Self isolation, social distancing, sheltering in place, whatever else you call it

[dr. b 492]

Over in Alberta they are very close to pretty much scrapping all pandemic protocols and restrictions:

 

“The province announced Wednesday that Alberta will soon have no mandatory COVID-19 protocols: no more mandatory masking, contact tracing or isolating. It's part of a move to treat the coronavirus more like other respiratory viruses.”

 

I guess they will basically treat COVID the same as the flu and other viruses go around. I think they will still recommend people who test positive to isolate, but it will not be mandatory. Sounds like they will also cut down on testing, only testing people with severe symptoms. 
 

This might not end well, but good luck Alberta! Eventually I think we will all need to do the same, but it might be too soon. Especially in Alberta where vaccine uptake has perhaps not been high enough yet. I guess they will just live with people getting sick. 

[Anelle 792]

god, I saw your city pop up in my twitter trends and was like oh boy people in Erika's neck of the woods still actin' up and SURE ENOUGH

 

I can only hope that their "check" for it is to try and connect to your personal 5G and if you don't come up on their phone you're good. That or one of those pet microchip scanner wands. 

 

Fucking hell

 

edit: I meant to quote MT but I'm dumb and lazy

 

second edit: what the entire fuck, Alberta 

[Tassifox 418]

CDC is now asking Vax people to mask up again indoors. Good fucking luck with that ya dumbasses since you guys were the ones who let the leash off people earlier this year. While some folks around my work or in WA have been still masking even when they lightened up mask regulations, I've only noticed a slight pick up of them and thankfully I've been seeing businesses and the like post about requiring proof of vaccination or requiring masks indoors more on FB and I am proud of them for it.

I'm glad that I chose not to perform in Ren-faire this year because of it. There's still so many idiots out there that are just pretending it's all sunshine and fucking rainbows in the summer even though we're surrounded by fire and plague. (Fires being all around the PNW that is right now) I am so fucking tired of all these fuckers.

@MT- That restaurant owner is such a douche and I hope they lose their business. I hope they everything that they deserve to get for risking the public like that.

@Birdy WTF ALBERTA

[MT 915]

That guy's restaurant was one of my deliveries today, and I flat out refused to go there. Not sure if they have him come in and get it or what, but I'm not risking my health for that asshole.

[Anelle 792]

lmaooooooo fuck that guy

[Vic Boss 612]

11 hours ago, dr. b said:

Over in Alberta they are very close to pretty much scrapping all pandemic protocols and restrictions:

 

“The province announced Wednesday that Alberta will soon have no mandatory COVID-19 protocols: no more mandatory masking, contact tracing or isolating. It's part of a move to treat the coronavirus more like other respiratory viruses.”

 

I guess they will basically treat COVID the same as the flu and other viruses go around. I think they will still recommend people who test positive to isolate, but it will not be mandatory. Sounds like they will also cut down on testing, only testing people with severe symptoms. 
 

This might not end well, but good luck Alberta! Eventually I think we will all need to do the same, but it might be too soon. Especially in Alberta where vaccine uptake has perhaps not been high enough yet. I guess they will just live with people getting sick. 

Canada's overall number should reach 70% in the next two or three weeks unless things stall out, and that's without under-11s being able to get them.

[dr. b 492]

I guess we’ll find out soon if 70% is adequate. The delta variant is apparently more transmissible, so that could be a problem. But we do need to abandon the pandemic protocols eventually… I am just not convinced that  it’s wise to do it as quickly as Alberta is doing it. I’m fascinated to see how things play out over there… from a very safe distance here in Ontario

[Mera'din 307]

11 hours ago, Anelle said:

I can only hope that their "check" for it is to try and connect to your personal 5G and if you don't come up on their phone you're good. That or one of those pet microchip scanner wands. 

 

Best comment I saw when someone asked how they would even check was "The check is if you're willing to even enter the restaurant at this point."  

[Vic Boss 612]

4 hours ago, dr. b said:

I guess we’ll find out soon if 70% is adequate. The delta variant is apparently more transmissible, so that could be a problem. But we do need to abandon the pandemic protocols eventually… I am just not convinced that  it’s wise to do it as quickly as Alberta is doing it. I’m fascinated to see how things play out over there… from a very safe distance here in Ontario

Yeah. The under-11s drop everyone by about 10%. Not counting them, even the prairie provinces are hovering in the low-to-mid 70s for 1st doses, and you kind of assume any slowdown on getting the second is because of things being opened back up during summer or the younger demos just haven't been called yet for the second.

 

The only Province/Territory that has over-12s in the 60% range is Nunavat, which collectively has the population of the town I live in.

 

It's still probably too early but we're already inside or close to the initial herd-immunity range (60-70%?) and seem to be on pace to surpass it if it's deemed safe/necessary for young children.

 

Govt stats page btw

[Tassifox 418]

One of my friends shared this Twitter post that shows a chart on just where the Delta variant stands in terms of deadlines and transmission speed. Which isn't that promising. 

https://mobile.twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1420957777409740807?s=19

 

And according to Washington Post this is where we're looking like at current %'s of vaccines.

 

 

[h2ojunkie 96]

First day of in person school for my daughter since spring break a year and a half ago. My son starts kindergarten today also. Nervous about them ?

[Tassifox 418]

Sending hugs your way. 

[Tassifox 418]

Whelp, Corp just sent the line down saying that starting tomorrow we're requiring masks indoors again. So yay get to do the whole "8f I see a customer without a mask ask them if they want one and if they decline let it go BS." Again. It doesn't change much for myself since I haven't stopped wearing mine to work. Fucki g people just get the goddamn Vax unless your medically unable to. 

[Anelle 792]

ugh. Fun times.

 

I had to take one of the cats to the vet today and they had been super strict for a year about covid stuff, you could only pull up and let them come get your pet, talk to you about it all over the phone, etc. They didn't open their lobby up until a few months ago when they were all vaccinated. I wore my mask in there today because there's just too much spiking happening, and I was the only one in the building with one. I don't think they're being flippant or anything, but I do wonder if/when they'll go back to tightening up on masking and distancing. Thanks to our shithead state government they might have trouble going back to stricter policies, although if anyone gives one of the best vet teams I've ever seen in my life any shit i'll go brawl in the parking lot, fuck it

[Lucy 108]

I am gradually breaking my 'seal', have isolated myself pretty hardcore (out of fear more than direct danger)
Trying not to over stress about it, and also to figure out how to wrestle with my work to stay working from home as much as I can, but I'm not above trying to change jobs if it comes down to it.. had a very frank talk with my team leader today where those exact words weren't said but heavily implied

[dr. b 492]

Gotta figure that lots of people may never return to regular office work. So many jobs can be done remotely just fine. But some managers are sticklers for attendance, so it will take a while yet to convince those types that there’s nothing wrong with remote work. 

[Tassifox 418]

So even though I chose not to perform in the Ren-faire I've worked at every summer I day tripped with a couple friends to support local shops and performers who got a hard financial dig from covid. We planned on being cautious, had already planned on masking up when walking into booths and had personal packets of disinfectant wipes for the bathrooms.......I am very glad I chose not to perform because in the 10 years I've worked at this faire it was packed tighter than a sardine can.....

Once we saw how full the parking lot was getting we decided to mask up the entire time, everyone was practically bumping into you, food lines were the worst I've ever seen it. We kept to as much as open areas as possible and completely stayed out of majority of shops because of how stuffed to the brim of patrons they were. And hardly anyone else was masked up and we know this was one of the counties that was a 45 cult county. So the possibility of a lot of people not being vaxxed was high and with delta variant numbers picking here as well as the new variant being confirmed in Texas. I seriously hope this doesn't backlash on them. 

[Lucy 108]

That sounds absolutely anxiety-inducing  It's Edinburgh Fringe Festival month over here and I am staying away from the city for similar reasons
 

...to be fair I haven't been in the city since the pandemic began but I think I'll hold off another month  

[Mera'din 307]

I'm so worried about our Ren Fest. The wife and I go every year and even got married there, and this being our 5th anniversary, we really don't want to miss it, but I can only imagine how bad it will be with it not happening last year. X_x

 

We're going to miss opening weekend (which is usually the busiest other than labor day weekend) since we'll be on vacation away when it happens so probably gonna see how things went for that and go from there I guess.

[Tassifox 418]

I'm trying to keep my anxieties over it low because
-We were planning with being prepared with masks/personal lysol wipes/etc.
-We were going to help support our vendors and gig performers after they got hit hard last year from events cancelling. In fact majority of my money went to tipping every busker and show even if I didn't sit in to see it. (like if we were walking by a show wrapping up and I saw 'the hat' or a tip jar I went and threw money in.
- We were winging it and not stressing over details, it was the first time my friends and I weren't performing in 10 years so we were going in with no plans. Just enjoying.

It just totally threw us off of just how PACKED it was. Which was probably a combo of people having an excuse going somewhere as well as opening usually being busy. I know the crew and performers who are part of that show have all done their part of being safe and vaxxed so while I wasn't too worried about them, it was the crowds because the county it's held in is a big 45 cult county there so...we pretty much did the best on our part about being safe. Not to mention being a patron this year and seeing so much holes in disorganization or the new layout and because of how many big guilds had stayed out this year made me wonder other things from the administration side.

With the spikes of the Delta and now the Lambdent variant cropping up. I wonder if big events like PAX and ECCC will actually happen. PAX is supposed to start next month and they only just announced after selling tix that they'll be only allowing people in with proof of Vax. So that's going to be difficult for what few friends work that event. There has been some smaller Cons happening with summer with also the same requirements but they were already announcing that before announcing their ticket release and so far from what I have heard on my vendor friends at those Cons that things were well handled. Even my SCA organization has been cancelling a couple of events that were supposed to be happening soon because of the spikes and atm we're still going to try and hold in person fighter practices and socials since they're much smaller scales.

[dr. b 492]

I don’t go to conventions and stuff like that much for fun, but I normally hit quite a few trade shows throughout the year for work. The biggest one is pretty massive, every winter at the Metro Toronto Convention Center. Thousands and thousands of people go through the trade show each day. Gonna be kinda weird going back to that if they’re back in 2022. I haven’t been to any shows (except virtual ) since March 2020. 

[Mera'din 307]

4 hours ago, Tassifox said:

I'm trying to keep my anxieties over it low because
-We were planning with being prepared with masks/personal lysol wipes/etc.
-We were going to help support our vendors and gig performers after they got hit hard last year from events cancelling. In fact majority of my money went to tipping every busker and show even if I didn't sit in to see it. (like if we were walking by a show wrapping up and I saw 'the hat' or a tip jar I went and threw money in.
- We were winging it and not stressing over details, it was the first time my friends and I weren't performing in 10 years so we were going in with no plans. Just enjoying.

 

Yeah, we're planning to prepare as much as possible, but we also have the hang up of needing to have a 2 year old with us. We were planning on being gone for the weekend (ours is about 3 hours away from where we live) and we can't leave her gone that long. Even at the height of the lockdown, masks everywhere, social distancing in force, it was nearly impossible to keep people the fuck away from her because "oh look at the cute baby".  

 

Gonna have to carry a stick or something. Do the Cartman thing.  

 

[Tassifox 418]

5 hours ago, dr. b said:

I don’t go to conventions and stuff like that much for fun, but I normally hit quite a few trade shows throughout the year for work. The biggest one is pretty massive, every winter at the Metro Toronto Convention Center. Thousands and thousands of people go through the trade show each day. Gonna be kinda weird going back to that if they’re back in 2022. I haven’t been to any shows (except virtual ) since March 2020. 

When I was younger I went to Cons for a lot of reasons. Nowadays it's to check out the awesome costumes, the artists alleys/showcase floors etc., and catching up with folks I rarely see unless it's certain events. Which was one of the few things I liked day tripping to Faire, I hadn't gotten to see most of the people I work with at that faire in almost 2 years now, and a few of them were also day tripping and not being part of it for similar reasons that I had. So while it felt weird to not be part of the show after being in it for so long, it also felt really nice not having to worry about a schedule/being "ON" when walking the field/or having the pre week packing and prep before then.

 

 

1 hour ago, Mera'din said:

Gonna have to carry a stick or something. Do the Cartman thing

Sooooo idk if you have these stores where you are but we have one of those cliche shops called Spencers, owned I think by same people who do Hot Topic but more adult and hippie stuff. Last time my friends and I did the mall run we saw that they had what they called the "Social Distance Zapper" It's basically a non-lethal cattle prod/little tazer ball on a stick. It actually hurt and the tingling didn't leave my finger for a solid hour or so.

 

[Vic Boss 612]

Ayyyy, we just crossed the 70% fully vaccinated threshold for people over 11 years old. 80% of the population over 11 has at least one dose. -10%ish for both when you include under 11s.

 

Not bad.

[Anelle 792]

Dallas County is slapping up mask mandates and some people are losing their fucking minds. They can literally die mad about it, I'm just glad that schools are part of it. shit's crazy.

 

In other news, my dumbshit cousin has tested positive for covid, turns out she had it a full 3 days before I predicted to my mother that she'd get it within a week, so props to her for subverting expectations I guess but WERGQRTFNGWRSFBDZGAWEGDVAEWTRABFGASD

[Tassifox 418]

One of my friends was getting his daughter moved in with her BF over the weekend I was at Faire. Apparently the BF's dad isn't vaxxed and exposed all of them, making my friend and his daughter mad rush to try and find rapid covid tests. Thankfully they came up negative along with the boyfriend. And then just today he found out the same father exposed the rest of their family and now they all have Covid. My friend thinks (he honestly can't remember if he was told correctly or not) that the mother and siblings of BF are vaxxed but still caught it. So hopefully they'll pull through it. But my friend wants to go hunt the man down and ream him for not only putting his family at risk but those they have interacted with as well. (He knows the BF isn't at fault but it infuriates him that a fellow father would do this to his family).

 

Gov Inslee announced a mandate that all WA state employees and health care workers are required to not only Vax but also show proof of Vaccination or face termination. 

 

Also saw this happened too. 

https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-vaccine-us-military-requirement-pentagon-3975940c732352f72e41f6e34a3a2669

[dr. b 492]

A headline I read the other day: 'No doubt' Canada now in 4th wave of COVID-19 as cases spike across much of the country

 

Yay

 

You've gotta figure it won't be as bad given how many people are vaccinated, but a new school year is right around the corner here and I don't want my 10 year old at home all the time anymore. School needs to stay open plz, I don't care how COVID-y things get 

[Tassifox 418]

But it's more now on how stupidly reckless the unvaxxinated are getting and putting people at risk vs the vaccinated are. The US is only 50.1% vaccinated including those with at least 1 shot. That's still a ridiculously number of people who are unvaccinated and not taking the precautions and add that to everything reopening and the desperate need of people to get back to "normal" is why we're spiking in cases again. To the point that kids are getting hospitalized by the masses of (once again) overstuffed hospitals. 

[dr. b 492]

Sounds like we'll be seeing a snap election call very soon. Going to the polls in September could be a total shitshow depending on how things go with the virus over the next few weeks. Lots of people are gonna be mad  

[Vic Boss 612]

Eh, we had one in BC last year during the thing, they'll probs just give more mail-in options so people who really want to vote but don't want to be in the crush of people will just avoid it anyways

[Tassifox 418]

Mail ins are way easier since you can look over stuff in the comfort of home and not be around people anyways.

[dr. b 492]

I'll probably still vote in-person as usual. I'm vaxxed to the maxx and don't mind waiting in line (if there even is a line ). Seems like a lot of people don't want an election, so maybe turn-out will be poor anyways. Unless the CPC really rally the troops to get out and vote against Trudeau. But the CPC can't even get along with each other very well right now, so I don't have much confidence in them to get their act together either.

[dr. b 492]

Quote

Alberta is rolling back on plans to end mandatory isolation for those who test positive for COVID-19, a government source told CBC News, as cases in the province hit their highest level since late May. 

 

The province was due to end most COVID-19 restrictions on Aug. 16, including requirements to wear masks on public transit and in schools as well as strict protocols around testing and contact tracing.  But the province's current health guidelines will remain in place for now, the source said.

Well that didn't take too long  

[Vic Boss 612]

We're generally not very "American" about things for lack of a better word, but I do think there'll be pushback here from this covid passport stuff if it's in any way long-term.

[dr. b 492]

The Ford government wants nothing to do with a vaccine passport, so I don't know if we'll get one in Ontario. I think it would be a good idea to need to show proof of vaccination to get into higher-risk places like indoor gyms, etc... but I can also see how some people would find that problematic. We'll see what happens.

[h2ojunkie 96]

Had the kids in school for 2 weeks in person and my son already had a kid in the class with covid. We are pulling them out and doing online again. Not ideal for Kindergarten, but my 2nd grader should do just fine. 

 

Can we just have the damn vaccine for 6 years and up already???

[dr. b 492]

That's a bummer. I would probably not be so quick to pull my kids from school, but it would also depend on other factors. Does your school seem like it's got a good plan in place to screen kids each day and notify parents if a case is found in the school? There are still going to be some cases that slip through the cracks, but if the school seems to have a credible plan in place to handle COVID and mitigate the risks, then that would satisfy me. I totally get how other people would see things differently though! Each kid is different too. My 10 year old always wears a mask without complaints or having to remind her, and she's mindful about physical distancing and other COVID-related rules, so it's easy for us to trust her to be safe at school. If she behaved differently then we'd probably be more worried about that as well.

 

School doesn't start here until after Labour Day. We'll see how things go in September.

[h2ojunkie 96]

The damn governor passed a law that schools can't require masks. The school seams behind the curve on screening and actually knowing and doing anything about prevention besides some basics like cleaning, having kids spaced at lunch, and some timing things to keep groups away from each other. I also didn't much like the kindergarten teacher and my wife liked her even less. The 2nd grade teacher is going to be missed. My daughter is/was in the advanced class and that same group of students more or less will be together through 8th grade if they stay in there. My daughter missed out all last year being with them because that class didn't offer distance only. She finally got to see some of her classmates from kindergarten for 2 weeks. 

[dr. b 492]

Yikes. Circumstances are quite different from there to here. AFAIK masks will be required at all schools here (in class, in the halls, on buses, etc.) I'm sure a small amount of people are upset by that, but anybody that is that opposed to masking can choose to put their kids in online schooling, or some other alternative to public schools. It seems odd to pass legislation saying schools cannot require masks. 

 

Right now there is a push from some parents in Ontario to require all teachers and school staff get vaccinated, but I doubt that will go anywhere. The government is loathe to make vaccines mandatory. But if they strongly recommend it, and introduce routine rapid testing for staff that choose to not get the vaccine, then I think that will be adequate.

[Lucy 108]

My office are at present looking to start the 'blended' working in October I think
There are still questions I need answers for though, like "since you aren't obligating people to get vaccinated, what responsibility are you going to take if someone gets Long Covid on your watch"
I live alone and I would rather not get giga chronic fatigue syndrome thanks

[Anelle 792]

this is very first world problem but a while back when vaccinations seemed to be picking up we bought tickets to Wicked and I was very excited to go and now there's just no way in hell we are. Shit sucks. Pandemic's not the only factor in this (it happens that the earliest time I can get my next spinal injection is the day before) but it's still such a feeling of defeat. I miss the world, I miss life. More and more people close to me are being affected by this shit though so I'm not going to risk it

[Tassifox 418]

A lot of states are raging at schools not to enforce masks which is fucking stupid when children are at even higher risk with the delta variant and kids hospitals/clinics are already hitting max capacity down there.

https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2021/08/10/what-we-now-know-about-how-to-fight-the-delta-variant-of-covid-column/

 

I'm fine with places requiring vaccines in places or face termination. I'm totally fine with restaurants and Cons requiring proof of Vaccination because I'm done with people treating this like a God damn class project where 1-2 people actually do the class research/work while the rest of the group just kick back and fuck off. I'm done. 

 

In other news it's now come time to talk about what we've been thinking was bound to happen. Booster shots to the vaccines. 

https://www.axios.com/booster-shots-covid-vaccine-biden-b1c15165-83d7-42c9-bcc2-e8f47c9af8fa.html

With this logic I would be due for mine in....Jan next year? Makes me wonder how work would go about this. 

[Tassifox 418]

So 3 hours ago our gov made the annoucement:

 

"It has been a long pandemic, and our students and teachers have borne their own unique burdens throughout. This virus is increasingly impacting young people, and those under the age of 12 still can’t get the vaccine for themselves. We won’t gamble with 
the health of our children.

K -12 educators, staff, coaches, bus drivers, volunteers and others working in school facilities will have until Oct. 18 to be fully vaccinated as a condition of employment. This includes public, private and charter schools. This does not impact students, regardless of age.

Childcare providers affected by the requirement include:
• Licensed, certified and contracted early learning and childcare programs
•  License-exempt early learning, childcare and youth-development programs
• Contractors (coaches, volunteers, trainers)

We are also instituting a statewide indoor mask mandate to all individuals, regardless of vaccination status. We have seen over the last year how widespread masking also saves lives by reducing infection."

 

There was a protest in the capital building while he held the meeting over this. So many fucking entitled people saying that this is tyranny, "freedom and rights" and all rhe other BS. What pissed me off more is that there was kids of all ages there too, even babies. Everyone unmasked. Fuck those selfish fucks for exposing those kids. Fuck each and every one of them. 

[Anelle 792]

Lee's best friend was admitted to the hospital today. His wife is a fucking nurse and he still didn't get the vaccine. He started having symptoms about a week ago and has just gotten progressively worse to the point where he was admitted today. I'm so tired. I'm so angry and sad and tired. 

 

My cousin is apparently doing better, she lucked the fuck out. Dumb. Dumb dumb dumb.

[dr. b 492]

That really sucks. Hopefully the guy bounces back after the hospital stay, but getting hospitalized can’t be a good sign  

[Tassifox 418]

I'm so sorry for Lee. I hope for Lee's sake and his wife that he pulls through. One of my friends posted today that his brother and brother's GF caught it. Brother sounds like he'll be okay but his Gf is another matter. 

 

My dad also said the facility where my grandparents are living in is doing lockdown again so only window visits allowed. Which is better than no visits at all. 

[Anelle 792]

Lee just got to talk to him for the first time since this morning when he told him he was being admitted, he's feeling better for the moment but says it kinda cycles. He's on oxygen and waiting for a real room/bed to be available but for now is just in a sort of triage situation with the ER. No idea when he'll actually get one since Texas is absolutely fucking dumber than shit and everything is overrun. The dude has 4 kids, a couple of them had COVID a month or so back but now their families are having to juggle them on top of everything and aw3rhbgtanfbzdgsvaba definitely feeling angry right now

[Tassifox 418]

I would be too. So much of this is so fucking infuriating of just how much people seem to keep thinking they can just selfishly ignore all this. It shouldn't have had to be drawn out like this by hypocritical fucktards. 

 

Next Monday is when the indoor mask mandate takes effect here in WA and I'm not looking forward to see just how much people will still ignore it. And thankful that I'll be starting vacation shortly after it takes effect so that I can actually step away from that environment for at least a short bit. I don't care that I will hardly be going anywhere as long as it won't be there for 6 days. 

[Anelle 792]

Is anyone y'all know trying to push that whole Ivermectin bullshit? That narrative is just... AERTFHBWATGNWSF

 

IT'S A DEWORMER

 

FOR ANIMALS

 

I USE IT ON POSSUMS

[Tassifox 418]

Wait....what????