Worldwide stats provided by Worldometers put the global COVID-19 number of reported cases today at 104,480,575. (Deaths: 2,2654,877 and Recovered: 73,360,610)
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 6:00 a.m. ET on Friday February 3, 2021:
Health Canada reported 786,417 confirmed cases of COVID-19, to date. 49,562 cases are active, there have been 20,213 deaths and 716,642 people have recovered.
The official Province of Ontario website is reporting 270,925 total confirmed cases and 6,238 total deaths. 17,451 are active. Currently, there are 1,192 people are in hospital with 341 of those cases currently in ICU. 247,236 cases have been resolved. The government has previously said that once the number of COVID-19 patients in the ICU exceeds 300, it becomes nearly impossible for health-care workers to provide care not related to the disease. Ontario has now surpassed Quebec in active cases.
Quebec continues to have the highest reported cases in the country with 264,526. (13,127 are active)
The Region of Durham reported 10,824 confirmed cases of COVID-19 (435 active). Clarington rose to 791 cases, of which 34 are active. Hospitalized in Clarington currently: "3", total deceased: "12"
In international news,
Chilean lawmakers propose making coronavirus vaccine mandatory. The legislation would help assure Chile could effectively vaccinate 80% of its population, bill sponsor Gabriel Silber said. Chilean lawmakers on Tuesday presented a bill before Congress that would make vaccination against the coronavirus mandatory as the country’s center-right government pushes to inosculate the majority of its population by mid-year. The bill would modify the country’s health code, which already requires vaccination against smallpox, whooping cough and other diseases, according to the opposition Christian Democracy party lawmakers who submitted the legislation. Chile was the first country in South America to begin a COVID-19 vaccination program.
In national news,
(From the "I'll beleive it when I see it" file) Canada to get up to 1.1 m more doses by March through global vaccine alliance. Canada could get more than one million additional doses of COVID-19 vaccine. Canada could get more than one million additional doses of COVID-19 vaccine by the end of March through a global vaccine sharing initiative known as COVAX. But as with most things COVID-19, vaccine-related deliveries are mired in the uncertainty of regulatory reviews and potential production delays. The COVAX Facility, co-ordinated by the World Health Organization and Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, pools funds from wealthier countries to buy vaccines for themselves and for 92 low- and middle-income nations that can’t afford to buy on their own. Canada contributed $440 million to COVAX in September, half of which secured doses for Canada directly, from about nine vaccines that are participating in the program. The other half goes into a pooled fund to buy doses for 20 per cent of the people in 92 low- and middle-income countries. Procurement Minister Anita Anand tells The Canadian Press that up to 1.1 million doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine could arrive through COVAX by the end of March and up to 3.2 million total by the end of June.
(NOW, is the time for tough new rules, Justin?) Trudeau highlights risk of more infectious COVID-19 variants taking root in Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says "rare exceptions" to new travel restrictions will be made on compassionate grounds, but that more contagious COVID-19 variants now taking hold in Canada mean tough rules must be implemented in the next few weeks. "Since the beginning of this pandemic there have been stories of funerals that haven't been able to be held, weddings had to (be) put off or done by Zoom, families not being able to get together," Trudeau said at a press conference Tuesday. "But at the same time our responsibility is to make sure we're keeping Canadians as safe as possible. These new variants out there are of real concern," he said, acknowledging exceptions for "compassionate or humanitarian" reasons. (I used to laugh at the tin-hat crowd, but i've started to wonder if they may just be our last line of defense?)
Meanwhile........
In Ontario,
Modelling suggests schools can reopen and some surgeries could soon resume even with new COVID-19 variant. New modelling suggests that the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units could steadily decrease over the next month amid lower case counts and may even drop down below 150, a critical line at which point elective care can resume at most hospitals. The new projections paint a radically different picture than modelling released back on Jan. 12, which warned of a “severe but realistic scenario” in which the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units could have surpassed 1,000 by mid-February, overwhelming the healthcare system in the process. The latest modelling provides three different scenarios on what the next month might look like in Ontario while also acknowledging that the presence of new variants remains a “significant threat to our control of the pandemic.” It says that if cases fall at a daily rate of about one per cent Ontario is likely to see about 1,700 new infections per day by Feb. 28 but if cases were to drop by about three per cent per day the province could get under 1,000 daily cases by then. However, in the event that the more contagious B.1.1.7. variant takes hold in the community, the modelling says that case counts could begin to rise again in mid-February and surpass 2,000 a day by the end of the month.
(This will never happen, but even talking about it is scary.) Sudbury mayor calling for ‘Northern Ontario Bubble’, wants highway checkpoints to discourage non-essential travel. The mayor of Sudbury is calling for new highway checkpoints and the establishment of a “northern bubble” to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the northern part of the province. Mayor Brian Bigger says checkpoints could deter non-essential travel in and out of Ontario’s northern regions. Bigger says he’s planning to reach out to the provincial government and other local leaders about his plan. According to the mayor, there is a need to insulate his city as more infectious variants of COVID-19 are detected in southern Ontario. Biggar’s wants to see a plan which would “stop or stymie traffic” up Highway 69, which is the major highway connecting the north and south parts of Ontario. He says the idea of travel checkpoints is not unreasonable, noting there have been similar initiatives in Quebec. The province’s transportation ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In small town news,
(Because northern Ontario towns have common sense.) Zero COVID Workplace Violation Tickets Issued in Bancroft in Ministry of Labour Blitz. After a COVID workplace safety violation blitz, the Ontario Ministry of Labour report there were none in Bancroft. The province announced they would be doing a blitz in Hastings and Prince Edward counties from January 20th to the 22nd. The ministry said that they visited 208 box stores across the counties that could stay open during the lockdown. The ministry issued 12 tickets, with over half of those in Bellville. None of the tickets were issued North of Highway 7.
Musing,
"Death is not the greatest casualty of COVID; it is truth that has suffered the most." (ME)
Please just open the restaurants and bars again.
Did you know..........Waylon Jennings was supposed to be on the plane that went down carrying Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Richie Valens? Waylon was told to take the bus, instead.
Have you ever....twerked?
WTF is ...............Chaga? (Inonotus obliquus)
On this day in history, in 1959, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and “The Big Bopper” die in a plane crash. Rising American rock stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson are killed when their chartered Beechcraft Bonanza plane crashes in Iowa a few minutes after takeoff from Mason City on a flight headed for Moorhead, Minnesota. Investigators blamed the crash on bad weather and pilot error. Holly and his band, the Crickets, had just scored a No. 1 hit with “That’ll Be the Day.”
Today is - NATIONAL CARROT CAKE DAY - NATIONAL MISSING PERSONS DAY - NATIONAL THE DAY THE MUSIC DIED DAY - NATIONAL WOMEN PHYSICIANS DAY
The Bank of Canada unclaimed balances portal can be found here.
COVID-19 vaccination approximate dates here.
supportontariomade.ca
Here is how to clean your non-medical mask.
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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