“China eats weird animals disease” – Page 341

145 employees infected in COVID outbreak at Yakima Co. Costco store

YAKIMA, Wash. – A coronavirus outbreak at a Costco store in Yakima County has infected 145 employees, and health officials say the rapid increase in cases at the store is similar to a “superspreader event” in which multiple people are infected at the same time.

The findings were released Tuesday by the Yakima County Health District after store-wide testing at the Costco in Union Gap.

All 145 employees that have tested positive are in isolation or quarantine, but the store itself remains open, officials said. The store employs a total of 383 people.

by Blazingcatfur•December 31, 2020December 31, 2020•0•"China eats weird animals disease"

Vancouver party host spends Christmas in jail after repeated fines for violating COVID-19 public health orders

A 24-year-old Vancouver man spent Christmas night in jail after repeatedly hosting parties that violated COVID-19 public health orders.

Vancouver police say they issued multiple warnings and fines to the man before arresting him on Dec. 25 and charging him under Section 99 of the provincial Public Health Act. He was released on Boxing Day.

by Blazingcatfur•December 31, 2020December 31, 2020•0•"China eats weird animals disease"

City, Toronto Police vowing crackdown on illegal hockey, tobogganing

The City of Toronto is taking a harder stand against residents who illegally use city ice rinks.

Emergency management head Matthew Pegg cautioned Wednesday that paid-duty police and municipal security officers will beef up patrols at the city’s 54 outdoor skating rinks.

by Blazingcatfur•December 31, 2020December 31, 2020•0•"China eats weird animals disease"

A Tidal Wave of Death

The 1918 Spanish flu was a killer of historic proportions.

In 1918 and 1919, the novel H1N1 “Spanish flu” virus killed between 50 million and 100 million people—as much as 5 percent of the world’s population—mostly within a few months, making the contemporaneous mass murder of World War I look like a bagatelle. The pandemic was, Laura Spinney writes in her book Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World, “the greatest tidal wave of death since the Black Death, perhaps in the whole of human history.”

by Blazingcatfur•December 31, 2020December 30, 2020•0•"China eats weird animals disease"

The Virus Is Not Invincible, But It’s Exposing Who’s Irreplaceable

When your refrigerator goes out under quarantine and your supplies begin to rot, do you really need another rant from Maxine Waters?

In all the gloom and doom, and media-driven nihilism, there is actually an array of good news. As many predicted, as testing spreads, and we get a better idea of the actual number and nature of cases, the death rate from coronavirus slowly but also seems to steadily decline.

by Blazingcatfur•December 30, 2020December 30, 2020•0•"China eats weird animals disease"

Where the Real Stupidity and Delusion About COVID-19 Is

Two things can be true at the same time about COVID-19.

For one, people can take the virus seriously, believe it’s an issue, and believe everyone needs to take the necessary precautions in order to limit the spread of the virus or avoid it altogether.

On the other end, the same person who takes the COVID-19 virus seriously can also be a person who recognizes that a societal collapse could do far more damage to the people than this virus can, and do what’s necessary to keep society afloat by living out their lives as normally as possible.

by Blazingcatfur•December 30, 2020December 30, 2020•0•"China eats weird animals disease"

“I refuse to sit back and watch”: Alberta florist hasn’t closed once during lockdown orders

A florist in Alberta has done the unthinkable: she has kept her business open every single day in defiance of lockdown orders imposed.

by Blazingcatfur•December 30, 2020December 30, 2020•0•"China eats weird animals disease"

Ford admits he knew of finance minister’s holiday vacation two weeks ago, regrets not asking him to return

Premier Doug Ford said he should have told finance minister Rod Phillips to return back to Ontario when he found out the minister travelled out of the country for a holiday vacation.

Ford made the comments Wednesday afternoon during a visit to Trillium Health where health officials are preparing to distribute the newly arrived Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to Peel Public Health.

by Blazingcatfur•December 30, 2020December 30, 2020•0•"China eats weird animals disease"

Air travellers entering Canada must have a negative COVID-19 test before arrival, Ottawa says

Air passengers entering Canada will need to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test before arriving in the country, the federal government announced today.

Travellers must receive a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test within a 72-hour period prior to boarding a plane — a requirement Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc said will be in place “quickly,” though he did not provide an exact date.

The measure does not replace the federal government’s mandatory 14-day quarantine period, Public Safety Minister Bill Blair warned.

“This is not an alternative to quarantine. It’s an additional layer,” Blair said during a public health briefing.

by Blazingcatfur•December 30, 2020December 30, 2020•0•"China eats weird animals disease"

‘STAND BY MY FRIENDS’: Toronto’s mayor dismisses Rod Phillips’ Caribbean vacation as ‘mistake’

After months of scolding Torontonians for not following COVID-19 public health measures, Toronto’s mayor says he stands by his friends.

One day after Ontario Finance Minister Rod Phillips admitted to shirking his government’s COVID-19 advice by jetting off to the Caribbean island of St. Barts, John Tory described the Ajax MPP’s decision to take a Christmas vacation in paradise as a ‘mistake’ — doing so no less than 12 times while responding to a reporter’s question during a press conference Wednesday.

by Blazingcatfur•December 30, 2020December 30, 2020•0•"China eats weird animals disease", WTF?

China clamps down in hidden hunt for coronavirus origins

… More than a year since the first known person was infected with the coronavirus, an AP investigation shows the Chinese government is strictly controlling all research into its origins, clamping down on some while actively promoting fringe theories that it could have come from outside China.

The government is handing out hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants to scientists researching the virus’ origins in southern China and affiliated with the military, the AP has found. But it is monitoring their findings and mandating that the publication of any data or research must be approved by a new task force managed by China’s cabinet, under direct orders from President Xi Jinping, according to internal documents obtained by The AP. A rare leak from within the government, the dozens of pages of unpublished documents confirm what many have long suspected: The clampdown comes from the top.

by Blazingcatfur•December 30, 2020December 30, 2020•0•"China - Communist Slave State", "China eats weird animals disease"

China Using Covid to Overtake America’s Economy

The U.K.-based Centre for Economics and Business Research believes that, due to China’s superior response to COVID-19, the Chinese economy will become the world’s largest by 2028, five years earlier than previously forecast.

“For some time, an overarching theme of global economics has been the economic and soft power struggle between the United States and China,” the Centre wrote in a December 26 report. “The COVID-19 pandemic and corresponding economic fallout have certainly tipped this rivalry in China’s favor.”

by Blazingcatfur•December 30, 2020December 30, 2020•0•"China - Communist Slave State", "China eats weird animals disease", USA

Ontario reports new record of 2,923 Covid cases

Ontario is reporting a new record number of COVID-19 cases for the second consecutive day and it comes despite a drop off in testing that has coincided with the holiday season.

The Ministry of Health says that there were 2,923 new cases of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus confirmed on Tuesday, pushing the rolling seven-day average up to 2,309.

It is a marked increase on the then record 2,553 cases that were reported one day prior.

WARMINGTON: Lockdown makes no sense without rapid COVID testing at Pearson

It’s obvious who the first two people tested for coronavirus at Pearson International should be: Ontario Finance Minister Rod Phillips and former federal finance minister Bill Morneau.

After all, both figured it was OK to travel during the pandemic while government and health officials urged the rest of us to stay at home to stop the spread of the deadly virus.

The current lockdown might slow the spread of the UK variant, but it won’t stop it. I suspect they’ll just lock us down again if it becomes dominant later. Just a little something to look forward to in 2021.

by Blazingcatfur•December 30, 2020December 30, 2020•0•"China eats weird animals disease"

‘We are not prepared’: The flaws inside Public Health that hurt Canada’s readiness for COVID-19

As a global pandemic began to take root in February, China held a series of backchannel conversations with Canada, lobbying the federal government to keep its borders open.

With the virus already taking a deadly toll in Asia, Heng Xiaojun, the Minister Counsellor for the Chinese embassy, requested a call with senior Transport Canada officials. Over the course of the conversation, the Chinese representatives communicated Beijing’s desire that flights between the two countries not be stopped because it was unnecessary.

“The Chinese position on the continuation of flights was reiterated,” say official notes taken from the call. “Mr. Heng conveyed that China is taking comprehensive measures to combat the coronavirus.”

Canadian officials seemed to agree, since no steps were taken to restrict or prohibit travel. To the federal government, China appeared to have the situation under control and the risk to Canada was low. Before ending the call, Mr. Heng thanked Ottawa for its “science and fact-based approach.”

Looks like the Globe released this from the paywall. Interesting but distressing read of our ruling class at work.

h/t CT

by Blazingcatfur•December 30, 2020December 30, 2020•0•"Canada's China Class", "China - Communist Slave State", "China eats weird animals disease", Canada

How Canadians will know when it’s their turn to get vaccinated

With the recent announcement that Health Canada has approved Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine, the second being made available to the public, Canadians are likely wondering when it will be their turn to get inoculated.

But with the country currently in the first phase of vaccine rollout, that’s still unclear, with much depending on what they do and where they live.

by Blazingcatfur•December 30, 2020December 30, 2020•0•"China eats weird animals disease"