COVID-19 and the Canadian healthcare system

[robkelk]

Because the Great White North can fuck things up, too.

Military report reveals 'horrific' conditions at Ontario long-term care homes

tl;dr: Military medics and related specialists were called out to help out in five nursing homes in Ontario during the pandemic. They provided a report about what they saw to the Premier of Ontario.

Spoilered to protect the squeamish:

Spoiler

Cockroaches, rotten food, patients with ulcers left bed-bound, staff moving from unit to unit wearing contaminated gear.

Those are just some of the disturbing conditions detailed in a Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) report made public Tuesday and based on the observations of its members at five Ontario long-term care homes deemed by the province to have required the most support.

The link goes to the news article. There's a link to the full report at the end of the article.

[Black Aeronaut]

Yeee-gads, that is horrific.

Any idea on how they'll fix this?

[hazard]

Keep in mind that at least a few of those issues are structural and institutional. Because the roaches, food and bed bound patients?

That sounds like a funding and staffing issue that was never resolved for one reason or another. The pandemic is putting more pressure on the healthcare system, but it mostly pressures the short term care system. Long term care isn't going to be majorly impacted except for sick leave of staff, and that should already have capacity planned for to catch the gaps that would result.

[robkelk]

It's also a systemic and societal issue. Nobody heard anything about these conditions before seniors care was privatized, but nobody wanted to hear anything about these conditions after seniors care was privatized, either.

Now it's been forced out into the open.

[robkelk]

Yeee-gads, that is horrific.

Any idea on how they'll fix this?

By taking over day-to-day operations in the affected homes, apparently.

[LynnInDenver]

Well, to be fair, COVID-19 has done two things - provided a sharper indication of which homes were the problem (as problem homes would suffer much more from the impact than the ones competently doing the job they're tasked with), and provided an incentive to actually start cleaning up the problem. It would have been nice if it were dealt with before another emergency basically forced it to become an issue actually requiring action, though, since it meant deaths that were avoidable.

[Dartz]

In Spain, when they sent the army in - they found the places abandoned and the dead still in their beds.


Here, we've had understaffing problems with the associated burnout issues. There've been some bad stories already. In generally, 60% of our fatalities have been in nursing homes - most of which are private and use rotating agency staff. The hospitals sent elderly patients who were in for minor things to nursing homes to care for them - and didn't both to test them for Covid since we had no test capacity. The instruction was to isolate them for 14 days and let that be the control.

It worked like floating a tea-light in a bucket of petrol.

As it was, it was an inevitability. With rotating agency staff, short staffing, a test regime that ran out of re-agent and PPE being prioritised for the intensive care areas.

It didn't help that the larger countries hoovered up the PPE and test agents foir themselves. But you know, those fat fuckers wants are more important than other people's needs.

[robkelk]

Trudeau pauses for 21 seconds before answering question about Trump's response to U.S. protests

Let's be honest here - Canada isn't ready to go it alone in pandemic response. Not yet, at least, despite the noises that Ford and Kenney have been making about making sure all necessary healthcare gear is made in-province. (And even if they were at the levels they want to be at, that's only two provinces out of ten plus three territories.)

If we piss off the Nicknamer-in-Chief, and he orders the borders closed to shipments of healthcare gear or medications, Canadians will die.

Trudeau has no choice but to speak extremely carefully about anything that's happening in the USA.

[Labster]

You know, I just spent those entire 21 seconds looking at that mop of hair on Justin Trudeau. First off: I'm jealous. Second: I too haven't seen a barber in months, but it's nice to see a leader caring about setting an example more than his own appearance.

[robkelk]

Ottawa to post $343B deficit as spending hits levels not seen since Second World War

(grabs an envelope, does quick math on the back of it)

So, roughly $9,000 per person. Canadian dollars. OTOH, that's for the federal deficit only.

Yes, it's the biggest deficit since WWII - but it isn't unmanageable.

[hazard]

Depends.

While as a nation you can literally inflate your way out of a debt (who cares you need to pay 50% of your GDP as interest on your debts when next year that's only 10%?), it does horrible things to your economy. If you get that much deficit per capita spending, it's not long term sustainable, and it only gets worse when you are already at a high level of debt. Nation or not.

[classicdrogn]

In this case, as Gov. Cuomo said about it in one of his appearances a couple months ago - "Yes, that's bad, but it's not death."

[robkelk]

With uptick in COVID-19 cases, Quebec could be forced to choose between schools and bars

After having dropped almost steadily since mid-May, the five-day rolling average of new cases began to rise in late June. Quebec is now registering about 100 new cases per day.

While that's far from the peak of around 1,000 new cases per day the province saw two months ago, public health officials are nevertheless concerned.

At Monday's news conference in Montreal, Legault pointed out that unlike at the height of the first wave, the new cases are turning up almost entirely in the general population, as opposed to in long-term care homes.

The increase has coincided with the reopening of bars and nightclubs in the Montreal area. Health officials in the city have linked nine bars to about a dozen cases.

[robkelk]

Canada-U.S. border closure to be extended for another 30 days, say officials

The agreement, which has to be reviewed each month, was set to expire on July 21. It's now being renewed for the fourth time since the border closed to non-essential traffic on March 21.

Although there are some exceptions.

[robkelk]

Doctors, legitimate patients baffled as anti-maskers print off 'exemption cards' to flout rules

tl;dr: There is no such thing as an "exemption card" that lets somebody avoid wearing a non-medical mask in Canada. Anybody who shows you one has printed it out at home and is using it to knowingly try to get away with flouting health orders.

Comment: I'd be extremely leery of doing business with anybody who showed me one of those cards. If he's willing to use a fake "exemption card", how do I know he isn't also willing to use a fake credit card, or a fake cheque?

[hazard]

How much do those health orders have the force of law behind them?

Because this sounds like something that should be handled by fining those who flout the rules. And also like the people presenting those cards need to be charged for falsifying a government document if possible.

[robkelk]

That depends on the province. In Ontario, the default penalty is a $880 fine per occurrence.

EDIT: And, you know, one would think that somebody who's ready to break the law in public would want to wear a mask...

[Jinx999]

Doctors, legitimate patients baffled as anti-maskers print off 'exemption cards' to flout rules

They've been mentioned several times on a "let's laugh at idiot 'sovereign citizens'" reddit.

https://old.reddit.com/r/amibeingdetained/

[Bob Schroeck]

I think it was over on My[Confined]Space where I saw an "Exemption Card Exemption" card to print off and wave at the idiots waving their cards. "I can out-bogus your bogus!"

[robkelk]

I suppose it had to happen somewhere...

Man refuses to wear a mask, situation escalates, police become involved, man shot dead by police

[Black Aeronaut]

I suppose it had to happen somewhere...

Man refuses to wear a mask, situation escalates, police become involved, man shot dead by police

"I heard a couple high-powered gunshots. My grandson lives with me for the summer ... and he said, 'Boy, they were high-powered rifles, Pa,'" Munshaw explained.

Hooooo boy.  That definitely sounds like this old-timer started first with the shooting.  It should go without saying, it's unheard of for the police to start out with high-power rifles right away.  Even in a raid.

This definitely sounds like he was all "Get off my lawn ya damn hooligans!" ...except they weren't hooligans, they were cops, and that instead of just chasing them off, he went and got his gun.

It makes me honestly wonder just how far over the cuckoo's nest you gotta be to think that shooting at uniformed law enforcement officers is a good idea.

[hazard]

Even if you win, the answer from law enforcement is to call for reinforcements.

[robkelk]

And the one thing guaranteed to piss off all cops is killing a cop. Shooting at a police officer is a very bad idea.

[robkelk]

All new COVID-19 cases in Ottawa yesterday are people under the age of 30.

Looks like people refuse to realize the bridge from the Rush song "Dreamline" applies to them...

We are young
Wandering the face of the Earth
Wondering what our dreams might be worth
Learning that we're only immortal
For a limited time

We are young
Wandering the face of the Earth
Wondering what our dreams might be worth
Learning that we're only immortal
For a limited time

[robkelk]

I'm considering visiting Nunavut. As of September 8, the total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the territory since the pandemic began is zero. So, yes, keeping a contagious disease out of not just a city but an entire territory can be done.

However, all visitors to the territory are required to quarantine for 14 days before arrival. (Which explains how they're keeping the diseases out.) And the capital city, Iqaluit, doesn't have high-speed internet connections, being on an island north of the Arctic Circle. And the average high temperature in October (when I'd be out of quarantine) is -1°C. And food is expensive - it has to come in by air 10 months of the year.

But, hey, no COVID-19.

(goes and looks)

Aw... the border's closed unless permission is given to enter ahead of time.