Worldwide stats provided by Worldometers put the global COVID-19 number of reported cases today at 104,983,371. (Deaths: 2,280,500 and Recovered: 76,732,988)
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 Thusday February 4, 2021:
Health Canada reported 789,658 confirmed cases of COVID-19, to date. 48,221 cases are active, there have been 20,355 deaths and 721,075 people have recovered.
The official Province of Ontario website is reporting 272,097 total confirmed cases and 6,305 total deaths. 16,811 are active. Currently, there are 1,066 people are in hospital with 366 of those cases currently in ICU. 248,981 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 265,579. (12,988 are active and 242,692 resolved)
The Region of Durham reported 10,858 confirmed cases of COVID-19 (410 active). Clarington rose to 793 cases, of which 34 are active. Hospitalized in Clarington currently: "3", total deceased: "12"
In international news,
Vaccine passports: path back to normality or problem in the making? Governments and developers around the world are exploring the potential use of “vaccine passports” as a way of reopening the economy by identifying those protected against the coronavirus. Those developing the technologies however, say such tools come with consequences such as potentially excluding whole groups from social participation, and are urging lawmakers to think seriously about how they are used. The travel and entertainment industries, which have struggled to operate at a profit while imposing social distancing regulations, are particularly interested in a way of swiftly checking who has protection. Among those developing passports are biometrics company iProov and cyber security firm Mvine which have built a vaccine pass now being tested within Britain’s National Health Service after receiving UK government funding. iProov founder and chief executive Andrew Bud believes such vaccine passports only really need to hold two pieces of information. “One is, has this person been vaccinated? And the other is, what does this person look like?”
In national news,
'Easily' a decade before Canada’s youth recover economically from pandemic, experts say. The COVID-19 pandemic has been particularly hard on Canadian youth and questions have arisen about how long it will take for them to recover economically, and what that will look like post-pandemic. Unemployment for youth was as high as 30 per cent in May 2020, but came down to 10.5 per cent by December 2020, according to Statistics Canada. The federal Industry Strategy Council (ISC) noted in its “Restart Recover and Reimagine” COVID-19 report published in October 2020, that “women, youth, Indigenous peoples and new Canadians were disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.” The ISC report stated that those Canadian populations were being “left behind” in the recovery process as they are “overrepresented in the retail and tourism sectors” which were among the most severely hit in the pandemic, decimated in lockdowns and stay-at-home orders nationwide. It’s an assessment that Scott Terrio, a consumer insolvency manager at Hoyes, Michalos & Associates Licensed Insolvency Trustees based in Ontario, agrees with. (But, what did they do with their CERB ca$h? The federal government paid more than 300,000 teenagers, many of them high schoolers, nearly $636 million in benefits over the course of the CERB program.)
In Ontario,
Ontario students heading back to class Monday, hot-zone students after Family Day. Students in 13 regions will head back to school Monday, while those in COVID-19 hot zones Toronto, Peel and York will resume in-class learning on Feb. 16, Education Minister Stephen Lecce announced Wednesday. Elementary and secondary schools returning Monday are in Brant County, Chatham-Kent, Durham, Haldimand-Norfolk, Halton, Hamilton, Huron Perth, Lambton, Niagara, Simcoe Muskoka, Waterloo, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph and Windsor-Essex. Toronto, Peel and York kids head back after Family Day, the the last school boards in Ontario to get the provincial government’s green light to reopen for in-class learning. “I want to be clear — if things change, if trends move in the wrong direction, we will not hesitate to act following the advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health,” Education Minister Stephen Lecce said. “I also want to remind families that your local public health unit always retains the authority to close schools to in-person learning if they feel that is required to protect their communities.”
(Sadly) No date set for announcement on reopening of Ontario businesses. It remains to be seen when businesses will reopen in Ontario. A government source tells the Vista Radio National Newsdesk that they recognize the state of emergency is ending next week but add no announcement has been scheduled yet on the re-opening of the economy. It follows Ontario Premier Doug Ford hinting on Wednesday afternoon that an announcement on the re-opening could be coming Monday with holdbacks for “hot zones.” Ontario Medical Officer of Health Dr.David Williams said earlier in the week that businesses will likely remain locked down until ICU numbers drop by more than half of the current levels.
In small town news,
Kawartha Lakes Council Approves Pandemic Relief And Recovery Funds For Community Service Organizations. Council has approved the Community Pandemic Recovery Fund (CPRF) to provide funding for programs and services that increase or maintain supports to residents in meeting their basic human service needs. Council approved $500,000 for the CPRF which is comprised of funds from the municipality’s contingency reserve as well as the 2021 allocation from the Lindsay Legacy CHEST Fund. Eligible organizations include non-profit and community service providers in the broader health and human services sector. Organizations must be an incorporated non-profit organization or registered charity. Details on the application process and the application form is available on the municipal website at www.kawarthalakes.ca/CPRF. Applications will be accepted until 4pm on Monday, March 1 and then will be reviewed by an Evaluation Committee.
Musing,
FEBRUARY 11 is going to be a very interesting day. We are all essential? Small businesses are banding together and plan to open in definance of the lock-down on February 11th. I'm not encouraging or condoning civil disobedience, but I am making you aware of it. More details here: https://weareallessential.ca/
(NIETZSCHE said that? Really?) "A diet that consists predominantly of rice leads to the use of opium, just as a diet that consists predominantly of potatoes leads to the use of liquor." (Friedrich NIETZSCHE)
When you are making an announcement about a pending or possible announcement, does that make the first announcement an omen or prophecy? Asking for a friend.
"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young." (HENRY FORD)
Did you know..you can create a vacuum in your home?
Have you ever...tried to open a cereal box without it looking like the lid was attacked by a feral cat?
WTF is ...............Potato Parcel?
On this day in history, Patty Hearst kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army.
On February 4, 1974, Patty Hearst, the 19-year-old granddaughter of newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst, is kidnapped from her apartment in Berkeley, California, by three armed strangers. Her fiancee, Stephen Weed, was beaten and tied up along with a neighbor who tried to help. Witnesses reported seeing a struggling Hearst being carried away blindfolded, and she was put in the trunk of a car. Neighbors who came out into the street were forced to take cover after the kidnappers fired their guns to cover their escape.
Today is - NATIONAL CREATE A VACUUM DAY - NATIONAL HOMEMADE SOUP DAY - NATIONAL THANK A MAIL CARRIER DAY - NATIONAL GIRLS & WOMEN IN SPORTS DAY - NATIONAL HEMP DAY - OPTIMIST DAY
The Bank of Canada unclaimed balances portal can be found here.
COVID-19 vaccination approximate dates here.
Lakeridge Health Mental Health Clinic 905-440-7534 or toll free at 1-833-392-7363 (Monday-Friday 9am-4pm)
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