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Attention Canadians:
Stop hoarding toilet paper!
There's no reason to do this other than to p**s off the sane people.
Wouldn't it be nice if a common sense virus spread across the country? Although some people would probably have a natural immunity to it.
While it's important to be informed, don't be mislead by the screaming headlines and the constant reference to numbers. Don't be tricked by the fake urgency created by 24-hour news channels. Don't be fooled by the chaos in a country next to us.
Some (most?) news media have failed in their responsibility to properly frame the coronavirus news. Of course the Internet and social media are useless here and only fan the flames.
Please don't misunderstand the numbers you see on the news. Those numbers are cumulative totals not current totals. Right now, today, in Canada, 0.00045% of the population has the coronavirus (this number allows for people who have recovered). Right now, today, worldwide, about 0.00077% of the population has the virus.
| Per 100,000 Canadians: | |
| Being assaulted: | | 595.0 |
| Home broken into: | | 438.5 |
| Car stolen: | | 232.0 |
| Dying from a heart disease: | | 139.8 |
| Being robbed: | | 62.0 |
| Winning a free ticket in 649 lottery: | | 45.8 |
| Dying from influenza/pneumonia: | | 22.4 |
| Injured falling off a toilet: | | 10.0 |
| Killed in a car crash: | | 7.9 |
| Being murdered: | | 1.0 |
| Catching the coronavirus: | | 0.26 Updated March 19: 2.03 |
| Catching the virus and then dying: | | 0.0024 March 19: 0.024 |
To rephrase the last two:
| Odds of you catching the virus: | | Close to zero |
| Odds of you catching the virus and then dying: | | Virtually zero |
Knowing some numbers should help give perspective – there's no need to panic. Paying attention to the daily news should give a sense of scope or size of the issue. Panic and urgency are very different things. The former is based on fear and the latter is based on the size of the issue, in this case the rate of transmission.
Trying to determine what is going on in the world by reading newspapers is like trying to tell the time by watching the second hand of a clock.
Make no mistake, the coronavirus will continue to spread over the coming months. The virus currently has a worldwide survival rate of at least 95.8% and it's 98.8% in Canada. Driving a car is more dangerous than this virus. Falling over all that toilet paper you're hoarding is more risky than this virus.
If nothing else, the most important takeaway is this: Stop hoarding toilet paper!
Added March 19: updated some numbers with newer information based on 770 cumulative cases. Yes it went from 210 to 770 in five days. Also added a quote.
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is there a source for these stats ? thanks
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is there a source for these stats ? thanks
First a correction:
Catching the coronavirus: 0.26 per 100,0000
should have been
Catching the coronavirus: 0.56 per 100,0000
I've based the numbers on a Canadian population of 38 million and a world population of 7.8 billion.
Numbers of annual murders, crimes, etc. taken from Stats Can (https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3510017701) and the Toronto Star (can't find the link). Coronavirus info taken from WHO (https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/685d0ace521648f8a5beeeee1b9125cd) and federal (http://www.canada.ca/coronavirus)/ provincial (https://www.ontario.ca/page/2019-novel-coronavirus) government. Lottery info from the Ontario Lottery Corporation web site. People falling off toilets taken from US stats and I assumed Canadians are about the same when it comes to toilets.
The cumulative number of Canadian infections has gone up to 249 (as I write this ) but I used an older number of 210 from the CBC.ca. Similarly as of today, the number of worldwide confirmed cases has also increased from 0.00077% to 0.00197%. That still represents a few thousand new infections.
So as of this morning:
(249 people / 38 million) x 100,000 = 0.66 per 100,000 Canadians
I'm using "per 100,000" only because it sounds nice.
My point is that there's no reason to panic. The numbers are small and the chances of any individual Canadian getting the virus is almost zero.
It's like buying a lottery ticket. Millions of people buy 649 tickets yet the odds of winning are virtually zero. The odds of catching coronavirus are lower than winning a lousy free lottery ticket.
Remember back to the SARS outbreak in Toronto 17 years ago. Remember all the tourists and conventions that cancelled coming to the city. Remember the hysteria in the news and people wearing face masks in the street, on transit, in shopping malls, etc. In hindsight, how much of that panic was warranted? Thankfully back then, no one hoarded toilet paper.
Added: In the past 9 hours, the cumulative total has increased to 304 people. So it's now 0.8 per 100,00 Canadians who have or have had the virus.
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Another virus thing:
Gas prices are the lowest they've been in 18(?) years - 79¢/litre at a local gas station.
But that doesn't really matter for me because, thanks to the coronavirus, I have nowhere to drive. All my jobs for the next five weeks have been cancelled. The bright side is that I'll have time to drive from store to store looking for $%#! toilet paper.
March 18: 76¢/litre
March 22: 73¢/litre
March 25: 64¢/litre
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Since I have time on my hands, from today:
• A Toronto all-news radio station led with: "Today is a day you'll remember for the rest of your life."
Why? Because Canada partially closed its borders.
• A radio station east of Toronto ran public service announcements every hour reassuring listeners that it will broadcast only true, well-researched facts and not rumours. It then told people to try live their lives as normally as possible and if things get overwhelming they should seek counseling. Right after this message, the DJ told listeners that if they have a cough or sore throat, they should go into isolation right away.
• The CAA "reached out" (I hate that phrase) to its members saying that they will be washing and disinfecting their trucks more frequently and their roadside service people won't be shaking hands with you. How infectious were their trucks before this?
• My car insurance company reached out – all these people reaching out, don't they know we have a virus going around? – to tell me my car insurance will still work during this difficult time. My cellphone carrier and web host did the same.
• Toronto is suggesting that people stop using public transit and start driving their cars instead. [Insert jokes here.]
• There were a couple of guys in cheap "hazmat" suits spraying "disinfectant" on shopping plaza sidewalks, exterior store walls and on tires of nearby parked cars. They never cleaned the handles of the shopping carts.
• At a few grocery stores I visited today: cereal aisle mostly empty, bread mostly gone. Toilet paper, facial tissues and paper towels totally gone. Frozen food nearly gone. Meat counter almost empty. I've never seen so many grocery shoppers on a Monday afternoon.
My mother told me that during WWII, which was probably a bit more serious than the current coronavirus, there was no hoarding.
• Someone wearing a winter scarf tied around his lower face and a pair of winter gloves while shopping inside a grocery store. Maybe he was just cold?
Why are people panicking so much?
Only 42% of Canadians (https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/diseases-conditions/fluwatch/2018-2019/annual-report.html) get a flu shot each year. (This is the 2018-2019 number. Previous years it was 34% of adults under 64 years). If you couldn't be bothered to get a flu shot, do you have any right to be panicked now?
West Nile Virus (https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/west-nile-virus.html) is an annual threat in Canada and it attacks the same demographic as COVID-19 and there's no cure. Few Canadians bother to think or panic about this virus. West Nile has been infecting people since 2002. Its "best" year was 2003: almost 1,500 people infected.
Ontario's advice about the common flu (https://www.ontario.ca/page/flu-facts) (from 2014) is the same advice as for COVID-19. Why are people so unaware today?
By the way, the federal government has been running FluWatch (https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/flu-influenza/influenza-surveillance.html) since 2007. It has lots of info and graphics about your basic influenza. While COVID-19 is not the flu, people do live the same lives with the same patterns. FluWatch gives you information about the flu after it's happened so you can see exactly what did happen.
Shouldn't news be more than clickbait and emotional headlines?
Stupid reporting today:
A reporter who spent the day touching stuff
Someone bought toilet paper to resell online
How to hang toilet paper
Stupid headlines today:
Does Canada have enough body bags?
Schools closed for the year?
Time is running out
How to survive isolation
Bodies Pile Up in Italy
The Coronavirus Will Destroy the Economy
Coming soon:
Stylish face masks for the entire family
Can hand sanitizer be used for foreplay?
Ten superfoods to fight the virus
Is it still okay to name your child "Corona" or "Covid"?
How to make your own toilet paper
One problem with today's news media is that it seems they have no depth. I'm guessing all the experienced journalists and those who have memories stretching back more than four years have been laid off. H2N2, H3N2, SARS, Bird Flu, H1N1, West Nile Virus, Mad Cow Disease, Disco Fever. Ring any bells? Check your library?
The smarter the journalists are, the better off society is. For to a degree, people read the press to inform themselves - and the better the teacher, the better the student body.
I hope news photographers are above all this silliness. The only times to panic are when (i) the gunshots are moving closer to you, (ii) the mob with pitchforks and torches are looking your way, (iii) you can actually see the bone sticking out of your leg, or (iv) the bartender yells "last call!" just as you're sitting down.
The federal government failed today to address the real crisis: the toilet paper shortage. This will affect 100% of Canadians. The coronavirus currently affects/infects 0.0009% of the population. But still wash your hands.
Edit: fixed a bunch of typos and added a quote.
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More viral thoughts:
In a pandemic, the first casualty is common sense.
It's been said that lotteries are a tax on the stupid. Is panic a pandemic on the stupid?
A shopper at a store today was wearing a homemade face shield constructed from, what appeared to be, a large plastic water bottle cut open and tied to his head. Panic and fear are caused by the unknown. The unknown can be prevented by, uh, knowing history and the facts.
A newspaper op-ed pretty much got it right when it said that all the shutdowns and closures were NOT due to the virus but rather due to the fear of the virus spreading.
An ounce of hand sanitizer is worth two weeks of isolation.
My car dealer just emailed to say it's encouraging its employees to work from home. So when my car needs an oil change, do I drive to the mechanic's house?
The dealership said it will sell you a new car only over the phone. Really?
The dealer also claimed it will regularly sanitize all cars and its building. This particular dealership hasn't cleaned the carpets or chairs in the customer waiting area in years. But now it's going to be an ISO-level cleanroom?
Maybe I should let my customers know that all my photos will be disinfected. Every pixel sanitized. At no extra change, of course.
Should the Butterfly Effect (https://www.americanscientist.org/article/understanding-the-butterfly-effect) be renamed the Bat Effect? :)
In my daily quest for toilet paper, today I hit the jackpot. A fresh palette of the heavenly paper just arrived at a nearby store. There was a limit of four packages per person and I'm happy to say I bought only two. Instead of giving in to panic, I was considerate of my fellow shopper and bought only what I truly needed. If you want to use the term "social hero," I won't stop you. :D
However the store was also having a half-price sale on chocolate chip cookies. I took as much as I could carry. I'm not proud of this but when it comes to cookies, it's everyone for themselves.
While in the store, I noticed that the condom section was overflowing with product. The store guy said they haven't sold any condoms in three weeks. I'm sure there's a fun pandemic story to be had here. But if this is indicative of the condom industry, one wonders why condom companies, which also make personal lubricants, don't start making hand sanitizer.
This brings us to the fun portion of the program:
Top ten pandemic pick-up lines
10) I've been hoarding toilet paper.
9) You have an infectious smile.
8 ) Two weeks of isolation with you would be heaven.
7) Epidemiology is my middle name.
6) I'm into S&D: sanitizing and disinfecting.
5) Wanna share a respirator?
4) We can spend the night washing each other's hands.
3) Let's narrow the social distance between my heart and yours.
2) I'd love to flatten your curves.
1) Is that a bottle of hand sanitizer in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?
As Canada continues its descent toward a complete shutdown:
Everyone is urged to stay home unless you have somewhere to go.
Everyone should work from home except for those who work at places that produce stuff we need.
Canada is closing its borders just as the farming season is about to start. Who's going to replace the migrant farm workers?
Financial compensation is being considered for everyone who loses income during this time. Everyone except one-person businesses like photographers.
Remember that you must continue to pay all your bills on time even if the government just put you out of business.
We're now up to 0.0012% of the population that has been infected. Funny they don't mention those who have recovered.
It's interesting to see how finely balanced our healthcare and, in fact, our entire society is. It doesn't take much to upset the system. Our entire economy is based on consumption and, to be more accurate, on always-increasing consumption. With fewer people working and many businesses closed or at reduced function, there will be less income, less consumption (and less business profits) and less taxes paid to the government. Does this spell doom and gloom?
Our prized healthcare system is, of course, under-funded. It's been said that you can never over-fund healthcare. But now we can see how close to the edge it is. Will we and the government learn anything from this?
Keep washing your hands.
Edit: I blame these difficult times for not being able to spell correctly. But in a pandemic, does spelling even matter?
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Who knew that investing in airlines, oil companies, hotels, etc. wasn't where the money was? But hand sanitizer and toilet paper. As famous investment guru Warren Buffett once said, "People don't always have to travel but they do have to poop." He may have phrased it differently.
Why do we still use toilet paper? If printing newspapers was bad, why not the infinite paper that's flushed into our sewers? The reason why newspapers are failing is because they missed the boat - they should've printed the news on flushable paper. People would line up to buy each day's edition, first to read then, uh, to flush.
What's more important, self-driving cars or self-wiping toilets (https://washlet.totousa.com/how-it-works)? (I photographed a house in Toronto that had one of these. That homeowner isn't worrying about a toilet paper shortage.) Self-wiping toilet is another fun pandemic story your news organization should write about.
Aren't you glad you didn't sleep through high school biology?
Free bottle of hand sanitizer with every portrait! Special quarantine rates!
If I see people eating in a restaurant rather than doing take-out, do I call 911? What if I see people gathering in large groups? Is there a special number for the pandemic police? (Go ahead and laugh but this is starting to happen in a country next to us as "pandemic Patty's" are reporting large groups of people.)
There's a 99.99% chance that the person next to you does not have the virus. Is that good enough for you? The only better odds are for death and taxes.
We've reached the historic moment when "I wouldn't touch him/her with a ten-foot pole" is actually a real thing. It now seems that a social distance of two metres, or six feet, isn't far enough. I'm off to Home Depot – there's going to be a big business opportunity selling ten-foot poles.**
We're now up to 0.0016% of the population that has or has had the virus.
It took Canada about six weeks (from January 25 to around the end of February) to go from 1 to 100 people with the virus. It then took about three weeks (first three weeks of March) to reach 600. This rate is, fortunately, slower than many other countries. Note that increasing rates are expected. It's not ideal but there's still no reason to panic.
Of the 600 people who have or have had the virus, 85% were travelers returning to Canada or close family members of those travelers. Screening and quick testing are working. This is also why all incoming travelers are told to isolate themselves for two weeks.
The only thing for you to be slightly concerned about is that 15% of those with the virus seem to be a result of local, in-Canada, person-to-person transmission. We've all seen that documentary (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114069/) about what happens when a pathogen gets into the wild so we know how this story is going to end. ;D
Never compare what Canada is doing (https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection/canadas-reponse/government-canada-takes-action-covid-19.html), or not doing, with that of other countries. Never get your emotional cues from other countries or TV.
Go wash your hands.
**Added March 29: I told you so: photo1 (https://cdn1.ntv.com.tr/gorsel/nYqSqO3-pkasaFCWcqZ0Sw.jpg?width=1000&mode=both&scale=both&v=1585503535295) and photo2 (https://cdn1.ntv.com.tr/gorsel/C5-2Y7qNGkCTbgE3CDF9qQ.jpg?width=1000&mode=both&scale=both&v=1585503535295)
Edit: added photo links
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Man oh man, great reading, thanks Warren. ;D :D :o
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IS THIS A POSSIBLE CURE FOR THE VIRUS??!!
OMG did you read about this? It's breaking all over the Internet.
They're saying that if you hire a photographer to do your portrait, there's a 99.99% chance you won't catch the virus!
It has something to do with Xenon gas inside their special photography flashes. The light from a flash apparently gives you some sort of immunity.
Photographers have been using "beauty light" and "beauty dishes" for a long time to make people look good. But now they're saying that it's more than just looking beautiful. The bigger the light source, the more the light can gently wash over you. It's as if it's cleansing your entire body!
These photo flashes are filled with a special gas called Xenon. When the light flashes, electricity passes through the gas and creates a full spectrum of light. They even use these lights in science and medicine. It's all documented on Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flashtube) so you know it's true.
In the the movie The Andromeda Strain (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066769/), which is based on a real book about a deadly virus, "exposure to a xenon flash apparatus was used . . . as an antiseptic measure to eliminate all possible bacterial access for persons working in an extreme, ultraclean environment." That's a direct quote from Wikipedia!!
If you don't have a fancy science or medical degree, it means that flashes were used to *prevent* infections!!! OMG!!!
Have you noticed that the world's top politicians don't have the virus? That's because they intentionally get photographed every single day! They've been keeping this secret to themselves so that photographers aren't overwhelmed with business.
Well I'm not waiting any longer, I'm hiring a photographer today!!
Should I have waited for April 1?
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More than 5,100 Air Canada flight attendants to be laid off amid massive COVID-19 slowdown (CBC.ca (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/more-than-5-100-air-canada-flight-attendants-to-be-laid-off-amid-massive-covid-19-slowdown-1.5504051))
Walmart Canada is hiring. We want to immediately hire 10,000 more Associates in our stores and distribution centres. (Walmart.ca (https://www.walmartcanada.ca/news/2020/03/19/walmart-canada-memo))
The next time you're at Walmart, don't be surprised if the store greeter is wearing an Air Canada uniform:
"Thank you for shopping at Walmart.
"If you haven’t already done so, you can stow any large bags at the customer service desk. Please take a shopping cart and make sure young children are safely fastened.
"There are several emergency exits in this store, over there, there and there. Please take a moment to locate the nearest exit to you. If we need to evacuate the store, there will be emergency lighting to guide you to the exit.
"Oxygen and air pressure in this store are continually monitored. In the event of a decompression, oxygen masks are available in aisle 27.
"In the event of an emergency, please assume the bracing position. Lean forward over your shopping cart with your hands firmly on the handle and your elbows against your sides. Ensure your feet are flat on the floor.
"Life vests are in our sports department and are on sale for 30% off.
"We remind you that this is a non-smoking store. Smoking is prohibited in the entire store, including the lavatories. Tampering with, disabling or destroying the lavatory smoke detectors is prohibited by law.
"Once again, thank you for shopping at Walmart and enjoy our sales."
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Remember several posts earlier when I said there's no reason to panic? It's now time to panic. Starbucks is closing many of its stores. So please, while you still can, start hoarding Ice Lemon Loaf cake, almond croissants and pumpkin spice bread.
In these dark times, you'd think marijuana sales would be way up. And you'd be right. (https://www.thestar.com/business/2020/03/16/ont-and-que-cannabis-distributors-see-sales-spike-amid-covid-19.html)
Remember when you met a guy in a parking lot late at night, you were buying drugs not hand sanitizer?
According to the Chinese Zodiac, 2020 is the Year of the Rat. Rat? Come on people, don't you see it? Rat = Bat. The Year of the Bat Rat lasts until February 2021 so that's how long this pandemic will last. I'm going to have to buy more toilet paper.
And speaking of the zodiac, why are we wasting so much money on science and healthcare experts? Astrologers (https://astrostyle.com/astrology-and-the-coronavirus/) predicted this pandemic and economic crash last year. We should've heeded their warning that Jupiter was exiting its sign of Sagittarius and that the impending Pluto-Saturn conjunction would spell disaster. If only we had learned from all the other times astrologers were right.
A local grocery store was putting stickers on the floor, six feet apart, for people to stand on while waiting in the checkout lines. Another store is repeating warnings over its PA system, "Please stay six feet apart." A nearby gas station has used duct tape to mark squares on the floor leading up to the cashier - almost looks like hopscotch.
It's times like this when you realize how much of your life involves non-essential travel.
With the stock market crashing, my RRSP is worth less than my stash of toilet paper.
As a photographer, you know that feeling you get when you're covering a protest and you can sense the anger growing? People's body language starts changing and their actions become more frenzied. You know it's time to back off a bit and not be surrounded on all sides. Should your photo senses should be tingling now? With newspaper references to "wartime conditions", "dire scenario for Ontario hospitals" and "Toronto headed for full lockdown," what are people supposed to think?
Companies that make toilet paper, paper towels, facial tissues, hand sanitizers, cleaning wipes, etc., are now experiencing both their ultimate dream and ultimate nightmare: unlimited demand for their products.
We're being told to avoid public transit and to drive instead. Don't use cloth towels, use paper towels. No reusable cups only plastic. No reusable bags, use only the store's plastic bags.
So during a pandemic, it's f**k the planet. You know Greta Thunberg is mad.
When you're out in public, are you afraid to cough?
As of early this morning, Canada has a cumulative total of 1081 coronavirus cases. We've gone from about 220 to 1081 in just over a week. We've cracked the top 20 countries with a bullet! You youngsters won't know what that means.
While we won't reach the top ten, currently 0.0029% of the Canadian population has or has had the virus. This is about the same percentage as the world average (https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/685d0ace521648f8a5beeeee1b9125cd) (0.0030%). Canada's mortality rate is lower: 1.2% compared to a world average of 4.2%.
The virus has spread to at least 176 out of 195(?) countries. Even Greenland has reported cases of the virus. This goes to prove that someone actually lives in Greenland.
Virus spread in Canada has spiked up in the past week. Obviously not all of us are washing their hands properly. Someone is letting the rest of us down and it's going to make all of us look bad in the final report.
I believe it was Mark Twain or Ernest Hemingway or someone else who said, "It take a virus to raise a community."
If this coronavirus lasts another year as many expect, will it be socially acceptable to give toilet paper as a Christmas gift?
While out for a morning walk today – it was a brisk, sunny morning with a bright blue sky, a wonderful time to be alive as long as you stay six feet away from everyone else – I saw a line of people waiting outside a drugstore. Being the investigative reporter I am, I went to investigate.
According to word on the street, this store got a shipment of toilet paper. Well you don't have to hit me over the head with a bottle of hand sanitizer, I got in line.
Then I heard a commotion and even faint cheers in the line of ahead of me and it got louder. Out of the store came people with armfuls of toilet paper and a look on their faces like they had just crossed the finish line to win an Olympic gold medal.
But I didn't like my chances because the line was moving slowly.
When I got into the store, I made a beeline for the toilet paper rack. I saw people tearing open shipping boxes and yanking out packages of toilet paper. Oh the humanity!
But the gods were smiling on me today, my friends. I got a 12-roll pack of Royale Velour two-ply. I had crossed the finish line and it felt good.
Kevin was wearing a dark blue, short-sleeve golf shirt bearing the drugstore logo and his name tag. He looked like a high school student working a part-time weekend job. He was telling everyone in the checkout lines to stand six feet apart and reminding cashiers to occasionally wipe down their checkout lane.
Apparently Kevin is our first line of defence against this pandemic. I'm reassured.
When told to distance herself in a checkout lane, a ~70-year-old woman yelled, "I'll stand wherever I want. The customer is always right!"
The cashier looked like she's prepping for open-heart surgery: disposable gown, surgical gloves and mask.
Kevin reminded the cashier not to touch my reusable cloth bag and he offered me a free plastic bag.
Another day in paradise.
PS. Lest you think I'm hoarding toilet paper, all of it was gifted to family members. I felt like Santa Claus.
Thank you very much. I'm here all pandemic. Try the veal and remember to stay six feet away from your waitress.
Added: the federal government site has some neat epidemiological info (https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection/health-professionals/epidemiological-summary-covid-19-cases.html) on its site in case you're a bar graph aficionado. If you do take a peek, you'll see what no news organization has reported: (as I write this) the rate of infection spread has been slowing and the number of new cases per day has been dropping. *BUT* don't put away your hand sanitizer just yet. It's common for virus spread to occur in waves or surges. What we've experienced in the past three weeks may well be just the first wave. New cases can start up anywhere, anytime like a brush fire. Keep washing your hands.
We've had the war on terror, the war on poverty, the war on drugs, the war on cars, the war on cholesterol and the war on people who use big cameras. We may not have won any of those wars but we can win this war on COVID-19. And when we do, you can one day show your grandchildren your battle-scarred bottle of hand sanitizer and tell them:
"Sure I was scared but me and this bottle of Purell had no choice. Our nation was calling and we knew this would be our finest hour. We fought the virus in the airports and on cruise ships. We defended our country no matter the cost. We fought it on the beaches, in the restaurants and bars, in the shopping malls and in the streets. We never surrendered."
(Is it ironic that we've never had a war on war?)
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Germany has told its citizens to limit groups to just two people. This proves that two is company but three's a crowd.
I spoke today with friends in Europe. If it's any consolation, they, too, are having problems finding toilet paper. The world is coming to an end and the best humans can do is hoard toilet paper?
The virus has now spread to 186 out of 195(?) countries. Who will be the Last Country Standing. I'd watch that reality show.
What else can be this universal other than climate change? Remember climate change? It's the thing that will wipe out the planet as soon as the pandemic is over.
We interrupt climate change to bring you this important pandemic . . .
. . . and now we return to climate change already in progress.
Quarantine:
Back in the mid-14th century (https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/short-history-of-quarantine/), the Venice government decreed that all arriving ships must wait 40 days before landing. Venice was a major port for trade and travelers. This wait period was to make sure that any pests and diseases (i.e. the epidemic known as the Black Plague or Black Death) on the ship had died off. The Italian word for 40 is quaranta.
Epidemiology:
A few weeks ago, you probably never heard that word before. Today you can almost spell it. Some day you might even know what it means. And it's a real word unlike supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
Say it three times: epidemiology epidemiology epidemiology. Notice the natural rhythm in the word. I'm surprised there aren't more songs with the word epidemiology.
In about a year, will be a surge in births due to all the couples currently in isolation together? How many baby girls will be named Epidemi, Epi or Demi?
How many students are now being inspired to be epidemiologists?
On TV news there may soon be an epidemic of epidemiologists discussing epidemiological issues.
Just finished reading "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Covid".
It's nice to see some big hospitals take time from their busy schedules to ask for donations. Do you like what healthcare workers are doing during the pandemic? Then please show your appreciation by sending us some money.
Hospitals always need money but surely those hospitals could've done this in a classier way. Maybe a tip jar in the emergency department?
A news photo (https://webgate.epa.eu/?16634349628007773501&MEDIANUMBER=55971432) from Virginia, USA, showed a grocery store shopper wearing a scuba mask and snorkel. I know a Canadian can top this.
Why are some newspapers talking about what might happen when 10%, 20% or 30% of Canadians get the virus when only 0.004% of Canadians have or have had the virus? We will have major problems long before we even get to 10%.
Remember last century when telecommuting was a silly fad?
A pandemic is a great time to break up with someone, if you were thinking about it.
"I haven't returned any of your calls or texts because my phone was contaminated."
"I don't think we should see each other anymore. It's not you, it's the pandemic. We need to increase our social distance as much as possible for the sake of our country."
When this pandemic is over, we'll know how many office spaces are redundant because employees can work from home. We'll find out how many people really don't need to drive to work. We'll learn how many Starbucks coffees we can live without, how many stores we don't really need, and how much toilet paper we actually need.
In an earlier post I wrote:
If I see people eating in a restaurant rather than doing take-out, do I call 911? . . .
Well guess what's happening in Toronto? Yup, people are calling 911. The city of Toronto put out a press release asking folks to stop calling 911 to report people not complying with pandemic rules. Toronto also had to remind people that the city's outdoor playgrounds are not sanitized.
I hope other cities are smarter than Toronto.
Why are there news stories telling people how to work at home? (Freelance photographers are probably chuckling).
There are other articles on how to prepare for life without a steady paycheque. (Freelancers are laughing).
There are reports on what might happen to your job benefits, paid sick time, employment insurances, etc. (Freelancers are in stitches).
Some cell carriers (https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/internet-phone-networks-under-strain-covid-19-1.5503818) sent text messages to their customers telling customers to stop phoning the carrier unless it was urgent. It turns out that many people working at home don't know how to connect to the Internet, upload/download files, etc. (Freelancers are rolling on the floor).
Am I in the wrong movie theatre?
Why are some news media and government PR folks using phrases like, "during this extremely difficult time?"
Except for the healthcare industry, it's neither extreme nor difficult in Canada. Ooooh I'm stuck at home with nothing but running water, working toilets, heat and electricity, TV, Internet and lots of businesses that will deliver anything to my door. How will I survive?
Canada now has (https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection.html)3.9 cases per 100,000 people. That's 0.0039% of the population. Worldwide (https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/685d0ace521648f8a5beeeee1b9125cd) is about 0.0038%. Canada's mortality rate has increased to 1.36%. Worldwide is about 4.4%.
Have your hands ever felt so smooth and silky?
Edit: If I could type and spell properly I'd be an editor.
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How humbling is it to know that the minimum wage clerk who stocks the grocery store's condiment aisle is more essential to society than you?
Here in Toronto we're now at Level 3! Level 3!
I don't know what that means or if the levels should go up or down. But Level 3! City politicians are now in the Emergency Operations Centre! Not sure where that is but I doubt they reopened the city's secret nuclear bunker (https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2020/02/23/inside-this-aurora-home-is-a-nuclear-bunker-meant-for-toronto-politicians-in-the-60s.html) north of Toronto.
Ontario and Quebec will officially shut down tomorrow. Feel free to hoard and panic at will. My basement bunker will finally pay off and I now get to enjoy my 10-year stockpile of canned beans.
If I were in charge, and I don't know why I'm not, I would:
• waive all residential electricity and water bills for at least six months.
• have banks waive all interest charges on personal loans, personal lines of credit and personal credit cards at least until the end of the year.
• guarantee a minimum income based on people's most recent income tax return:
- those with a net income of under $35,000 get $2,000 per month tax-free
- those with a net income of $35,000 to $70,000 get $1,000 per month tax-free
- those with a net income over $70,000 get thoughts and prayers. Tax-free of course.
• double all federal and provincial tax credits that are paid out in cash.
• make airlines, hotels, etc. give 100% cash refunds for cancellations. No vouchers, no future credit, just 100% cash.
Current government plans to offer emergency income do not include freelancers. So far these plans cover only people who are currently on some sort of government assistance or who are laid-off employees.
With a few more careless people, Canada might crack the top 15 countries. I think only the top eight countries make the playoffs?
This site (https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6) has some colourful COVID-19 information. It's got maps, charts, and two types of graphs, all in easy to view colours and nice fonts. It's much better than what our government is doing. In dark times like this, one might think our government would invest more money in web design.
If you keep refreshing that page of info, you can watch the numbers go up! This is one of the few sources of info that tracks people who have recovered.
One hundred years ago, 20th-century Millennials were summoned by history. With their blood, sweat and tears, they answered the call and shaped our world for the better.
Today, once again, destiny is calling and 21st-century Millennials are responding. With their iPhones, 5G broadband and 17 Twitter followers, they will answer the call right after they finish posting to Instagram and will shape our world.
With apologies to Mary Schmich (https://www.chicagotribune.com/columns/chi-schmich-sunscreen-column-column.html):
Ladies and gentlemen in the battle against COVID-19:
Wash your hands.
If I could offer you only one tip for the future,
hand washing would be it.
The long term benefits of hand washing have been proved by scientists,
whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience.
I will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the health and immunity of your youth. Oh never mind.
You will not understand the health and immunity of your youth until they have faded.
But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself
and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you
and how healthy you really were.
But you are not as immune as you imagine.
Don’t panic about the virus.
Or panic but know that panicking is as effective
as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum.
The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that
never crossed your worried mind,
like being laid off due to a pandemic at 4 PM on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing every day that helps you.
Wash your hands.
Don’t stand too close to other people.
Don’t put up with people who stand close to you.
Wash your hands.
Don’t waste your time hoarding toilet paper.
Sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind.
The race is long and, in the end, there's plenty of toilet paper.
Remember to always cough into your sleeve and never touch your face.
If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep a list of take-out restaurants. Throw away your travel brochures.
Wash your hands.
Don’t feel too guilty if you spend your entire isolation watching Netflix.
But the most interesting people I know don't spend all their time online.
Some of the smartest people in the world spend their time reading books.
Get plenty of hand sanitizer.
Be kind to your hands, wash them often.
Maybe you'll find toilet paper, maybe you won't.
Maybe you'll find hand sanitizer, maybe you won't.
Maybe you'll get face masks
Maybe you'll just give up and hide at home.
Whatever you do, don’t worry too much, or panic either.
Your future is half chance, so is everybody else’s.
Enjoy your Chlorox Disinfecting Wipes.
Use them every place you can.
Don’t be stingy with them and don't flush them down the toilet.
They're the most effective disinfectant you’ll ever own.
Clean, even if you have nothing more than just a bachelor apartment.
Read the news but not on social media.
Do not watch 24-hours news, it will only cause you more panic.
Get to know your parents. You never know when they’ll have extra toilet paper.
Be nice to your siblings. They are your best source for borrowing money
and the only people you can trust to self-isolate with.
Understand that friends should not come but go,
except for immediate family, stay away from everyone.
Work hard to increase the gaps between you and everyone else,
because the older you get, the more susceptible you are to illness unlike when you were young
Stay away from Toronto because of the city shutdown.
Stay away from Vancouver because you might get infected.
Don't travel.
Accept certain inalienable truths:
People will hoard, there will be long lines in stores,
you too will start to worry
and when you do, you’ll wish that if people were smart
they wouldn't hoard toilet paper, they wouldn't panic and you could get on with your life.
Get on with your life
Don’t expect anyone else to look out for you.
Maybe you have a stash of toilet paper.
Maybe you have lots of hand sanitizer.
But you never know when either one might run out.
Don’t worry too much about face masks.
By the time a store has them, the pandemic will be over.
Be careful which news outlets you listen to,
but be patient with those who are knowledgeable.
News is a form of education.
Dispensing it is a way of separating fact from rumour,
putting it in perspective and presenting it in a calm fashion.
But trust me on the hand washing.
Edit: It's times like this that I wish I has taken typing in high school. Yes, when I was your age, there was actually a high school class that just taught typing.
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Living a boring life and having no friends is finally paying off.
I'm selling Corona Bracelets™. Package of five for $9.99. Buy these and you'll have a 99.9% chance of not getting the virus. Order now, supplies limited. (Not available in Japan)
(http://www.warrentoda.com/npac/npac-elasticbands.jpg)
I'm no expert but this doesn't look good:
(http://www.warrentoda.com/npac/npac-graph.jpg)
We all knew that take-out pizza was an essential service.
Try Domino's new Pandemic Pizza™. Order online and it'll be delivered faster than you can catch a virus.
Is it true that Canadian maple syrup can ward off the virus? Evidence:
1) Not a single maple tree has COVID-19.
2) Maple syrup is a good source of zinc and manganese both of which help strengthen the immune system.
I'm not taking any chances. I've stocked up on maple syrup and for the next few weeks I'll be eating Pandemic Pancakes™.
This must be a telemarketer's dream. For the next few weeks, everyone will be home.
With most people staying home, it's probably a bad time to be in the home burglary business.
The pandemic restrictions imposed by government are an attempt to protect us from ourselves. But unfortunately you can't legislate common sense, you can't outlaw stupidity. This is why we can't have anything nice in this country.
The government is telling folks to stay at home. The government also tells people to stop at red lights, drink in moderation, and don't cheat on your taxes.
I'm looking forward to our town's annual Spring Fiesta this weekend. The weather should be good so I'm expecting a big turnout. Each year I enter either the pie eating or hot dog eating contest. This year they've got something new: bat eating. I'll probably enter, why not, right?
My new app can calculate your Pandemic Perimeter™. That's the size of your safe distance from other people. Just enter your waist size and level of panic.
Why not make everyone in the country wear something like a disc or inflatable tube (https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/coronavirus-latest-news-italy-man-circle-social-distancing-rome-a9399081.html) around their body when they go out in public? Anyone not wearing a Pandemic Platter™ or Social Saucer™ would be immediately shamed on social media - that'll teach'em.
These discs or tubes would come in a variety of colours and patterns and might have a cup holder and food tray. Let's make pandemics fun again.
**Added May 19: I bet you thought I was joking. (https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/u-s-company-makes-bumper-tables-to-keep-restaurant-patrons-apart-during-covid-19-1.5575413)
Whatever happened to the war in Afghanistan, the war in Yemen, the war in Syria, the nuclear threat from Iran, the nuclear threat from North Korea, the investigation into the downing of flight PS725, the fires in Australia, the imminent economic collapse of Venezuela, Canadian pipeline protests and rail blockades . . .
After Ontario officially shuts down tonight and descends into the darkness, how many media helicopters will be hovering over Toronto trying to spot people in illegal groups? Will reporters check shopping plazas trying to find someone buying or selling non-essential products?
A recent article (https://hub.jhu.edu/2020/03/20/sars-cov-2-survive-on-surfaces/) from John Hopkins University said the best way to catch COVID-19 is by being near an infected someone who's breathing or coughing on you. Catching the virus from a doorknob, tabletop, etc., is less likely but still wash your hands. So social distancing seems to be the key and let's make it fun:
Give everyone a squirt gun loaded with water dyed with Pandemic Pink™. If someone gets too close to you, you let'em have it.
After a few days, if we see someone covered in Pandemic Pink™ from head to toe, we'll immediately know this person is a Virus Viking™ and we should steer clear of them. Forearmed is forewarned.
They say Gordon Lightfoot is writing a new ballad: The Wreck of the Covid Pandemic
When out in public, are you afraid to sneeze for fear of being turned into a Pandemic Pariah™? To protect your social status, reach for our anti-viral Social Savers™ facial tissues. Now available in large PanicPaks™.
(http://www.warrentoda.com/npac/npac-smallbox.png)
(http://www.warrentoda.com/npac/npac-bigbox.jpg)
Social Savers™ is a joke and the pictures were Photoshopped but the product is real and sold by Kleenex. (https://www.kleenex.com/en-us/products/facial-tissues/anti-viral) I just thought Kleenex needed better marketing :D
As you might have noticed, I just found the ™ key on my keyboard.
Edit: May 19 - added a link to a CBC story about pandemic tubes.
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Is it a coincidence that pandemic includes the word panic? Or to rephrase it, two-thirds of pandemic is panic.
Toronto's pandemic hotline is lighting up with reports that people are using parks. Walking their dogs, playing tennis, having coffees on a park bench. Well we can't have that.
The Pandemic Police are on the case and are now closing parks, taping off playground swings and tying basketball nets closed so a ball can't drop through the hoop. Some other cities across the country have already done this. But Toronto is going one step further and will be putting up signs!
You can tell a lot about a person by what they hoard during a pandemic: frozen foods, large bags of potatoes or rice, boxes of macaroni and cheese, etc. I saw a guy today with a shopping cart filled only with donuts, breakfast cereal and many bottles of ketchup. If it wasn't for social distancing, I would've queried the gentleman about his purchasing decisions.
Rock band Rush predicted all of this in their 1982 song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYYdQB0mkEU) "Social Distance": ;)
Spreading through the fringes of the city
In exponential order
A toilet paper hoarder
In between a viral fear
And panic of the unknown
Social distance –
In the high school halls
In the shopping malls
Conform or be cast out
Social distance –
In the basement bars
In the backs of cars
Be distant or be cast out
Any escape will not hide
The unattractive truth
The virus will continue to spread
like the foolishness of youth
"Dance like no one is watching" has been replaced with "Distance like everyone is infected"
As of December 2019, there are 2.84 million (https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3310022301) one-person businesses in Canada. Most photographers are included here.
By comparison, as of December 2019, there are 1.31 million (https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/200206/dq200206c-eng.htm) multi-person businesses. These are businesses that have at least one paid employee.
Canadian governments tend to ignore one-person businesses. There are no labour laws, discrimination laws, health and safety laws or right to be paid laws that might help these 2.84 million people. The only time Canada sees these 2.84 million people is at income tax time.
However the just announced Canada Emergency Response Benefit (https://www.canada.ca/en/department-finance/news/2020/03/introduces-canada-emergency-response-benefit-to-help-workers-and-businesses.html) (CERB) looks like it may help one-person businesses but we'll have to wait until more details are released.
Canada is making a run for the top ten. As I write this, there are 3,409 cases, or about 9.0 per 100,000 people, or about 0.009% of the population. It's increased about 15X in less than two weeks and more than 3X in three days. This means that your chances of catching the virus have now risen to the same chance as you being hurt falling off a toilet.
Comparison of G7 countries (confirmed cases per 100,000 people):
Japan: 1 per 100,000
Canada: 9 per 100,000
UK: 14 per 100,000
USA: 21 per 100,000
France: 39 per 100,000
Germany: 45 per 100,000
Italy: 123 per 100,000
The Japanese even do pandemic better than us. ;D
Edit: added a link to Rush for those who may be musically challenged.
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This is why (https://www.newsweek.com/coronavirus-may-spreading-so-fast-because-feacal-transmission-scientists-say-1488204) I'm now selling anti-viral two-ply Pandemic Poopy Paper™.
I vote we never use the phrase "going viral" for anything ever again.
For all those times my Grade 6 teacher said I should be more social and join in class groups - Ha! Now look who's right, Mrs. Campbell!
Have you been humming that song from The Police (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNIZofPB8ZM):
New virus, the subject
Of public panicking
It's spreading so quickly
I have to wash my hands
In cities there's lockdown
I have to stay inside
No money, my job's gone
This makes me want to hide
Don't stand, don't stand so
Don't stand so close to me
Don't stand, don't stand so
Don't stand so close to me
So the US is putting troops on the border to prevent people from sneaking into the US from Canada. Well, let's take a look at the replay:
February 26: Canada (https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection/health-professionals/epidemiological-summary-covid-19-cases.html) 50 cases. March 26: about 4,024
February 26: USA (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/cases-in-us.html) 15 cases. March 26: about 86,000
If anything, maybe we need to stop Americans trying to sneak into Canada.
Some cities like New York are limiting groups to just one person. This leads to the strange situation where, if you want to be alone, you go out in public.
This also brings to mind the obvious phrase: alone together. (https://www.ted.com/talks/sherry_turkle_connected_but_alone)
Is alone together the inevitable conclusion of social media? Will people who've spent the past ten years of their life on social media even notice social distancing? Or maybe social media is social distancing.
Edit: added a link to The Police for those who may be musically challenged.
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In an earlier post I wrote:
In dark times like this, one might think our government would invest more money in web design.
Thank goodness someone in charge is listening to me. The federal site (https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection.html) now has better graphics, some nice rollover effects on the map and even some animations (push "play")! My panic has subsided.
You'll note that things went really bad starting March 15. But you expected that, right? Remember your history about the Ides of March. The Curse of Caesar is true!
This is the first time, but not the last time, that you can serve your country by staying home and watching TV. It's easy to be a hero and you don't need a cape. Although I bet many of us would still like to wear a cape.
If you're a parent of young children, remember all those times you told your kids, "Turn that off and go play outside" ?
Here in Toronto, why are there so many discarded rubber gloves and face masks littered on the ground?
Toronto people: if you're self-isolating in your parked car and playing with your cell phone, at least turn off the engine.
The top three people leading the fight against COVID-19 in the UK have all tested positive (https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-british-prime-minister-boris-johnson-self-isolating-after-positive/). British people are still not amused.
RBC bank is telling its customers: "In the event of a branch closure, a notice will be posted on the branch door."
Thanks goodness, a sign on the door. For a while there, I was worried about my finances.
RBC will even loan you more money so you can get further in debt. (https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-coronavirus-has-shown-us-we-were-living-in-an-economic-fairy-tale/)
Spiegel (https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/german-ventilator-manufacturer-absolutely-mission-impossible-a-549d1e18-8c21-45f1-846f-cf5ca254b008) has an interview with Stefan Drager, the CEO of Dragerwerk, the world's largest manufacturer of hospital ventilators. Even though Dragerwerk is hiring 500 new employees and will quadruple production, Drager said they and all other manufacturers combined cannot meet current demand for ventilators.
When asked if auto manufacturers can switch from building cars to assembling ventilators, Drager suggested that auto manufacturers can build ventilators as much as he can build cars.
If nothing else, the current situation is preparing you for your future life in retirement:
Spending a lot of time at home, the highlight of your week is grocery shopping, worrying about your income, not seeing your kids and grandkids that much anymore, friends no longer stopping by, and noticing that there's nothing good on TV anymore.
For those of you playing along at home:
China went from (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/13/first-covid-19-case-happened-in-november-china-government-records-show-report) 1 to 82,000 in about 19 weeks. (November 17, 2019, to March 28)
USA went from (https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2001191) 1 to 123,000 in about 10 weeks (January 19 to March 28)
Canada went from 1 to 5,500 in about 9 weeks. (January 25 to March 28)
Canada tripled its count in the past week. Thank goodness people didn't travel for March break >:(
China denied and covered up the existence of the virus for the first six weeks (November 17 to December 31).
The US (aka. Trump and supporters) ignored the virus and downplayed its threat for the first six weeks (January 19 to end of February).
Canada was ready and waiting three weeks before its first case but was arguably slow to screen incoming travelers and close international borders. Although everything is easier in hindsight.
Ontario has lowered allowable gathering size from 50 to 5 people. Well, there goes square dancing.
If a spreading virus followed by international economic collapse isn't enough to keep you on the edge of your seat, how about rising taxes? All levels are government are spending enormous amounts of money and will be receiving much lower tax revenues. Some Ontario municipalities are saying that a stiff rise in property taxes will be their only solution if higher levels of government don't help them.
And farmers are warning of a food shortage and higher food prices.
Have a nice day.
And wash your hands.
Edit: Normally I have an intern who proofreads my posts. But due to hygiene and social distancing, I've told her to stop licking the crumbs from my keyboard and go lie down in the corner. My dog is doing okay, too. [rimshot (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CdVTCDdEwI)]
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Dear Diary:
• Finished the Internet (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uXtWIg_A7M)
• Organized sock drawer. All socks pointing north.
• Completed still life photos of all fruit in refrigerator
• Have eaten all fruit in refrigerator
• Buy more fruit
• Fed squirrels in backyard
• Started long-term project: time-lapse video of dust buildup on coffee table
• Checked cameras - all work fine
• Topped up all batteries
• Organized sock drawer. All socks pointing west.
• Neighbour owes me $60 says he can't pay due to social distancing. I returned his chainsaw but coughed all over it.
• Lots of squirrels in backyard
• Cleaned lenses in order of increasing focal length
• Cleaned lenses in order of decreasing focal length
• Lenses look clean but should get more lens cleaner
• Checked cameras - all work fine
• Topped up all batteries
• Organized sock drawer. Cotton socks pointing north, poly-blends pointing west.
• Chased squirrels out of backyard
• Things getting desperate. Have started drinking own urine.
• Note to self: stop drinking own urine
• Checked cameras - all work fine
• Drained batteries so I can top them up
• Pandemic will last months. Have thrown out all socks.
• Googling squirrel recipes (https://www.wideopenspaces.com/5-best-squirrel-recipes/)
• Drinking hand sanitizer and eating toilet paper
• Not looking forward to Day Two of isolation.
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Talk about March Madness. In Canada, cumulative totals: (https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection.html)
March 1: 15 cases 0.04 per 100,000
March 10: 77 0.20 per 100,000
March 20: 1004 2.66 per 100,000
March 30: 7500 (approx.) 19.9 per 100,000 (China is 5.7 per 100,000)
The old saying still rings true: March comes in like a flu and goes out like a pandemic.
Can anyone remember all the way back to March 1st? You could rub up against strangers in the grocery store, shake hands with everyone you met and lick as many handrails as you wanted. Ah, those were simpler, carefree times back then.
At the start of March, newspaper headlines screamed about panic and doom unlike today where they scream about panic and doom. Newspapers have to learn to pace themselves and dole out the fear and panic more slowly. Having the sky fall every day is a quick way to jade their readers. One would think that the news media would've learned this lesson from every other disaster over the past half-century or so.
Anyone over 50 years old – so that rules out almost every journalist today – won't ever forget the pandemic that swept around the globe in the 1970s and lasted almost the entire decade: Disco Fever.
It was horrible. Outbreaks of spandex and polyester everywhere.
Early symptoms of the disease included jive talking and digging it. There was no vaccine. As the disease progressed, victims would shake their booty and boogie all night long.
Fortunately it went away because those infected with it were social distanced by everyone else around them. But from time to time, there are flare-ups of Disco Fever usually on cruise ships and at holiday resorts.
McDonalds said it won't be bringing back its popular McBat sandwich.
Each week, health officials say that the upcoming week will be critical. Yet we continue to act like a joy-riding teenage driver blowing past stop signs.
Toronto's Emergency Operations Centre has been mobilized for 20 days. No idea how this differs from the city's regular operations centre. I like to think the Emergency Operations Centre is hidden inside a mountain or in a frozen Arctic fortress. I'll be really disappointed if it's located in a downtown Holiday Inn.
The Ontario government wanted to have some mandatory online courses for all students in the province. Teacher unions fought against it and the government backed off. That was a long four weeks ago. Irony of ironies, online courses may be the only thing left.
It's been my long-held theory that a country's overall intelligence is proportional to its distance from the equator. This may or may not have anything to do with the current pandemic.
To take your mind off the pandemic, here are some fun statistics about war, genocide, political purges and diseases:
Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_and_anthropogenic_disasters_by_death_toll) (sorry for linking to Wikipedia) has a list of all wars, genocides, political purges, etc. throughout most human history. Even if you take this list with a big grain of salt, the list is so long and the number of deaths so high, it's unbelievable. Makes you glad not to be part of the human race.
Here are some colourful charts showing all causes of death (https://ourworldindata.org/what-does-the-world-die-from)worldwide and for each country. Spoiler alert: don't smoke, eat more vegetables, turn that off and go outside.
Edit: updated some numbers as Canada's numbers are always changing.
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Remember the last pandemic that swept the world about 10-1/2 years ago? Back then, an Ontario public health official said that he didn't foresee (https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/who-declares-swine-flu-pandemic-no-change-in-canada-s-approach-1.777870) any panic being triggered by an H1N1 pandemic declaration. And he was right. There was no hoarding and no rush to buy toilet paper or hand sanitizer. There was a mild rush to buy face masks.
When a vaccine became available there was a mild panic (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-h1n1-clinics-close-early-1.792430) to get vaccinated – remember photographing the loooong lineups? Remember the controversy when some of the early batches of vaccine, intended for healthcare workers, first responders and other at-risk people, were "diverted" to wealthy (https://abcnews.go.com/Health/Business/wall-street-h1n1-vaccine/story?id=9006587) private clinics and pro sports teams (https://www.thestar.com/sports/2009/11/04/leafs_raptors_admit_getting_h1n1_shots.html) (and here (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/minister-slams-h1n1-shots-for-leafs-raptors-1.777425))?
The 2009 to 2010 H1N1 pandemic, (https://www.britannica.com/event/influenza-pandemic-H1N1-of-2009) (and here (https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/2009-h1n1-pandemic.html)), not to be confused with the H1N1 pandemic of the 20th century, was quickly spread by people traveling from country to country. Sound familiar?
Canada:
Confirmed cases: +25,000 (Covid-19: 7,500 so far)
Hospitalized: 8,600 - 15,000 (Covid-19: 446 so far)
Deaths: 428 (Covid-19: 89 so far)
Worldwide:
Estimated cases: about 60 million (Covid-19: 800,000 so far)
Deaths: about 18,500 (lab confirmed (https://www.who.int/influenza/surveillance_monitoring/updates/MortalityEstimates/en/)) but estimated (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(12)70121-4/fulltext): 151,700 to 575,400 (Covid-19: 38,000 so far)
(Back then, worldwide data reporting wasn't as good as today (https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/who-collaboration.htm). It was improved right after this pandemic.)
What was the advice to avoid H1N1?
Wash your hands frequently, cough into your sleeve, keep your hands away from your face, and yes, the exact phrase "social distancing" was a thing back then (at least in 2010).
For your reading enjoyment, there are many available reports, both Canadian (https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/corporate/mandate/about-agency/office-evaluation/evaluation-reports/lessons-learned-review-public-health-agency-canada-health-canada-response-2009-h1n1-pandemic.html) (another here-pdf (https://secure.cihi.ca/free_products/H1N1_AIB_final_EN.pdf)) and international, about the 2009–2010 H1N1 pandemic. Many reports recommended stocking more medical supplies and more ventilators.
Another recommendation that came out of the H1N1 pandemic is that, to minimize virus spread during a pandemic, governments should consider closing schools and promote social distancing by limiting public events/public gatherings. So what we're seeing today is governments acting on lessons learned from the previous pandemic.
I have not seen any news outlet publish a week-by-week comparison of the H1N1 pandemic vs Covid-19 pandemic. That's right, (deep voice) The Battle of the Pandemics™. During the H1N1 pandemic, the government put out weekly numbers and now during Covid-19, it's doing daily numbers.
Covid-19 numbers are lower than H1N1. But H1N1 lasted a year (https://ipac-canada.org/pandemic-h1n1-resources.php) and Covid-19 is only four months old, there's still more to come. Technically H1N1 is still around, in Canada as recently as last fall, but the H1N1 pandemic is over.
What the H1N1 recommendations didn't mention are the economic and psychological side effects of closing things down. Both of these make a pandemic seem worse.
Economically, Covid-19 will easily cost Canada 10X more than H1N1. Don't be surprised if it ends up costing 100X more than H1N1.
On the psychological side, Covid-19 needs a better public image, it needs Pandemic PR™.
You're not shutting down businesses, you're giving people more holidays! Woo! A free staycation (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/staycation) for everyone!
Calling it quarantine or isolation only builds fear. Someone should not be forced into isolation but rather they should win a Pandemic Party™ for one! Give them a party hat, balloons, toilet paper and a month's free Netflix.
What makes Covid-19 seem worse than H1N1:
1) Increased, improved and faster data reporting (https://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/who-collaboration.htm) since H1N1. More statistics (https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/covid-19-pandemic-data-primer-stats-charts-1.5513222) than you can cough on.
2) Today we've got a newer version of Microsoft Office and we have better web design. Not a joke. The ability to easily and quickly create pretty bar graphs and having more entertaining web graphics mean that more people are following the Covid-19 pandemic. If you like this pandemic, click here to subscribe.
3) During the 2009 to 2010 pandemic, Instagram didn't exist, Twitter was a minor distraction and Facebook had only 350 million users (about 20% of its current users).
I hope you're still washing your hands.
Edit: added a bunch of links.
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Statistics can be both useful and useless and sometimes even at the same time.
Vatican City => 750 cumulative cases per 100,000 people
Luxembourg => 372
Iceland => 359
Spain => 222
Switzerland => 206
Italy => 183
Belgium => 121
Austria => 119
Germany => 93
Norway => 90
France => 89
Portugal => 82
Netherlands => 81
Israel => 71
Ireland => 70
USA => 65
Denmark => 57
Sweden => 49
UK => 44
Czechia => 33
Canada => 26 Poland (same population as Canada but higher density): 7 per 100,000.
South Korea => 20
Australia => 19
China => 6
Brazil => 3
Japan => 2
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Is it safe to assume that our next several monthly clip contests will just be pictures of people in face masks?
A US man was charged (https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-fbi-redirects-medical-supplies-to-new-york-health-care-staff-after/) with assaulting FBI detectives by allegedly coughing on them.
Added April 10: Also in Canada (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/spitting-coughing-covid-grocery-ontario-1.5526935).
At my local Loblaws grocery store, the front-door security guard said that no cloth bags are allowed in the store because you might put them down on the floor.
City of Toronto last week had to shut down at least 514 businesses that were told to shut down the week before.
There must be a lot of companies busy printing social distancing floor stickers. I saw floor stickers inside and outside several stores and banks.
Some of these stickers used purple and yellow Easter colours and a happy font: "I'm social distancing!"
There were bright green stickers with "Social Distance" and illustrations of feet. Or maybe those were dance steps to be followed?
Some stickers used yellow, the official warning colour, and bold black text: "Stay six feet apart."
I would've used black and white stickers with a skull and crossbones: "Stand here or die."
T-shirt: Went on March Break and all I got is a virus
Seven percent (https://canadasafetycouncil.org/safety-on-the-road-ahead/) of Canadian drivers don't wear seat belts. They account for 40% of collision fatalities. Does this suggest that a small percentage of people who aren't practicing our nation's Pandemic Principles™ are causing much of our current healthcare problems?
For geologists, the big one is an earthquake that will destroy the western edge of North America and kill tens of millions.
For epidemiologists, the big one is a pandemic that will infect almost everyone and kill tens of millions.
For the military, the big one is a nuclear world war that will kill tens of millions.
For the rest of us, the big one is all-you-can-eat wings night.
Edit: added a link
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Not bragging but Covid-19 is my 7th pandemic.
ICYMI: there are currently two other pandemics happening around the world. But those are boring pandemics. Only about 3.5 million deaths per year (in 2018).
Would things be different if we had used "physical distance" instead of "social distance?"
With 16,000 cumulative cases in Canada (42.4 per 100,000 people), it's now almost the same as winning a free Lottery 649 ticket (45.8 per 100,000 people).
Tomorrow, April 7 (the founding day of the World Health Organization), is World Health Day (https://www.who.int/news-room/campaigns/world-health-day). So how healthy is the world? This year's theme for World Health Day is a celebration of nurses and midwives. How appropriate! And necessary.
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Spent much of today washing my money – normal cycle, medium temperature. The coins made an awful lot of noise in the dryer, maybe should've added a few towels. Thank goodness Canada moved to polymer banknotes a few year ago. That stuff doesn't need to be ironed.
This is the only time when it's good to be a money launderer.
Pro tip: don't use bleach when washing the banknotes.
I just finished stocking up on toilet paper and now I've got to start hoarding coffee filters? (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/diy-cloth-face-coverings.html)
Just to get ahead of the curve, I'm starting to hoard furnace filters, vehicle air filters and oil filters, Brita water filters and ShopVac filters. Thank goodness I already have a good stash of lens filters.
You know modern day technology has failed us when we have to rely on 18th century techniques (put a piece of cloth over your mouth) to protect us from a modern day plague.
Big tech wasted all that time on developing self-driving cars, cell phones that have multiple lenses, and cutesy photo filters. What if they had spent that time and money developing a way to re-sterilize face masks and other one-time-use surgical gear? Instead of one-time-use masks, we might have reusable masks which would be a big help when supplies are low. (Can you steam clean or UV clean an N95 mask?) But then, supplies have never been low before and I really want a self-driving car and a cell phone with six camera lenses.
Canadians told: wear a non-medical mask (https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-tam-offers-new-advice-wear-a-non-medical-mask-when-shopping-or-using/) when shopping or using public transit.
C'mon folks, that's a challenge waiting to be accepted! Scuba mask (https://www.newsweek.com/coronavirus-covid19-hospital-ventilator-snorkeling-mask-italy-3d-printing-isinnova-1494150) and snorkel, (https://webgate.epa.eu/?16634349628007773501&MEDIANUMBER=55971432) gas mask, a bucket (https://www.marketingmag.com.au/news-c/news-hyundai-backseat-santa-fe-campaign/), plastic bottle (https://www.ntnews.com.au/technology/people-are-making-coronavirus-masks-out-of-fruit-bras-water-cooler-bottles-and-even-sanitary-pads/news-story/f1510c25aaaa3454ac9f776fbb0d4011), welding helmet (https://www.homedepot.ca/search?q=welding%20helmet#!q=welding%20helmet), a panty (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lixII1thTO4), umbrella helmet (https://metro.co.uk/2008/02/26/umbrella-helmet-will-rain-supreme-10671/), and other fun masks (https://www.amazon.com/funny-surgical-masks/s?k=funny+surgical+masks). My favourite has to be the classic Medieval Plague Mask (https://www.amazon.com/plague-mask/s?k=plague+mask) (a bit of history here (https://www.ancient-origins.net/artifacts-ancient-technology/secrets-behind-plague-doctor-mask-terrifying-costume-009201)).
And in case you missed it, the federal government just tossed newspapers a bone.
You learned the word "epidemiologist" and now here's new word #2: origamiologist. Who said a pandemic couldn't be educational?
Get your newspaper to contact a local origamiologist, someone who's an expert in origamiology, and have them provide instructions on how to fold a sheet of newspaper into a face mask. Boom! Newsprint sales through the roof. You're welcome.
How soon before the government has to warn people not to put plastic bags over their head?
Edit: added some links.
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Panic loves company as much as misery does.
With so many people wearing face masks, at the bank today it was tough to tell the pandemic people from the bank robbers.
The World Health Organization (WHO) faced criticism about its pandemic performance. In response, WHO acted quickly and launched a new web site (https://who.sprinklr.com/) with easy-to-remember URL, faster load times, better graphics, more colour and nicer rollover effects.
I want to take a moment to recognize the unsung heroes working the front lines of this pandemic: web designers.
If it weren't for these web designers working at unsanitized keyboards, eight hours per day, we wouldn't have so much to panic about. "Ignorance is bliss," I always say. "What you don't know can't hurt you."
Thanks to these flashy web sites, news outlets can write articles about how to read a graph (https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/7kz3a4/how-to-read-the-coronavirus-graphs), how to understand numbers (https://www.forbes.com/sites/marshallshepherd/2020/03/23/is-the-math-too-hard-for-people-to-understand-covid-19-coronavirus/), best virus graphs, (https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/2/21201832/novel-coronavirus-covid-19-best-graphs-tracking-data) best coronavirus charts. How long (https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/corona-simulator/) are you willing to stare at the dots?
CBC news actually had a reporter explaining how a line graph works - this is where the graph begins, this is called "the slope" and this is the top.
Too bad people, or at least some news outlets, aren't as smart as a fifth grader.
Many businesses have published statements about "these uncertain times", "these difficult times" and that they are "acknowledging social distance." These companies "are monitoring the situation closely and taking important steps" to protect the health and safety of their customers and employees.
McDonalds is now enforcing "strict hand-washing and cleaning procedures." I guess before this they had only casual cleaning procedures.
How are companies closely monitoring the situation? I bet it's like this (https://d.ibtimes.co.uk/en/full/1532009/trident-nuclear-submarine.jpg) or maybe this. (http://letheatredumonde.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/nuclear-facility-console-furniture-design-space-770x365.jpg) I hate to think it's just someone watching TV news.
Behind those special doors next to the grocery store butcher counter, store clerks are probably monitoring the situation (https://constanttech.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/FOC-fleet-operations-1024x684.jpg) closely.
Here at Wiggly's Deli Sandwiches, Pool Chemicals, Daycare and Bait Shop, we are closely monitoring the situation. We have taken important steps to protect the health and safety of our customers and our employees.
In support of social distance, we have moved most of the bait buckets six feet away from the sandwich counter. This should also lower the chances of our employees accidentally mixing up the pastrami and the red wigglers again.
We will enforce new hygiene procedures for the next few weeks:
(1) we won't use the same spoon for preparing the potato salad and mixing the pool chemicals.
(2) employees will be strongly encouraged to wash their hands before preparing your food.
(3) any child vomit on the floor will now be cleaned up within 24 hours.
How are Canada's blood banks doing?
Within a week, Canada should break into the top twelve countries with most coronavirus cases. The good news is that by entering the top twelve, Canada will become a featured country on the WHO's new web site!
In a much earlier post, I wrote that Canada would not be among the top ten countries. I'm now either proud or sad to say that Canada could break the top ten before the end of April.
What if they had a pandemic and nobody showed up?
Two viruses each board a train at Union Station in Winnipeg. Each train is carrying 1,000 passengers. One train heads west toward Vancouver at 150 km/hr with an infection rate of 50 people per hour. The other goes east to Montreal at 60 km/hr with an infection rate of 90 people per hour.
(1) At what point along the route will each train run out of club sandwiches?
(2) What year will the Maple Leafs win the Cup?
Remember to show your work.
The rain had been beating a steady rhythm against my office window for several days. But it was still not enough to wash away the years of grime and neglect. Business was slow and I was spending the day isolated in my office getting to know the bottle of whiskey I keep in my desk drawer. I wasn't certain what time it was because these were uncertain times.
The streets were cold and empty, just like my wife Purell who ran away with the heir to a toilet paper fortune.
I was nearing the bottom of the bottle when my office door burst open.
She rushed into my office like she was rushing into a hospital emergency ward with a contagious virus. One look at this dame in her tight-fitting face mask and I was feeling a fever.
Said her name was Epi Demiology. Sounded Greek to me.
She needed my help finding the guy who was ruining her life.
I know all about lowlife and scum. I deal with these plagues on humanity all the time.
The name's Vaccine, Vinny Vaccine. And I'm a PI - a pandemic investigator.
Epi gives me all the details.
The guy's name is Covid and he's been making her sick. She said her life's been turned upside down ever since he came to town. She's afraid to leave home.
Seems this Covid is a bit of a charmer. He can sneak up on you and, before you know it, he's under your skin and you can't shake him. He's been working his way through shopping malls, nightclubs, any place where crowds gather.
Epi's got a bad case of the guy and she wants me to wash him out her life.
This sounded dangerous. I packed a fully loaded bottle of hand sanitizer into my holster and headed out into the night.
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This pandemic is bringing us all closer together. But back up a few feet.
We will help each other get through this. But don't ask me to loan you any money.
Coming soon to those waste-of-time photo web sites:
How I shot a wedding while in isolation in my living room
How I shot a corporate annual report in my kitchen while in isolation
How I shot a TV commercial from my front porch with only a cell phone while in isolation
A few vacuous news stories this week: how to decorate your home office; what to wear while working at home; with nail salons closed, how to apply your own nail polish; what music to listen to during isolation.
Toronto is getting about 300 complaints per day of people standing too close together. One person actually complained about police officers standing too close together while they were investigating a crime.
The Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team last week donated 10,000 face masks to hospitals. Why didn't any reporter ask the obvious question: What is a hockey team doing with 10,000 face masks and how many more do they have?
How to sew your own face mask:
1) Buy a sewing machine
2) Find a fabric store that hasn't closed
3) ...
Obviously someone important has been reading this thread because a few days ago the John Hopkins web site (https://www.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/bda7594740fd40299423467b48e9ecf6) updated its site to include number of cases per 100,000 people ("Incidence Rate"). :)
It now allows Americans to track the virus on a county-by-county basis. By next pandemic, I think we'll be able to track a virus on a street-by-street basis. Maybe with video game graphics. Couple this with Google Maps Streetview . . .
Pandemics are also a good way to learn geography. Before Covid-19, could you locate San Marino or Andorra? These are two of the most infected countries.
I can be just as non-essential as someone who make five times more than me. This means I'm more cost-effective at being non-essential.
If you have time on your hands, Stats Canada needs you. (https://www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/covid19?HPA=1) This may be the only time you'll actually want to do an online survey.
I think it was T.S. Eliot who wrote, "This is the way the world ends, not with a bang, but a virus."
Do you ever get the feeling that politicians and the assorted news media "experts" are just winging it? Granted there's no twenty-first-century history to draw upon and no one remembers anything before that.
With most governments and news media using war references, this brings to mind the famous phrase that "the first casualty of war is truth."
Truth becomes a casualty not automatically but when it is disregarded or ignored by governments and the news media.
Some news outlets today report unchecked pandemic information or they take online information as fact. They copy from other publications.
As a journalist, some of us were taught to "believe nothing of what you hear and only half of what you see," (a phrase attributed to Edgar Allan Poe). This meant that you should always be skeptical, don't assume anything and always check sources.
Every photographer should know the Harold Evans quote: "The camera cannot lie, but it can be an accessory to untruth."
Every photographer knows that what you crop out of a photo is just as important as what you leave in. But this knowledge hasn't seeped into the non-photo side of journalism.
What you don't report is just as important as what you do. But it seems that some news outlets simply follow the mantra: it can't be wrong if we all do it. (https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0535/6917/products/idiocydemotivator_grande.jpeg) (Photo taken from this site (https://despair.com/collections/posters))
This is how the news media kills the truth. Information and other facts are selectively reported, often out of context and without the needed perspective. The news becomes an accessory to untruth.
Why are sports departments rewriting old sports events as if these sports are happening today? Are writers and readers that lost for ideas of what to do? If that's the best sports can do, why not just layoff the sports dept. and save a few bucks? (Apply for federal wage subsidies, of course).
Since sports reporters are being paid to rewrite old stories, I bet sports photographers are making good money on resales/reuse of their old photos, right?
Newspapers have a prime opportunity right now to re-think, re-jig, re-deploy their business and (re)connect with readers. So far, the best some newspapers can do is unlock a few coronavirus pages.
There is a captive audience right in front of you! Do something! There are only 15 months left in this pandemic.
Put all pandemic information in one section. One section. Stop scattering information all over the place.
Limit what you publish about the pandemic. More is not better, it just adds to the confusion. Be a daily newspaper not a minute-by-minute newspaper. You don't have to compete with 24-hour TV news.
Understand both the value of numbers and the futility of numbers. A principle of tabloid newspapers is/was to always emphasize the numbers. But just as you sometimes can't see the forest for the trees, sometimes you can't see the story for the numbers.
Stop rerunning online stories with just the headline changed (*cough* CBC *cough*).
Stop using misleading, out-of-context, useless stock pictures as "news" photos to show what it's like in a hospital, in a bio lab, in a home office, etc. You're fooling no one but yourselves.
Stop using photos from China, Italy or New York City to illustrate what's happening, or could happen, in Canada.
If a columnist doesn't know or understand science, medicine, technology or healthcare, then don't let them write about it.
Who cares what celebrities are doing?
Report what is happening or has happened. Why waste readers' time and insult their intelligence by reporting what might happen if....
If 10 million people get infected ....
If 20 million people lose their jobs ....
If we hadn't outsourced everything to China .....
What purpose does this serve? How can any of this information be used by readers?
Make readers smarter.
Give them actionable information.
On an unrelated note, why do so many cities now have ground-level, three-metre-tall letters spelling out that city's name? Is this for Instagram selfies? Is this for lost tourists? Is it for satellite images used by map apps?
Why don't cities put up another city's name instead, just to confuse people?
As of March 2020: (https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-627-m/11-627-m2020028-eng.htm)
Canada's population is 38.0 million. (https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/71-607-x/71-607-x2018005-eng.htm) If you click on that link, you watch the population change! On an average day, there are 777 deaths (https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1310039201) and 1020 live births (https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1310042901).
Canada has 31 million people of working age (at least 15 years old). I remember when working age was 18 years old and then it became 16. Now it's 15.
Canada's labour force is 20.1 million people (https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/71-607-x/71-607-x2017001-eng.htm) (the number of civilian, non-institutionalized persons 15 years of age and over who were employed or unemployed.)
Canada has about 18.8 million people who are employed (the number of people who worked for pay or profit, or performed unpaid family work or had a job but were not at work due to own illness or disability, personal or family responsibilities, labour dispute, vacation, or other reason.)
In March 2020, about 3.1 million people said they were affected by job loss or reduced hours (https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/71-607-x/71-607-x2020009-eng.htm) due to the pandemic. (On that web page, select either the "1 month % change" or "Index" tab and then select "Employment persons" or "Actual hours worked at main job" indicators. These have current data).
By April 13, 2020, almost 6 million people (https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/covid19-benefits-cerb-1.5530722) applied for financial help.
The point to all these statistics is to show that individual numbers are large but the scale is relatively small, despite what newspaper headlines may suggest. *But* it also shows that it doesn't require much wind speed to push the country, its healthcare system and economy off course. That's what you really need to worry about.
At least the empty trains are still running on time.
(Edit: fixed some typos)
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As most Toronto drivers know, during a snow storm, traffic laws are suspended. You can drive at any speed, turn anywhere you want, drive the wrong way on one-way streets, park anywhere, and stop signs are just a suggestion.
However the city of Toronto yesterday put out a press release telling drivers that traffic laws still apply during a pandemic. The last two weeks of March saw a sharp increase in speeding, street racing, illegal parking and red-light running.
My local grocery store is closely monitoring the situation and is doing everything it can to protect my health and safety. My bank is doing the same for me, too. A local drug store, the post office and a nearby takeout pizza joint are all doing it, too. Even Burger King, the place that will sell me a triple burger with triple cheese, double bacon, 2,100 mg of sodium, 80 g of fat and 1,200 calories, plus fries and a Coke, is "taking important steps to help protect (my) health and safety." I've never felt so protected.
The businesses that provide my car insurance, home insurance, business insurance, cell phone service, Internet service, home phone, TV cable, utilities and home heating are all closely monitoring the situation and are doing everything they can to protect my health and safety. The fact that all these companies need me to send them money every month is just a coincidence.
The only place that isn't closely monitoring the situation and couldn't care less about my health and safety is a local mom-and-pop fish and chips store. As long as I don't use up all their ketchup and don't ask to use their washroom (which, according to the cardboard sign, is for employees only), they will permit me to enjoy their deep-fried creations. Based on the depth of dirt on the worn-out floor, archeologists have estimated that this store is about 200 years old. But mom still knows how to mix up a good batch of batter and pop can work a deep fryer like nobody's business.
More important news stories from the past two days:
How to colour your hair at home
How to use Apple FaceTime
How to work at home using a kitchen table or dining room table
Surviving the post-pandemic workplace
We may need lockdowns until 2022
City of Toronto planning to reopen -- That was the lead headline on a news radio station yesterday. Of course it was wildly misleading. The city is *beginning* to make plans for when the city *might start* to open in a *couple of months.*
Vaccine Watch: Live updates on the race to a COVID cure. -- Live? Minute by minute updates? Hourly? Daily? Monthly? Hey, let's do play-by-play coverage of a +14-month process but we'll do it like we're covering a two-hour sports events.
What about live updates on the vaccine race for another current pandemic? The one that kills about 770,000 (https://www.who.int/gho/hiv/epidemic_status/deaths_text/en/) per year (from 2018). (Added: 690,000 deaths in 2019 (https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/aids-hiv-coronavirus-united-nations-world-health-organization-1.5639212)). That "race" has been ongoing for 25 years. What about the race for a SARS vaccine, how's that going? (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sars-vaccine-may-be-tested-in-2004-1.357226) The race for an Ebola vaccine (https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/second-opinion-ebola-vaccine-1.4672807) only took 15 to 38 years depending on how you count the Ebola epidemic.
It's dangerous, stupid and irresponsible for a news outlet to drive the subject of the news and create false expectation.
Why not something more reasonable: Maple Leafs Watch: Live updates on the race to a Stanley Cup
Hand sanitizer + gas stove = fun science experiment or viral video?
During these difficult times, have you noticed that telecoms (Bell, Rogers, TekSavvy) have stopped offering discounts from their list prices? The discount brands, Virgin and Fido, have only small discounts.
The cost for my cable internet was set to rise at the end of April. I called Rogers a few times times over two weeks asking for a better price. I was told that there are no discounts "right now" and they can't help with a lower price "at this time." In the past, it was *always* possible to get 30% to 50% discounts just by asking.
My car insurance company is offering a pandemic discount. It should be about $10 to $15/month for three months. That will amount to 1.25% to 1.88% off my annual premium.
Edit: added an updated link to AIDS-related deaths.
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Do you have a favourite coronavirus portrait? (https://www.flickr.com/photos/niaid/albums/72157712914621487) I like this one (https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/8d56e47b642365ea41f2d0a7cee23fbd1dce6906/239_14_1614_968/master/1614.jpg?width=1225&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=6ea6cf01e743bd9c034dd33606d4bf5b) because of the friendly pastel colours.
At what point should stock photo companies take responsibility for the photos on their sites?
Stock photo sites like Getty, Adobe, Dreamstime, etc. all have stupid and even outright irresponsible coronavirus photos on their sites.
A search of any stock site will turn up loads of crap stock images showing fake coronavirus images, fake doctors, fake science, fake labs, fake testing, (https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/close-up-of-nurses-hands-holding-buccal-cotton-swab-and-test-tube-to-picture-id1211795476?s=2048x2048) upside-down test tubes, toy syringes, etc. It's one thing to illustrate something but it's another thing to just make things up.
Wearing a face mask incorrectly and upside down (https://www.dreamstime.com/global-pandemic-coronavirus-covid-atypical-pneumonia-virus-coronavirus-blood-sample-global-pandemic-coronavirus-image175437934). Laughable labeling, (and idiotic syringes (https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/doctors-hand-with-a-syringe-of-covid19-vaccine-picture-id1210998397?s=2048x2048)), on tubes of red stuff (https://as1.ftcdn.net/jpg/03/29/78/94/500_F_329789479_xts2Mkdo2zJRSV68iq2IvSFITVOghRaV.jpg), blue stuff (https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/closeup-of-human-hand-holding-paper-picture-id1209017731?s=2048x2048) and yellow stuff (https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/coronavirus-covid19-vaccine-picture-id1213304774?s=2048x2048).
You know how you feel, as a photographer, when you see an actor holding a camera incorrectly, having the wrong lens attached or using a film camera to get digital images? Well, I've worked in pharmaceutical labs and I've photographed in lots of medical labs. It's lazy and irresponsible not to get these pictures right.
The issue is that some mainstream news media are using these stock pictures to accompany news articles and the photos are outright wrong. Some stock pictures are so silly it should be obvious that they're fake. But some photos could easily be used to fool people.
Telecom company Bell donated 1.5 million masks (https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/battling-covid-19-telecoms-company-bell-to-donate-1-5-million-masks-to-healthcare-and-frontline-workers?video_autoplay=true) worth $7.5M.
1) Where did they get 1.5 million masks and why couldn't any government do this?
2) They paid $5 per mask? Were the masks bought at auction?
3) The company said these 1.5 million were surplus. How many millions of masks did they buy?
4) Why do so many private companies, and some pro sports teams, have stockpiles of medical supplies but governments have problems buying any?
If you haven't watched it yet, here's the now famous Bill Gates video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Af6b_wyiwI) from 2015 where he talked about the world not being prepared for a major epidemic.
Here's the 2014 Barack Obama video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w50tZonOgoU) where he spoke about the importance of the USA being prepared for the next epidemic (start about the 15-minute mark).
If you're wondering about the other virus that was sweeping across Canada, using the most recent government numbers:
• 2019-2020 flu season: (https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/diseases-conditions/fluwatch/2019-2020/week-14-march-29-april-4-2020.html) 55,194 laboratory-confirmed cases of influenza and at least 2,382 hospitalizations and 103 deaths. (It says "at least" because not all provinces report these numbers).
• 2018-2019 flu season: (https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/diseases-conditions/fluwatch/2018-2019/annual-report.html) 48,818 laboratory-confirmed cases and at least 3,657 hospitalizations and 224 deaths.
• for comparison, as I write this, Covid-19: about 37,300 cases, 2,369 hospitalizations and about 1,725 deaths. These numbers will continue to rise.
I once had an economics professor who said that if there were to be a recession, choose not to participate. A recession is a state of mind driven by fear not facts.
So by extension, if there is panic and fear caused by a pandemic, choose not to participate.
But for some people, that's almost impossible to do. Some people choose panic and fear because then, they think, they will no longer be responsible for their future. I'm not responsible for what's happening to me because I'm living in a state of panic and fear. The pandemic controls my life.
Panic is the loss of reason or logical thinking caused by fear.
Fear is being afraid that bad things, or even just a big change, might happen sometime in the future.
Current pandemic events have probably changed your normal routine and that's a good thing. Don't be afraid of change; it's routine that's bad for you!
Our current pandemic officially started on March 11. It's been happening, so far, for about 3,628,800 seconds.
Emotions like fear and panic last less than 90 seconds:
When a person has a reaction to something in their environment, there’s a 90-second chemical process that happens in the body; after that, any remaining emotional response is just the person choosing to stay in that emotional loop.
Something happens in the external world and chemicals are flushed through your body which puts it on full alert. For those chemicals to totally flush out of the body it takes less than 90 seconds.
This means that for 90 seconds you can watch the process happening, you can feel it happening, and then you can watch it go away.
After that, if you continue to feel fear, anger, and so on, you need to look at the thoughts that you’re thinking that are re-stimulating the circuitry that is resulting in you having this physiological response over and over again.
- Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, from her book "My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientists Personal Journey" or the first 7-1/2 minutes of this video. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzT_SBl31-s)
Exit your emotional loop (e.g. ignore loud headlines and stop watching pandemic numbers, which are meaningless to the average person).
Don't participate in the panic and fear.
(Edit: Added two sentences about Covid-19 at the end of the section about the flu).
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Don't participate in the panic and fear. But feel free to participate in the stupidity:
• More than 140,000 people (https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/measles) die each year from one of the world's most contagious diseases – measles – and there's a vaccine for that!
• The state of Missouri is suing China.
• Residents of New York are suing the World Health Organization
• Some Americans want tattoo parlours to be an essential service.
• Many Americans are against socialism but yet they want their government to send them monthly cheques during the pandemic shut down.
• Here in Canada, some people who have tested positive for the virus are ignoring demands to stay home. They are still going out (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/markham-stouffville-hospital-icu-covid-19-1.5539212) and socializing with friends.
• Now that you've got your $2,000 from the government, you can spend it on designer face masks. (https://adevarul.ro/life-style/moda/masti-fashion-create-studioul-croitorie-wolfgang-schinke-germania-7_5e9edd8d5163ec4271f9fa7f/2_5e9ede1e5163ec4271fa0039.html) They even have a face mask for smokers. (It's a Romanian site but the photos are in English).
• There's been a rush on vitamins as people have suddenly become interested in their health. Chewing a few vitamins will make it all better.
• Herbal supplements and herbal teas that promise any type of immunity are also big sellers.
"Governments, [in] Canada and elsewhere, do not invest in preparedness," said Ron St. John (https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/covid19-pandemic-early-warning-1.5537925), a former director general at the Public Health Agency of Canada who once served as the country's quarantine officer.
Another fun read here (https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2017/02/19/bill-gates-warns-of-epidemic-that-will-kill-over-30-million-people/#707951df282f) from 2017: "Indeed, many health systems around the world remain broken. ... numerous countries have major problems in their vaccine supply chains".
Why does every major bad news event need to have a ground zero or an epicentre?
We reached a bit of a milestone at 38,000 cumulative cases. This means 100 per 100,000 Canadians have or have had the virus (about a third have recovered). That's equivalent to 1 out of every 1,000 Canadians or 0.1% of the population.
Remember when plastic bags were bad and some cities tried to outlaw them? Now those bags are helping us. Go plastic!
I've got cheap gas, drive-thru fast food and no job. It's like being a teenager again.
Total cumulative cases listed every ten days because we're dealing with a metric virus: :)
Feb 1: 4
Feb 10: 7
Feb 20: 9
March 1: 24
March 10: 77
March 20: 1,004
April 1: 9,613
April 10: 22,148
April 20: 34,786
With the number of new daily cases seemingly dropping and it's been *generally* dropping (https://health-infobase.canada.ca/covid-19/epidemiological-summary-covid-19-cases.html) since late March, we might soon be able to lower the alert level from abundance of caution to normal caution.
They say the reopening of businesses will be done slowly and in stages. Businesses will first stand down from closely monitoring the situation and move to casually paying attention. Then they will drop to slightly ignoring the situation and finally go to couldn't care less.
=>Added April 26 - May have spoken too soon. Just released new data shows an *increase* of daily cases over the past ten days. Complete national data for daily new cases used to be only a few days behind but is now about ten to fourteen days behind as the Public Health Agency of Canada waits for formal notification from each province.
With influenza, nothing gets shut down, there's no distancing, no face masks and no hand washing. There is a free flu vaccine but most Canadians don't bother with it. Even so, the vaccine is about 50% effective or thereabouts. There are around 50,000 flu cases during each year's flu season that lasts about five months or so.
For Covid-19, most things are shut down and people are staying home or staying away from each other. Face masks and hand washing are common. Even with widespread precautions, Covid-19 has spread to over 38,000 Canadians during the past eight weeks and it will still go much higher.
Covid-19 is clearly more contagious than the flu (or maybe people aren't distancing themselves or washing their hands properly). The mortality rate of Covid-19 in Canada is at least ten times higher than the flu.
On a per capita basis, (US: 330 million; Canada 38 million), the US has a lot more Covid-19 cases and a higher mortality rate than Canada. This was perhaps expected because the US also has a very high rate for influenza (https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/preliminary-in-season-estimates.htm) compared to Canada. (https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/publications/diseases-conditions/fluwatch/2019-2020/week-14-march-29-april-4-2020.html) This past flu season, the US had about 14,000 cases per 100,000; Canada had about 145 cases per 100,000 but that's only laboratory-confirmed cases.
Why do some news outlets use silly headlines like:
What we know and what we don't know about ...
What we know so far ...
What you need to know ....
As George Carlin once said. (https://newbuddhist.com/discussion/16106/things-you-need-to-know)
Do you ever wonder why viruses exist?
... the most common and abundant biological entities on earth are viruses
– From here (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0042682215000859). It's very long, maybe wait for the movie version.
Viruses just replicate. But what purpose do they serve other than to inspire sci-fi writers?
We don't have cures for viruses but we do have vaccines that can prevent the transmission of some viruses. If enough people get vaccinated, a virus eventually stops spreading and dies out.
To date, no clear explanation for the origin(s) of viruses exists. Viruses may have arisen from mobile genetic elements that gained the ability to move between cells. They may be descendants of previously free-living organisms that adapted a parasitic replication strategy. Perhaps viruses existed before, and led to the evolution of, cellular life.
– From here. (https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/the-origins-of-viruses-14398218/)
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I missed this huge business opportunity – selling coronavirus lens filters. (https://webgate.epa.eu/webgate?EVENT=WEBSHOP_SEARCH&SEARCHMODE=SERIES&SHOWSERIES=1.53510) You know you want one.
Over the past two years, my car insurance went up 40% for no reason whatsoever. (The Ontario government for the past 20 years has been saying that it will fix the province's broken auto insurance system.) This week, my car insurance company was generous enough to refund 2% as an acknowledgement of these difficult times. Without a doubt, my car insurance will go up another +10% at year's end.
At a local grocery store today, a woman was wearing googles, two face masks, rubber gloves, pyjamas and slippers.
Lots of toilet paper on store shelves. I guess when it comes to hoarding toilet paper, people are pooped out.
A person ahead of me in a checkout line asked the cashier, "Are the (plastic) bags free?"
As soon as the cashier said yes, the person reached over the counter, grabbed the entire bundle of bags and hurried out the door. The cashier turned to me and said, "She's not the worst customer today."
So far during my home isolation, I've composed two symphonies, wrote a book of poetry, read the entire works of Shakespeare, built a backyard deck, learned a foreign language, started up and then sold an online tech company, and earned a masters degree in economics.
At least that's what I'm going to say if anyone asks.
There's no way I'm going to mention that I set a new record for how many days in a row I stayed in pyjamas, that I hit the limit in my "unlimited" internet package, or that I gained a new appreciation of the phrase "all day breakfast."
Over the past few decades, the world moved to more and more globalization, more free trade. Many countries outsourced manufacturing to the cheapest countries. We don't need to do the low-end manufacturing, we only need to do the high paying research and development.
But as history has shown, time and time again, during war and other major disasters, the low end becomes the high end. Basic needs and supplies are what matters most.
Michael Moore's latest documentary, Planet of the Humans (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zk11vI-7czE), might be the scariest horror movie ever. (Spoiler alert: the most dangerous virus on the planet is the human species. It has infected the entire planet surface.)
Bill Maher's recent commentary (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcvIQJ-QurQ) about how US news organizations are reporting the pandemic also applies to Canadian news media.
Edit: added a couple of video links
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Hope you didn't miss these examples of important journalism:
Our Best Recipes and Tips for Quarantine Cooking
When a Coronavirus Lockdown Resembles an LSD Trip
How to Save Summer 2020
Wine Pairings for Home Isolation Meals
Canadians brace for a summer like no other due to COVID-19 restrictions
I've shored up the pandemic sandbags around my house, covered the windows and added more locks on the doors. Summer ain't getting in here.
News photographers already know this but here's a NY Times op-ed column (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/01/opinion/coronavirus-photography.html), written by a Harvard art history associate professor, about the lack of Covid-19 news photos (in the US) that show the true impact of the virus. This would apply to Canada as well.
Surely someone is to blame for all this turmoil in our lives. Obviously we have to sue someone! China? Canadian government? Provincial government? Municipal government? World Health Organization? Can we sue bats? Can we sue the virus itself? Sue airlines and airports? Hand sanitizer companies? I'm outraged and someone has to pay for this!
I've published an online video tutorial to help those isolated at home. It's titled "What You Need to Know About Reading a Book."
The two-hour video has sections on:
What pages are made from and how they stay together to form a book.
How to hold a book for best results
The pros and cons of sitting while reading. Other reading positions are also examined.
Proper techniques for turning a page without injuring yourself
First aid for paper cuts
The optimal order in which pages should be read
What to do when a page has a photo or illustration
What is a table of contents and how to use it
How to use an index
Should you read a book's introduction
Book hacks! How to use a book as a door stop or to raise up a desktop monitor.
With everyone staying at home and/or keeping their distance from each other, will this decrease the spread of other viruses: the common cold, influenza, measles, chicken pox and sexually transmitted diseases?
Are you sick of hearing these:
Stay safe
Be healthy
New normal
Abundance of caution
Closely monitoring the situation
These are all just as meaningless as "Have a nice day."
Yale professor Frank Snowden (https://news.yale.edu/2020/04/08/historian-frank-snowden-may-we-be-forever-changed-coronavirus) literally wrote the book on epidemics. He's become quite popular over the past two months. Most of his many interviews (https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/how-pandemics-change-history) are about how scientists have been warning (https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/what-history-can-tell-us-about-today-s-coronavirus-pandemic-a-378ebd03-cefb-45a6-bb7a-2db184de81cc) about a pandemic just like this one for decades and how governments did nothing. He also mentions how research into a SARS vaccine and other coronavirus research came to a stop when SARS "disappeared" and there was no longer any profit to be made.
A full-page open letter to the federal government in The Globe and Mail, and probably printed in some other newspapers as well, was about the fact that online companies like Google and Facebook don't pay for their news content or pay their fair share of taxes.
The publishers who signed this open letter represent "the vast majority of Canadian newspapers."
The sad part is that just ten publishers represent the vast majority of the newspapers in this country.
The city of Toronto is still getting lots of daily complaints about non-essential businesses being open. In my neighbourhood, there are several stores still open, for example: stores that sell long distance calling cards and cell phone accessories, a computer repair store, a luggage store, a small housewares store and a few others.
Am I going to call the pandemic hotline? Maybe if there was a reward, perhaps some type of Pandemic Points™ or Corona Cash™ that's redeemable at a local grocery store.
When the "lockdown" ends (are you sick of that misleading word?), what are you going to do?
I'm going to have cameras record this historic moment. As I step from my front door and bravely enter the post-pandemic world of the New Normal, I'm going to say something inspirational like, "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for the economy."
I will then race to the shopping mall and start hoarding for the next pandemic.
The day the federal government lifts all or most restrictions has to be chosen carefully. That day will go down in history, there will be school plays about Canada's Covid Heroes, ballads will be written and, of course, that day will become a national holiday.
I say we choose the second or third Monday in June. It fits nicely between Victoria Day and Canada Day and "June" is easy to rhyme in song lyrics.
We could choose a day in November, between October's Thanksgiving and December's Christmas. But it can't conflict with Remembrance Day. We could make it the fourth Friday in November which coincides the USA's Black Friday. We could then celebrate the end of pandemic lockdowns by buying as much crap as possible but at deep discount prices.
We could mark January 25th, the day the country's first coronavirus case was confirmed. It's close enough to Christmas that folks could still use their Christmas decorations. But the halls would have to be decked with boughs of toilet paper. Stores would still have to offer discount prices.
Edit: added a link to the NY Times
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(https://www.warrentoda.com/npac/quarantine-1.jpg)
Social distancing circa 1897-1908 at a smallpox quarantine station in Dawson City, Yukon.
Photo from Library and Archives Canada. (https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/collectionsearch/Pages/collectionsearch.aspx?DataSource=Images&q=quarantine&start=0&num=50#1-13)
If only pandemics came with instructions.
Disinfected? I thought they said we had to be disenchanted.
Will Canada Post or Royal Canadian Mint come out with a special SARS-CoV-2 postage stamp or coin? (Not a joke)
Never judge a pandemic by its politicians.
Will there be any public records of this pandemic beyond the numbers? Did the government hire any photographers to document this?
Did you miss these journalism gems:
What to take with us into the new world?
What life will look like on the other side
How to work in a post-pandemic office
Dating in the post-pandemic world
Why you need a post-pandemic plan
I'm busy planning my post-pandemic wardrobe because corona (https://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/color/find-and-explore-colors/paint-colors-by-family/SW7121-corona) will be the new black.
Isolation is a state of mind and it's inversely proportional to your Internet speed.
There has to be money to be made by teaching people how to work from home and how to video conference. The camera and microphone built into laptops are lousy despite what computer manufacturers say.
Added June 18: I was just involved with a small online conference. The speakers were in their 30s to 50s and most were employed in the tech industry. Some were CEOs of tech companies. Yet all of them, yes all of them, had terrible video and audio quality.
Some folks were barely positioned in front of their cameras and the tops of their heads were cut off. Two people were so low, you could see only from their chin to top of their head. One guy sat so close to his computer screen, his out-of-focus face filled the entire view.
Several people used electronic fake backgrounds to hide their room location but the effect was terrible. As they moved about, parts of their head and shoulders kept disappearing. One person had a comical child-like background which badly distracted from what they were talking about; perhaps they didn't realize it was turned on.
(https://www.warrentoda.com/npac/quarantine-2.jpg)
During the Spanish Flu pandemic, 1918.
One hundred years later and we're wearing the same face masks.
Photo from Library and Archives Canada.
Yesterday I saw Toronto's pandemic police in action! It was a convoy of vehicles each with City of Toronto By Law Enforcement logos and one person per vehicle. With all this manpower, this was surely going to be a big takedown! Maybe people sitting too close together on a park bench, a bunch of skateboarding teens or even a store selling non-essential items!
It was on my way to the grocery store so I followed a few blocks to witness the action.
The vehicles performed a precision manoeuvre that would've made the Canadian Forces Snowbirds (http://rcaf-arc.forces.gc.ca/en/snowbirds/index.page) proud. One by one, they left-turned into a shopping plaza and then . . . they single-filed into a Tim Hortons drive-thru.
Later on my way home after grocery shopping, the vehicles were still parked at Tim Hortons. Must have been a quiet day on pandemic patrol.
(https://www.warrentoda.com/npac/quarantine-3.jpg)
The Boyd family in self-isolation in 1903. Those were the good old days for isolation.
Photo by John Boyd. (https://npac.ca/2011/05/a-funny-thing-happened-on-the-way-to-the-darkroom-%e2%80%93-part-7-%e2%80%93-john-boyd) From Library and Archives Canada. (https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/collectionsearch/Pages/collectionsearch.aspx?DataSource=Images&q=quarantine&start=50&num=50#1-21)
How embarrassing it must be to be a company whose products were not hoarded or are not in short supply. In times of need, consumers didn't bother with their products. That's gotta hurt. These companies will have to step up their marketing before the next pandemic.
Hockey. Remember hockey? A hundred years ago, there was this hockey league (https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/mar/19/spanish-flu-stanley-cup-2019-nhl-montreal-canadiens) in North America that was to hold its Stanley Cup finals that no one would win (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/when-stanley-cup-finals-was-cancelled-because-pandemic-180974439/).
(https://www.warrentoda.com/npac/quarantine-4.jpg)
They used to use cyanide gas to disinfect. Maybe US President Trump should suggest people
start inhaling cyanide gas to kill off the coronavirus? It will kill the virus along with a few other things, too. I'm surprised Trump hasn't suggested shooting down the virus.
Photo from a National Health & Welfare Quarantine Station in British Columbia, June 1948.
Photo by Gar Lunney. (https://richmondarchives.ca/2020/02/19/western-exposures-the-bc-packers-photographs-by-gar-lunney/) From Library and Archives Canada. (https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/collectionsearch/Pages/collectionsearch.aspx?DataSource=Images&q=quarantine&start=50&num=50#1-23)
And speaking of Trump, he said we should name a virus based on its place of origin. Okay then the Spanish Flu has to be renamed to reflect its place of origin: let's call it the American Flu. A 2004 Columbia University study (https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/102/31/11059.full.pdf) (link to PDF) suggested that this pandemic originated in New York.
Remember about 15 weeks ago when the world watched the unfolding epidemic disaster in China? That country was "locked down" and had thousands of deaths. In the past nine weeks, at least ten countries have surpassed China both in cumulative cases and number of deaths. Yet many of these countries consider their current situation to be under control or they've even declared victory over the virus.
It took China three months of almost draconian measures to bring its epidemic under control. Other countries have experienced two months of minor to medium restrictions and they think that's good enough.
There's a lot of US data (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/29/us-responses-1918-flu-pandemic-offer-stark-lessons-coronavirus-now) from the Spanish Flu the American Flu (https://www.history.com/news/spanish-flu-deaths-october-1918). Cities that acted early and closed schools, cancelled public gatherings, told people to distance themselves and to cover their coughs, all had fewer cases (https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/03/200330110344.htm) than cities that didn't take serious precautions. Cities that reopened early (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/29/coronavirus-pandemic-1918-protests-california) had a second wave of cases (https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2020/03/how-cities-flattened-curve-1918-spanish-flu-pandemic-coronavirus/). Cities that stayed closed didn't.
But I doubt history will repeat itself. ::)
Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups - George Carlin
Edit: added something about video conferencing.
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(https://www.warrentoda.com/npac/virus-feet.png)
If you haven't already started, you might want to consider hoarding vacuum cleaner bags. Apparently a good quality bag will make for a reasonably effective face mask. A few vacuum cleaner (https://evacuumstore.com/p-34466-how-to-make-a-face-mask-from-a-vacuum-cleaner-bag.aspx) stores are now promoting this. (https://starks.com/vacuum-bag-surgical-masks/)
(https://www.warrentoda.com/npac/virus-closed.png)
(https://www.warrentoda.com/npac/virus-stop.png)
As you can see, I've discovered Staples' fun new Covid-19 tool. The store has an online tool (https://business.staplesprint.ca/) to "help small businesses meet demands of the new normal."
If you had the money, you could get a few wacky signs and decals printed and put them in suitable places just to confuse people. But that might confuse people too much.
(https://www.warrentoda.com/npac/virus-open.png)
It appears the pandemic is almost over. Even though the virus is still spreading with no end, or vaccine, in sight, some people and some governments have had enough. But you have to reopen safely. This will be my first step:
(https://www.warrentoda.com/npac/virus-camera.png)
I'll set up on the curb in front of my house and wait for customers to drive by - family portraits, business headshots, corporate group shots, sports teams, etc. If they can fit everyone into a vehicle, I can do a photo. A drive-thru photo studio – how come I never thought of this before?
Once a vaccine has been developed, how will we know who's been vaccinated and who we should stay away from? I propose that every vaccination comes with a free t-shirt:
(https://www.warrentoda.com/npac/virus-tshirt.jpg)
Now that stores are beginning to reopen, they'll need a fun way to encourage people to come out and shop. Colourful signage, free face mask with every purchase, etc.
(https://www.warrentoda.com/npac/virus-shopping-bag.jpg)
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As long as barber shops remain closed, I have a valid excuse for my hair.
Two weeks ago when Ontario allowed some stores and businesses to open, the price of gas went up 10¢/litre (at least in my area) on the same day. In the week following, the price dropped a few cents. But when more stores were allowed to open this week, the price of gas again went up. Funny how that happens. Imagine if other stores did this.
Added May 23: Some stores (https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/covid-surcharge-retail-1.5580307) are increasing prices slightly. Some stores that deal with the general public, like restaurants, hair salons and various retail stores, now have coronavirus surcharges. Some stores, at least in the Toronto area, are charging extra for curbside pickup.
More important news articles:
How to make your own coffee at home
Are you a super-spreader?
What will a haircut be like during a pandemic?
Have you lost your sense of purpose during this pandemic?
After Covid-19, we'll never take vacations, watch movies or root for sports teams in the same way
Is working from home dangerous to your health?
How to protect your mental health while working from home
I've been working from home for a couple decades. Had I known the horrible danger, I would've worked from the garage or garden shed.
To see if customers were paying attention and to give them something to do while waiting in line, my store would have floor signs like this:
(https://www.warrentoda.com/npac/virus-feet2.png)
A local grocery store changed its physical distancing from 2m to 1.5m. I guess that's like seeing the first robin of spring.
As countries ease restrictions on their citizens, other countries will be forced to follow no matter their situation. Peer pressure isn't just for school students, it's also for countries.
Now that the pandemic is seemingly over and it's safe to go outside, Lyme Disease season (https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/lyme-disease/risk-lyme-disease.html) is just getting started.
Unlike with a virus where only epidemiologists take part in the action, you are being encouraged to play a Lyme Disease expert. They call it being a "citizen scientist" but don't let the name fool you. Feel free to wear a white lab coat, face mask and gloves.
They want you to take pictures of any ticks you find. If you need help doing this, there's a short guide on how to best photograph ticks. (https://etick.ca/en/content/photographic-guide) You have to keep your ticks for at least five days in case you have to do further examination and testing. (Not a joke)
So if you felt left out of the coronavirus pandemic, you can be on the front lines of Lyme Disease!
I look forward to round-the-clock news coverage of this disease. They do have a, uh, tick ticker (https://etick.ca/etickapp/en/ticks/public/list) that counts and tracks ticks. Let's see how much media coverage these numbers get.
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I'm thrilled to announce that my neighbourhood has the most coronavirus cases in the eastern two-thirds of Toronto. Although in cases per 100,000, we're only above average.
News headlines:
What makeup to wear with a face mask
The death of the buffet?
Is the office era over?
Can crowdless gigs rescue live music?
Has lockdown made you change your life?
Remember a newspaper truism: If a headline is in the form of a question that can be answered with a yes or no, the answer will always be no and there's no point in reading the article. If the answer was yes then the headline would not be a question, it would be a statement.
A Toronto studio portrait photographer has *quintupled* his photography rates due to the pandemic. His website says the fee increase is to cover his frequent studio cleanings.
Saw a man wearing a face mask vertically. He had one set of strings tied around his neck and the other set of strings tied around the top of his head. The mask went from his throat up to his eyes.
Saw another person wearing two masks - one wrapped around each hand. Another person was wearing a hockey helmet with face visor.
A store cashier said the highlight of her day is "seeing people in their costumes."
From Disney World: (https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/en_CA/experience-updates/)
An inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present. COVID-19 is an extremely contagious disease that can lead to severe illness and death. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, senior citizens and Guests with underlying medical conditions are especially vulnerable.
By visiting Walt Disney World Resort you voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19.
Maybe every business will put up disclaimers and hope no one sues them.
They say that when businesses reopen, they should appoint a Covid Compliance Captain to monitor that company's pandemic safety response. I guess it's like a health and safety person but in a hazmat suit.
What we need are special extinguishers that spray alcohol-based disinfectant. As soon as someone coughs, the Covid Captain can spray them.
What if the current times are just a test, a preparedness test for when a more deadly pandemic strikes? SARS was the public's introduction to coronaviruses and H1N1 was a reminder of what "contagious" means. SARS-CoV-19 is a combination of the two – a very contagious coronavirus. Are we passing the tests:
• a stress test for healthcare
• a stress test for the food chain and other manufacturing processes
• a test to see how governments and populations behave
• a test to see how many systems can close without total failure
The 21st century has seen three new pandemics, an average of one per decade. When is the next one?
We have, or will soon have, early warnings for major storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, volcanoes, and avalanches. We also have early warnings for viruses. Countries pay attention to the early warnings for storms, hurricanes, volcanoes, etc. but not all governments pay attention to the early warnings for a spreading virus. Why?
Apparently some people have trouble accepting or understanding something they can't see. An intangible threat is still a real threat.
Maybe countries will be more prepared for the next pandemic or maybe they'll just move on to other business. The public has a short memory and governments rarely invest in preparedness.
The Prevention Paradox and the Paradox of Prevention sound like the same thing but they're not. Although they might be related especially during a pandemic.
If you're trying to prevent a illness or other medical condition, you might think it's best to target the high-risk group. But the Prevention Paradox (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZbAfUDyhoE) says that it's better to target the low-risk group even though the low-risk group won't be motivated because they're low risk.
A large number of people exposed to a small risk may generate many more cases than a small number exposed to a high risk.
– epidemiologist Geoffrey Rose, The Strategy of Preventive Medicine, 1992.
The goal of public health is to prevent something bad, like a contagious virus, from happening. If public health is successful then nothing happens and no one gets sick. But if nothing happens, did public health really do anything? That's the Paradox of Prevention. (http://www.epimonitor.net/Paradox_of_Prevention.htm) For example, how can you prove a vaccine works when you can't count how many people did not get sick?
The Paradox of Prevention explains why public health is so grossly underfunded. Governments don't see what was prevented because when public health does its job nothing happens. If nothing happens, why spend more money?
In 500 words or less, can you combine the Prevention Paradox and the Paradox of Prevention to explain the reaction to the current pandemic?
Added: The Paradox of Prevention isn't just for public health. One of the best examples of this paradox was the Y2K Bug.
When the clocks struck midnight on January 1, 2000, none of the predicted disasters happened. Planes didn't fall from the skies, the economy didn't collapse, computers didn't stop. Since nothing happened, many people thought Y2K was either overblown or it was a hoax. But it took billions of dollars and zillions of people working a few years behind the scenes to make sure nothing happened.
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In an earlier post, (https://npac.ca/forums/index.php?topic=6480.msg26009#msg26009) I wondered how companies were "closely monitoring the situation." Well now you, too, can closely monitor the situation especially if you live in Toronto.
Toronto today published its COVID-19 Monitoring Dashboard (https://public.tableau.com/views/TorontoCOVID-19MonitoringDashboard/MainReportCardPublic?:showVizHome=no&amp:;embed=yes&:device=desktop") and what a dashboard it is.
As I write this, I'm relieved to see that hospital supplies look good and ICU occupancy is low but I am concerned about lab test turnaround. We have to get those test numbers up. Maybe during the next time-out the coach can give the team a pep talk because our defense is looking slow, they gotta move the puck faster.
In the absence of sports, why don't we have sportscasters and colour commentators calling the pandemic? Or does that duplicate what TV newscasters are doing?
At what point will someone in charge understand the phrase "too much information"? Many folks have no idea what to do with all the stats and numbers being published. Is too much just as bad as too little? Is quantity better than quality?
There's a difference between information and knowledge. Only one of those makes you smarter.
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Silliness abounds especially for restaurants (https://thesmartlocal.com/thailand/social-distancing-table/). I'm not sure why they're doing this (https://nypost.com/2020/05/06/restaurant-enforces-social-distancing-with-private-greenhouses-for-diners/) and I can't imagine the cost for this. (https://webgate.epa.eu/webgate?EVENT=WEBSHOP_SEARCH&SEARCHMODE=NEW&SEARCHTXT1=turkey%20social%20distancing%20dome*)
If you're of a certain age, you might remember the first attempt at domes in the late 1960s:
Added: More domes (https://www.cp24.com/news/outdoor-yoga-in-a-dome-pop-up-coming-to-toronto-1.4990231) are popping up.
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From the "better late than never" file:
The city of Toronto, like some other jurisdictions, is now making masks mandatory for all indoor locations until at least October 1, 2020. Nothing like closing the barn doors a few months after the horses have left.
(https://www.warrentoda.com/npac/virus-facemasks.jpg)
Daily new cases in Toronto. From Toronto's Covid-19 web page (https://www.toronto.ca/home/covid-19/covid-19-latest-city-of-toronto-news/covid-19-status-of-cases-in-toronto/).
Imagine if we had started wearing face masks three or four months ago. Oh well, maybe next pandemic.
In a few countries, wearing a mask is a show of respect for others around you. In some countries, the decision to wear or not wear a face mask is a political statement. The former countries have their pandemic under control while the latter countries do not. So perhaps it is true that wearing a mask is an IQ test.
It's nice to see that everything old is new again.
E-bikes are back. Remember the 1980s?
Movie drive-ins are coming back.
Drive-in restaurants are returning.
Remember the futuristic telehealth in the 1980s where you could get healthcare advice over the phone?
Working at home is popular again.
I'm waiting for the return of the milkman and breadman who brought home delivery of milk, cheese and various bread products.
Maybe even film will make a comeback.
I spoke with some friends in Europe who are now back to traveling from country to country within the EU. They said they pick their destinations based on which town/city has the lowest reported cases of SARS-CoV-2. Should tourism agencies promote their regions' low pandemic numbers as a selling point?
So how is your photography business these days?
Edit: Added a link below the graph.