2019–20 Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19) Thread

[Kadova]

On 1/28/2022 at 10:37 PM, rockstaryuzu said:

Vaccines work.

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2022/01/28/how-many-lives-have-covid-19-vaccines-saved-deaths-in-unvaccinated-seniors-help-paint-the-picture.html

In France 80% of people seriously ill with covid19 in hospitals are not vacinated at all. Which means vaccines do protect.

[rockstaryuzu]

Hi satellites. 

 

I'm posting this here in the COVID thread because anti-COVID public health mandates and measures were the pretext for it to get started, but it's actually something else really dangerous that is going on. I've also seen.lots of social media posts by the protesters themselves that are carefully calculated to make it look like a big ole love-in is going on in downtown Ottawa, and not what it actually is, a front for a coup attempt by white supremacist anarchists.

 

What's been happening here in my city has been so disturbing from the get-go that for the past two weeks, I've been trying to figure out how to write about it here, so tgat all of you around the world will know what the truth is, and not fall for far-right lies. 

 

The truth matters because the lies are what feed the fire of insurrection. But also, this is a figure skating fan site. I really don't know how much politics I should be dragging in. I wouldn't drag in any at all, if I didn't think it was deadly serious. 

 

But it IS serious. This is a conflict that could easily spread. You all deserve to know what a terrorist uprising looks like in one of the freest democracies in the world. 

 

Please read the article below:

 

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/feb/08/ottawa-truckers-protest-anti-vaxx-canada

 

 

[liv]

It is absolutely disgusting what is now happening to that movement and how it is impacting regular citizens. It's shameful, disgusting, embarrassing... but those things we can endure. It's the potential for violence that disturbs me. I didnt support the protest from the start, but living in a democracy affords people that right...and I do get that people are tired of covid and mandates. What they don't have, is the right to basically hold people and lives hostage. The groups now involved don't care about the law and seem to be waiting for any excuse to explode. 

[rockstaryuzu]

Article about life under the occupation:

 

 

 

 

[rockstaryuzu]

11 hours ago, liv said:

It is absolutely disgusting what is now happening to that movement and how it is impacting regular citizens. It's shameful, disgusting, embarrassing... but those things we can endure. It's the potential for violence that disturbs me. I didnt support the protest from the start, but living in a democracy affords people that right...and I do get that people are tired of covid and mandates. What they don't have, is the right to basically hold people and lives hostage. The groups now involved don't care about the law and seem to be waiting for any excuse to explode. 

And as for the ones who are just ordinary people protesting because they're fed up with COVID...they should stop and think about how they would feel if someone went to their homes and subjected them to the same harassment. Somehow the fact that it's Ottawa, or Toronto, or a border crossing, or whatever, makes it somehow okay for the so-called 'working class truckers'  ( most of whom are actually highly privileged and very white rural landowners or businesspeople) to act like animals

 

[rockstaryuzu]

Someone photographed some of the protesters doing this today:

 

[Figure_Frenzy]

I have followed the development on the truckers' protest (developing into occupation) in Ottawa for quite a bit and I must say that it was...a bit harrowing . I heard that the Ontario Premier had declared state of emergency, and the police has been packing up suspected people since (and they also declared the prohibition on helping the truckers in form of giving them supplies etc.).

 

Even if there were no far-right elements riding on this protest (who allegedly planned to overthrow the federal government, etc. etc.) this has become way overboard 😒. Hope everyone in Ottawa is safe and sound, noise pollution from the trucks notwithstanding.

 

[rockstaryuzu]

On 2/13/2022 at 6:23 PM, Figure_Frenzy said:

I have followed the development on the truckers' protest (developing into occupation) in Ottawa for quite a bit and I must say that it was...a bit harrowing . I heard that the Ontario Premier had declared state of emergency, and the police has been packing up suspected people since (and they also declared the prohibition on helping the truckers in form of giving them supplies etc.).

 

Even if there were no far-right elements riding on this protest (who allegedly planned to overthrow the federal government, etc. etc.) this has become way overboard 😒. Hope everyone in Ottawa is safe and sound, noise pollution from the trucks notwithstanding.

 

So far it's okay-ish on that front. 

 

Today the police started arresting the leaders. Yesterday pretty much everyone involved in the convoy has their bank account and credit cards frozen. And Parliament passed the Emergency Act which allows them extraordinary powers to deal with the situation.

 

In recent days a certain proportion of the mob inhabiting downtown has turned out to be part of a doomsday cult...and they're the ones refusing to leave the most, because they think that they're here to 'spread love'. 

 

Anyway, here's the most accurate description of the situation I have seen so far:

 

https://twitter.com/sunflowercyn/status/1494530602787344385?s=20&t=CNaK78cz4mF_tCcNJjnePg

[rockstaryuzu]

Police have finally regained control of our downtown core, and this Twitter thread by a Toronto journalist who was stuck coveri g the story sums the whole thing up in a rather grimly understated way. Be sure to scroll down to where he talks about how journalists got treated by the protesters.

 

https://twitter.com/ConsumerSOS/status/1495633443870461953?s=20&t=VGQzJtXRNxhdM8ILLXb5nw

[Perelandra]

Now that the worst of the pandemic seems to have passed the world has seen a terrible tragedy and many people have been affected in the most dire manner. Somehow, collectively we need to seek healing. I seek your indulgence by writing about some of the experiences from working during the pandemic in a busy hospital on the frontline

 

I am a Critical Care Consultant. During the pandemic I worked in Critical Care and treated patients and also supported the staff from the multi disciplinary team.

Many staff members felt upset that relatives and friends could not be with their loved ones and that the crushing workload prevented the normal scope of non clinical care which would otherwise be afforded to patients and their loved ones. Many staff members felt helpless in the face of this terrible and often overwhelming situation and several approached me to try to voice some of the grief and distress that they felt during this surge period

This short piece was written by me, for staff, patients and relatives. It was used as part of the staff support messages for post pandemic debrief and discussion

 

Grief and Loss in the Time of a Pandemic - Reflections From a Critical Care Unit

A message to reassure relatives of those who have lost their lives to COVID 19, that their loved one did not pass away alone

Under spoiler as the following may be upsetting

Thank you for your time

 

In early January 2021, before the vaccine was available. I myself contracted COVID, in the line of duty so to speak and was admitted to Intensive Care, even had a near death event as well. I experienced first hand some of what I had written about. I cannot praise the staff who treated me, highly enough. I thank them from the bottom of my heart for looking after me, giving the best care and saving my life.

 

Spoiler

We have encountered losses, from the patients in our care. Time pressure is constant as we treat those in extremis.

Our charges in their sedation dreams, hover on the threshold between life and death.

We talk in clinical terms over the cacophony of bleeps and alarms. Therapies have to take priority over patient relationships. This is not how we usually work because those in our care and their loved ones, are at the centre of everything we do, even under these highly pressurised conditions.

For loved ones prevented from being at the bedside, because of this disease, we feel their distress, their absence keenly felt as we make telephone calls to them. The loved ones kept away speak of their worries and affection during those desperate conversations. We feel their anguish but are helpless to comfort them over the distance and divide of the phone line.

Inevitably, tragically some patients pass away.

At the end, we are there. We hold hands, talk, recite a favourite poem, use music, even sing to them, to ease their passing. We try to recreate the warmth of home, family and friends, whilst being painfully aware that we are not. We cannot replace loved ones, even using the phone or video calls and the family can only connect with loved ones remotely. They cannot give a final kiss or embrace, only try to sooth with words. How cold and stark, surrounded by masked and gowned strangers, albeit caring ones, with unfamiliar voices in a monochrome place of tubes and machines.

We grieve for every patient who cannot be saved, for the person that was and for the pain of loved ones excluded from those precious last moments.

It may seem in this clinical landscape, that staff perform their jobs unmoved. This is not the reality in any way. We continue working, treating patients who continue to need us, those still clinging on and recovering. It takes every reserve of professionalism and strength to carry on against the tide of the pandemic. If we should stop for a second, we will be swept away, to drown in a sea of tears for the lost.

Behind the masks are real people, with hearts full of compassion, who instinctively want to give care and hope wherever they can. We care deeply about what we do and the patients that we treat. The location in which we work exactly describes the dedication of the doctors and nurses who work there - we are Intensive CARE

 

[barbara]

4 hours ago, Perelandra said:

Now that the worst of the pandemic seems to have passed the world has seen a terrible tragedy and many people have been affected in the most dire manner. Somehow, collectively we need to seek healing. I seek your indulgence by writing about some of the experiences from working during the pandemic in a busy hospital on the frontline

 

I am a Critical Care Consultant. During the pandemic I worked in Critical Care and treated patients and also supported the staff from the multi disciplinary team.

Many staff members felt upset that relatives and friends could not be with their loved ones and that the crushing workload prevented the normal scope of non clinical care which would otherwise be afforded to patients and their loved ones. Many staff members felt helpless in the face of this terrible and often overwhelming situation and several approached me to try to voice some of the grief and distress that they felt during this surge period

This short piece was written by me, for staff, patients and relatives. It was used as part of the staff support messages for post pandemic debrief and discussion

 

Grief and Loss in the Time of a Pandemic - Reflections From a Critical Care Unit

A message to reassure relatives of those who have lost their lives to COVID 19, that their loved one did not pass away alone

Under spoiler as the following may be upsetting

Thank you for your time

 

In early January 2021, before the vaccine was available. I myself contracted COVID, in the line of duty so to speak and was admitted to Intensive Care, even had a near death event as well. I experienced first hand some of what I had written about. I cannot praise the staff who treated me, highly enough. I thank them from the bottom of my heart for looking after me, giving the best care and saving my life.

 

  Hide contents

We have encountered losses, from the patients in our care. Time pressure is constant as we treat those in extremis.

Our charges in their sedation dreams, hover on the threshold between life and death.

We talk in clinical terms over the cacophony of bleeps and alarms. Therapies have to take priority over patient relationships. This is not how we usually work because those in our care and their loved ones, are at the centre of everything we do, even under these highly pressurised conditions.

For loved ones prevented from being at the bedside, because of this disease, we feel their distress, their absence keenly felt as we make telephone calls to them. The loved ones kept away speak of their worries and affection during those desperate conversations. We feel their anguish but are helpless to comfort them over the distance and divide of the phone line.

Inevitably, tragically some patients pass away.

At the end, we are there. We hold hands, talk, recite a favourite poem, use music, even sing to them, to ease their passing. We try to recreate the warmth of home, family and friends, whilst being painfully aware that we are not. We cannot replace loved ones, even using the phone or video calls and the family can only connect with loved ones remotely. They cannot give a final kiss or embrace, only try to sooth with words. How cold and stark, surrounded by masked and gowned strangers, albeit caring ones, with unfamiliar voices in a monochrome place of tubes and machines.

We grieve for every patient who cannot be saved, for the person that was and for the pain of loved ones excluded from those precious last moments.

It may seem in this clinical landscape, that staff perform their jobs unmoved. This is not the reality in any way. We continue working, treating patients who continue to need us, those still clinging on and recovering. It takes every reserve of professionalism and strength to carry on against the tide of the pandemic. If we should stop for a second, we will be swept away, to drown in a sea of tears for the lost.

Behind the masks are real people, with hearts full of compassion, who instinctively want to give care and hope wherever they can. We care deeply about what we do and the patients that we treat. The location in which we work exactly describes the dedication of the doctors and nurses who work there - we are Intensive CARE

 

Well worth reading.  I am so pleased you made it through.  I, however, don't believe we are through this yet.  I know fully vaccinated and cautious people who have become infected in the last week. One in Califorrnia, but also my brother, now quarantining in Madrid.  He was on one of those lovely luxurious river cruises where everyone tested negative at the start and half the passengers were positive by the end.  Not seriously ill, but, at this point, it is endemic.  Hopefully less lethal.  I beleiev we still need to be cautious.

[Perelandra]

Hi Barbara

Sorry to hear about your brother, hope he will be well soon

Thank you for your kind words

Agreed, it's not over. Unfortunately this disease is now endemic, Omicron variant does not seem to cause severe disease in the majority of those infected. Vaccines have helped considerably. 

I caught Beta variant, during third wave winter surge, this variant carried high mortality and high transmission rate, some contaminated PPE was left next to clean PPE, which I discovered when I was removing my PPE when leaving COVID ward, so my PPE was compromised before donning it.

Of those that were admitted to ITU with Beta, mortality was 60-70%. In countries like Brazil and some African countries, there is little testing, vaccination programmes and poor ratio of hospital beds, doctors nurses per 100000 capita. My concern is that those areas are the most likely for virus circulation and mutation. Who knows if the next variant may be as deadly as SARs. 

Learning to live with COVID means learning new strategies for minimising spread and better containment measures and general social responsibility. Some people have become alarmingly complacent about physical distancing, face coverings, hand hygiene etc. As new therapies are made public, there is a sense of "well if I catch it, I'm vaccinated and I can go to hospital and be treated" 

Stay safe and stay well.

My family and I are being very careful, as we can only try to control our own environment and behaviour as best we can

 

[barbara]

11 hours ago, Perelandra said:

Hi Barbara

Sorry to hear about your brother, hope he will be well soon

Thank you for your kind words

Agreed, it's not over. Unfortunately this disease is now endemic, Omicron variant does not seem to cause severe disease in the majority of those infected. Vaccines have helped considerably. 

I caught Beta variant, during third wave winter surge, this variant carried high mortality and high transmission rate, some contaminated PPE was left next to clean PPE, which I discovered when I was removing my PPE when leaving COVID ward, so my PPE was compromised before donning it.

Of those that were admitted to ITU with Beta, mortality was 60-70%. In countries like Brazil and some African countries, there is little testing, vaccination programmes and poor ratio of hospital beds, doctors nurses per 100000 capita. My concern is that those areas are the most likely for virus circulation and mutation. Who knows if the next variant may be as deadly as SARs. 

Learning to live with COVID means learning new strategies for minimising spread and better containment measures and general social responsibility. Some people have become alarmingly complacent about physical distancing, face coverings, hand hygiene etc. As new therapies are made public, there is a sense of "well if I catch it, I'm vaccinated and I can go to hospital and be treated" 

Stay safe and stay well.

My family and I are being very careful, as we can only try to control our own environment and behaviour as best we can

 

Mutations and transmissibility are my biggest concerns.  How awful for you to have caught it at work and being so ill.    How amazingly scary.

[Perelandra]

A close miss experience really changes a person. 

Yuzu had his brush with what could have been the end during the Great Eastern Earthquake, when he had to escape from the ice rink. Mine came during COVID. Different perspectives from that moment onwards.

Yuzu is remarkable because he was able to move forward, reach incredible heights and meet low points with grace. He knows that those skating defeats, scoring robberies cannot compare with the prospect of the doom that could have occurred. So I wonder if that has contributed to Yuzu  competing with such resilience and courage in spite of the injustices. 

[Kadova]

One of my work colleague got the covid although she was fully vaccinated. However, it was no more than a great tiredness. We will have to live with it being always present. We'll see next winter how it goes.