“China eats weird animals disease”

One of the biggest challenges Canada has faced throughout this pandemic is that so many leaders and so many voices are involved in the official response. Politicians give regular press conferences. Public health officials do the same. Advisory committees of independent experts speak up and challenge not only governments, but other experts. Researchers, clinicians and journalists all have something to say. Our fuzzy federalism makes this that much harder, as it multiplies voices and points of authority. In order to get through this third wave, and stave off a potential fourth wave in the fall, this needs to change.

Ontario is reporting 3,216 cases of #COVID19 and over 38,500 tests completed. Locally, there are 903 new cases in Toronto, 752 in Peel, 335 in York Region, 187 in Durham and 150 in Ottawa.

As of 8:00 p.m. yesterday, 6,144,685 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered.

— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) May 9, 2021

Grappling with how to press the virtual flesh, parties gear up for election showdown

The three main national parties are firing up their election engines, even as they insist they want to steer clear of a campaign.

Liberals, Conservatives and New Democrats are on the move in advance of a potential election this year, recruiting candidates, training volunteers and grappling with how to kiss babies and press the flesh in a virtual, pandemic-restricted world.

Mask mandates are not merely a mandate to cover one’s face, but a mandate to abandon our long climb from the swamp to the stars.

The other day, for the first time since March 2020, I embarked on a journey outside of the slave state of California. My wife and I drove to Montana. While I had heard tales of the existence of freedom in other states, I had yet to experience the thing firsthand.

My experience in Montana confirmed what I have long suspected and known, but not witnessed or experienced for myself—that there are two Americas and two very different types of Americans. There are free states and slave states. There are fearful, obedient slaves, and fearless, free Americans.

Ontario is reporting 2,864 cases of #COVID19 and over 47,800 tests completed. Locally, there are 803 new cases in Peel, 684 in Toronto, 285 in York Region, 133 in Hamilton and 125 in Durham.

— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) May 8, 2021

Pandemic errors made Canadian COVID-19 outbreak far worse than it needed to be, committee told

Poor intelligence gathering on COVID-19, faulty risk assessments on the spread of the virus, and a Public Health Agency that lacked enough scientific expertise all helped make the pandemic worse in Canada than it should have been, a parliamentary committee heard Friday.

During several hours of testimony that was critical of the federal government’s response to the outbreak, experts in national security, public health and medicine said many of the problems with Canada’s pandemic response were avoidable. And those lessons can’t be ignored as the government tries to distil the lessons from COVID-19 in hopes of preparing the country for a future health threat.

Wesley Wark, an adjunct professor at the University of Ottawa who is an expert in intelligence gathering and security, said the government failed to conduct proper risk assessments of the virus, and did not heed early evidence in 2020 that the pandemic was a serious threat.

(Go incognito)

Ontario government must ‘immediately’ reopen outdoor spaces: Canadian Paediatric Society

The Canadian Paediatric Society is calling on the Ontario provincial government to “immediately” reopen outdoor recreation spaces, saying the closure is having “devastating effects” on children and youth amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

In an open letter posted to Twitter on Friday, the society said it “cannot overstate the extent of the mental health crisis facing our children and youth.”