Covid presser Thursday afternoon
Luc Boileau is to hold a presser Thursday afternoon to discuss rising Covid hospitalizations as Quebec prepares for the partial shutdown of the construction holiday.
So many health care workers are out sick that Quebec’s going to pay the remaining ones double pay for overtime. Yeah sure, the pandemic is over and Covid is just a cold.
Inconvenient to schedule the Pope’s visit to Quebec to snarl things up around Quebec City on the first week of the holiday. Maybe they didn’t have any choice?
Blork 09:54 on 2022-07-21 Permalink
If the government declares that it is no longer required to wear seatbelts while driving or helmets while riding motorcycles, how many people would stop using those? (Some, yes, but across the board? No.)
Would people interpret that as “it’s no longer unsafe to not wear a seatbelt or helmet?” As if the risk had just magically disappeared? Probably not.
So why did so many people interpret “you are no longer required to wear a mask” as “it is no longer unsafe to not wear a mask?”
Because people = stupid.
Ephraim 10:03 on 2022-07-21 Permalink
I was at the MGH yesterday and the seats have big “NO” signs, to give you space. Some are singles, some are sets of two. Man sits next to me and when I say something says to me “So, I’m supposed to sit away from my mother?”. YES! You are. Or take a set of two. Do I have the right to affect your health? NO. Then why do you think you have a right to affect mine? Bonhoeffer’s Theory of Stupidity in action.
Kevin 11:01 on 2022-07-21 Permalink
Blork
The USA has handily provided a real-world example regarding motorcycle helmet use and how it decreases after laws are changed, since helmet laws have been repealed in most states.
Helmet use is down to about 40% of riders throughout the midwest (helmets rarely required). It’s just above 70% on the east coast and in the south (some states require them, some don’t) and it’s about 90% along the west coast where helmets are mandatory.
[Aside: it’s somewhat annoying that the national surveys I’ve found break things down by region, and not on a per-state basis according to law]
Humans are, in general, not very good at assessing risk.
Ephraim 11:16 on 2022-07-21 Permalink
@Kevin – The worst are the years from teenager until about 27
mare 17:17 on 2022-07-21 Permalink
@Ephraim I was at the Heart Institute yesterday and because of construction the ‘waiting room’ was in a corridor with the seats directly next to each other. There was no room and the staff has given up policing. Someone was rolled in and was left next to me in a wheelchair who was coughing constantly, in their surgical mask. I hope my KF94 was able to protect me. It would be ironic if I’d get Covid in a hospital but that’s actually the only place I’ve been inside with other people in the last 6 months.
EmilyG 18:19 on 2022-07-21 Permalink
I wonder if Boileau will just say to consider vaccinating young kids, since I doubt he’ll say anything like bringing back mandates or the like.
MarcG 18:29 on 2022-07-21 Permalink
@EmilyG: I believe that about sums it up. He said so little the Gazette hasn’t even publish a summary.
H. John 20:28 on 2022-07-21 Permalink
Tara Moriarity (U of T) tweeted:
It’s pretty clear that if 80% of Canadians return to masking indoors we could reduce average daily COVID deaths and hospitalizations to a level similar to an average flu year.
Even with Omicron.
Why?
https://twitter.com/MoriartyLab/status/1550211525738201089?s=20&t=pVro1PVV6ZHH4K_YYa2Ylg
dhomas 22:11 on 2022-07-21 Permalink
I had to pick up passports for 2 of my kids yesterday and today (they were, frustratingly, unable to deliver them on the same day, despite being mailed in the same envelope). The security guards directing people were packing people really close to each other, with no distancing. I would really hate to catch COVID right before my vacation, but that’s all I could think about while waiting in line.
Ephraim 09:27 on 2022-07-22 Permalink
@dhomas – I would have asked the people to give me space. But the easiest way I have found is to ask “Do I have a right to affect your health?” When they answer No. I ask, so why do you think you have a right to affect mine by being so close? It usually does the trick without an argument.
dhomas 10:53 on 2022-07-22 Permalink
Despite what the security guys were telling us, I stayed away from the group in front of me, and the people behind me seemed to take my cue and did the same. But everywhere I looked, people were packed in like sardines. It didn’t help that it was hellishly hot out, so they were trying to get everyone inside into the air conditioned space, which is completely understandable. I’m hoping for the best. I got COVID a few weeks ago, but I understand reinfection is quite common with the latest mutations. My last bout with COVID was really no fun, so I’d rather not go through it again, especially while on vacation. My wife just this week is feeling normal again, after about a month. The last symptoms to go were fatigue and appetite loss.