Covid stories of the day
McGill’s Covid guidelines are making some students nervous: as the student quoted here says, “the university was actually planning on many, many students getting sick.” Classes are supposed to resume in person on January 24.
A pizzeria in the Mile End is getting some free publicity by announcing it plans to flout restaurant dining room closures sometime soon. And you can be sure they’ll call up the media when they do.
Notre-Dame and Verdun hospitals are ramping up to level 4 délestage.
La Presse says Quebec left 7 million rapid tests from the federal government on the table so that it was very short of supplies when Omicron hit.
walkerp 17:10 on 2022-01-14 Permalink
I always wondered about that place, looked kind of interesting but also kind of douchey. Good to know they fall on the douchey side. That opening day is going to be a lineup of douchebags.
I am sympathetic to the argument that the government should have been investing in health care and education, but even if they had done that (and they did in health care to some degree), it still would not have eliminated the real risk of omicron. It’s such a self-centered, immature argument to talk about your restaurant as a scapegoat. Yes, it sucks and may even be fatal to your business, but it is a global crisis.
Joey 17:14 on 2022-01-14 Permalink
I guess the pizza I ordered from Keste last month will be the last pizza from Keste I ever order (it was fine). As for McGill, I find myself surprisingly feeling for the university on this one – they’re in a bit of a no-win situation (the province is essentially ordering everyone back on campus at the end of January) and at least they’re planing for the inevitable spread of Omicron and encouraging profs to be accommodating rather than sticking their head in the sand.
Kate 17:37 on 2022-01-14 Permalink
walkerp, exactly! I want to shake people like that and say “It isn’t about you!” Also, the virus DOES NOT CARE what you want, or what you think. It isn’t manmade. It may be somewhat embittering to have to reshape our lives around it, but we all do. If YOU want an exception made for YOUR business, that means a bump in contagion that will affect everyone else! It means putting your workers and your customers at higher risk!
Sorry about the bangers. I got into something of a minor dust-up today on Twitter when I responded to a tweet about La Presse’s piece about Renaud-Bray wanting to be an exception to the vaccine mandate for access, posting that whenever I read that kind of thing, my respect for a business goes down. Some people dogpiled on saying they respected it more.
Kevin 18:31 on 2022-01-14 Permalink
45% of covid deaths in the country over the past 2 weeks have been in Quebec.
I’m increasingly convinced that Arruda quit because he was being asked to promote bullshit.
Kate 18:35 on 2022-01-14 Permalink
Kevin, the same thought has crossed my mind.
Blork 18:46 on 2022-01-14 Permalink
Will be adding Keste to my personal forever-boycott list. I’m less bothered by Renaud-Bray. It’s one thing to openly flout the rules that are clearly beneficial, but it’s another thing to ask for an exemption in a rule where others have that exemption and it isn’t all that clear that the rule does much. (Spending hours in a crowded restaurant and popping into a book store are two very different things in terms of risk.)
Blork 18:51 on 2022-01-14 Permalink
…unfortunate, as the video shows a nice bourbon selection at their bar. 🙁
DeWolf 11:36 on 2022-01-15 Permalink
I think you may be giving Arruda too much credit. He’s been wrong on the science for the entire pandemic, from masks to airborne transmission to the threat of Omicron, and he has been perfectly happy to parrot whatever nonsense the CAQ has peddled. He even saw no problem with occupying a political position (adjunct deputy minister) in addition to his role as the head of public health, unlike his counterparts in other provinces.
And now he has a crisis of conscience, right when the criticism against him was piling up and there was public pressure for him to resign?
Arruda is the architect of Quebec’s failed pandemic response. It’s good that he’s gone.
Kevin 12:31 on 2022-01-15 Permalink
DeWolf
Regarding masks and airborne transmission, the WHO and Canada Public Health has been right there too.
I am not saying he was pushing for stricter and safer measures. I am saying that looking at the past week, it appears the CAQ has been wanting to loosen up measures without justification, and is treating medical staff like replaceable untrained workers.
walkerp 22:10 on 2022-01-15 Permalink
I’m not defending his work in the pandemic, but saying he is the architect of the failed pandemic response is ridiculous.
Not defending the CAQ either and they have done a lot wrong, but I think we are not ready to say failure yet. They did a better job than many places of keeping schools open and they inherited the CHSLD mess (though didn’t help it and may be continuing the legacy now). They may be on the path to failure, but as we discussed Covid-19 is a major disaster and it’s not easy to not fail.
dhomas 00:57 on 2022-01-16 Permalink
An interesting read about Dr Arruda:
https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/chroniques/2022-01-11/les-predictions-du-dr-arruda.php
Kate 16:12 on 2022-01-16 Permalink
Good read, dhomas, thank you.