after conducting tests on thousands of blood samples. The agency said that of more than 7,000 blood samples tested during the month of June, 79 showed the presence of COVID-19 antibodies, indicating a prevalence of 1.1 per cent when adjusted to the characteristics of Ontario's population. The lab found a higher prevalence of antibodies among those aged 80 and over (2.6 per cent) and no presence of antibodies in children under the age of nine.
In local news,
Ontario Tech wants to help teachers prepare for the changing school model this fall. From August 10 to 14, the university’s Faculty of Education is running an online conference for a range of educators, from Kindergarten to Grade 12. The aim is to discuss teaching techniques in a combination of in-person, hybrid and online settings. “I can’t even imagine any other event that would jump-start educators to using technology other than what’s happened here,” said Dr. Robin Kay, Dean of Ontario Tech’s Faculty of Education. “People that may have been sitting on the bench or not using technology have no choice but to use it in some way.” The conference will consist of more than two-dozen online workshops – each costing $10 and accommodating up to 8,000 participants. Topics range from planning virtual math lessons to creating engaging educational videos. However, Dr. Kay notes that it’s more about the teaching methods than the technology itself. “Online’s just a vehicle,” he said. “It won’t make you a better teacher. It’ll actually sort of accentuate poor teaching.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has locked the Clarington Swim Club out of its indoor pool for months. Now, the swim team — which has been practising in Lake Ontario — is yearning to dive back in, but the Bowmanville pool is still closed. “It’s been tough with the ASAC (Alan Strike Aquatic Centre) closed,” Clarington Swim Club head coach Karen Hillis said via email. Clarington is beginning to cautiously reopen, with the province approving Stage 3 restart for Durham as of July 24. Most businesses and public spaces are able to gradually reopen with public health and workplace safety restrictions in place. “Even in cases where the province is allowing us to open, if we’re not ready … If we aren’t confident it’s safe for everyone, we are going to take our time and make sure it’s safe,” said Mayor Adrian Foster. “Regardless of whether we’re in Stage 3 or not, if we do not feel comfortable that we can safely open a building or facility, we won’t until we’re confident that staff as well as members of the public are safe.”
Sports, Sports, Sports,
The Leafs lost their first game. As usual, Torts was a jackass in the pregame presser. At least he is consistent.
The Jays are in Atlanta, tomorrow. (Their series against the Phillies was "post-poned.") I can't see MLB making it to 60 games, but I guess we will see.
Raps take on the Miami Heat, this afternoon.
Musing,
Woke up this morning, shook out the cobwebs and started getting ready for work. THEN, I remembered...HOLIDAY MONDAY! WOOT-WOOT
Ever wonder what the Civic Holiday is all about? The origins of the holiday on the first Monday in August seem to stem back to a “day of recreation” first organized by Toronto City Council in 1869. In Ontario, a range of local names are used, which often honor significant people in the history of the province.
Few things go together as well as campfires, guitars and s'mores.
I'm not particularly fond of wearing a mask, but I do when and where they are required. That said, I just don't understand the "Anti-Mask" movement.
Did you know that cats can catch COVID-19, but dogs can't?
“You’re off to great places, today is your day. Your mountain is waiting, so get on your way.” (Dr. Seuss)
On this day in history, in 1958, the U.S. nuclear submarine Nautilus accomplishes the first undersea voyage to the geographic North Pole. The world’s first nuclear submarine, the Nautilus dived at Point Barrow, Alaska, and traveled nearly 1,000 miles under the Arctic ice cap to reach the top of the world. It then steamed on to Iceland, pioneering a new and shorter route from the Pacific to the Atlantic and Europe.
In 1996, “The Macarena” begins its reign atop the U.S. pop charts. (Possibly the silliest. dance. craze. Ever.) If pop songs, like hurricanes, were rated on an objective scale according to their ability to devastate the pop-cultural landscape, then the song that reached the top of the American pop charts on August 3, 1996 was a Category 5 monster. It first made landfall in Florida as a seemingly harmless Spanish-language rumba, but in the hands of a pair of Miami record producers, it soon morphed and strengthened into something called “Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix),” a song that laid waste to all competition during a record-setting run at #1 that began on this day.
"If your daily life seems poor, do not blame it; blame yourself that you are not poet enough to call forth its riches; for the Creator, there is no poverty." (RAINER MARIA RILKE)
Today is – NATIONAL WATERMELON DAY – NATIONAL GRAB SOME NUTS DAY – NATIONAL GEORGIA DAY
Bank of Canada unclaimed balances portal
supportontariomade.ca
Here is how to clean your non-medical mask.
Clarington Tourism Businesses and Attractions Directory can be found here.
CERB abuse reporting https://apps.cra-arc.gc.ca/ebci/bscs/l3adz/internet/initial.do?target=login&lang=en&program=qa">can be done here.
To book a COVID-19 test in Durham Region, click here.
Lakeridge Health Mental Health Clinic 905-440-7534 or toll free at 1-833-392-7363 (Monday-Friday 9am-4pm)
Live coronavirus map of Canada: Tracking every case of COVID-19 in the country.
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