Ontario drastically reduced comprehensive long-term home inspections a year before COVID-19.
CBC news has learned Ontario stopped doing surprise, detailed inspections of long-term care homes a year before COVID-19 started tearing through the facilities
https://youtu.be/IVOt5zmxnBQ
(I wonder if Ford did the same for CAS group home inspections)
https://globalnews.ca/news/2728296/ontario-to-improve-levels-of-care-for-youth-in-group-homes-cas-custody/
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/programs/metromorning/group-homes-foster-care-unannounced-visits-reforms-residential-care-1.4218888
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Premier Doug Ford says starting tonight caregivers can only work in one long-term care home at a time to stop the spread of COVID-19. Premier announces a new plan coming tomorrow to help in long-term care homes. Government has touted an “iron ring” around them, but elderly residents are still dying. Ford tells reporters “despite our best efforts we’re dealing with a wildfire in long-term care homes.”
After the fact and how many deaths?
https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1724667971829
https://youtu.be/42f2gHcmDZM
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/it-breaks-my-heart-doug-ford-s-mother-in-law-in-toronto-care-home-with-covid-19-outbreak-1.5531198
https://thepostmillennial.com/doug-fords-mother-in-law-at-toronto-long-term-care-home-with-coronavirus-outbreak
https://globalnews.ca/news/6399254/diane-ford-funeral/
Ripping off his dead brother's widow?
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2018/06/04/rob-fords-widow-sues-doug-ford-alleging-he-has-deprived-them-of-millions.html
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-rob-fords-widow-sues-doug-ford-over-family-business/
https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/ca/news/legal-expenses/rob-fords-widow-sues-pc-leader-over-insurance-payout-and-other-claims-102453.aspx
Buying votes?
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/doug-ford-defends-himself-after-handing-out-20-bills-to-constituents/article15920479/
https://nationalpost.com/news/toronto/doug-ford-hands-out-20-bills-to-public-housing-residents-accused-of-vote-buying
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/doug-ford-sorry-for-handing-out-cash-will-stick-to-gift-cards-1.2461797 (a distinction without a difference)
https://youtu.be/2ckIcOiJyH4
Drug dealer?
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/globe-investigation-the-ford-familys-history-with-drug-dealing/article12153014/
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/09/10/doug_ford_drug_story_statement_by_globe_and_mail_editor_john_stackhouse.html
https://torontosun.com/2013/08/09/why-a-convicted-drug-dealer-burst-into-rob-fords-home-demanding-money/wcm/9d2f2c8a-559d-4628-b228-be9ff03c43e2
Rob Ford's alleged drug dealer is running for school board trustee in Doug Ford's old ward. Sandro Lisi, one of several shady figures at the centre of the Rob Ford crack scandal, is running in Doug Ford's old Etobicoke North backyard – must be a coincidence.
https://nowtoronto.com/news/rob-ford-doug-ford-sandro-lisi/
https://www.thespec.com/news/ontario/2018/03/11/doug-ford-s-road-to-leader-of-ontario-pc-party-paved-with-controversy.html
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/02/03/5_things_you_didnt_know_about_rob_fords_family_revelations_from_the_book_crazy_town.html
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2014: Ontario Votes: PCs, Liberals throw past at each other.
“Despite his assurances, the Harris/Hudak PCs fired 6,000 nurses, closed 28 hospitals and slashed over 7,000 hospital beds.”
Hoskins, the Liberal representative on Saturday as party leader Kathleen Wynne took the day off from campaigning, made references to his own background as a doctor.
“I remember the devastation that Mike Harris and Tim Hudak caused our healthcare system,” he went on during his press conference in Toronto Saturday morning.
Hoskins said Hudak’s threat with layoffs could actually be, in reality, bigger.
“Harris pledged to fire 13,000 but when all was said and done, he’d actually fired 39,000 hardworking Ontarians.”
Harris’s Common Sense Revolution, his platform in 1995, focused on reducing taxes for both businesses and individuals in the hopes of creating hundreds of thousands of jobs. The plan was also to cut the province’s civil service by 15 per cent – about 13,000 jobs – and to reduce spending in healthcare and education deemed non-essential.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-votes-2014/ontario-votes-pcs-liberals-throw-past-at-each-other-1.2646521
https://www.ipsos.com/en-ca/ontarians-split-success-common-sense-revolution
https://torontosun.com/2015/06/26/mike-harris-where-did-common-sense-go/wcm/123b24bd-bede-4e63-bc4c-526df081d3e8
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2001: Mike Harris's conservative legacy.
As Ontario Premier Mike Harris sang his government's praises yesterday in announcing his resignation, he indulged in a major piece of understatement. "Over the past six years," he said, "I believe we've changed politics in Ontario."
Yes indeed, for better and for worse.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/mike-harriss-legacy/article763723/
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Harris won the leadership of his party in May 1990 and in 1995 became Premier of Ontario, winning 82 of 130 seats. As Premier, Harris implemented his “common-sense revolution” by lowering taxes, reducing government staff, cutting social spending and closing hospitals.
https://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/hist/medicare/medic-8k03e.html
The effect of provincial policies on struggling families was especially apparent in the late 1990s, when the Conservative government slashed welfare payments and social service funding while at the same time, it introduced in child protection the notion of maltreatment by “omission,” including not having enough food in the home and this after giving the society what amounted to an unlimited funding scheme. The number of children taken into care spiked.
“The ministry has been pretty clear with us that advocacy is not part of our mandate,” Goodman said speaking for the society.
“It’s not like they’re asking for the (poverty) data. They’re not.” and neither is the society..
Goodman then when on to suggest the silence suited the government more than the silence suited the society's funding goals.
https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2016/08/15/report-shines-light-on-povertys-role-on-kids-in-cas-system.html
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2001: Selling Ontario’s Health Care. The real story on government spending
and public relations.
https://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/Ontario_Office_Pubs/on_healthcare.pdf
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BYE BYE MIKE HARRIS October 17th, 2001 By Naomi Klein
For almost a year, I carried Premier Mike Harris’s $200 tax cut in my wallet. Its edges frayed and the ink began to smudge. I looked at it from time to time, then put it away.
https://naomiklein.org/bye-bye-mike-harris/
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2019: With nothing left to cut, report warns Ontario healthcare could face an ugly future. (ENTER COVID19)
A new report from the Ontario Hospital Association says after decades of cuts, Ontario's severely strained healthcare system is the most efficient in Canada and any further attempts to pare back frontline care may lead to reduced public access to vital services that are already at or over capacity.
https://youtu.be/04F4xlWSFh0
The report states that if the PC government doesn't first address the severe budget and capacity pressures currently facing Ontario hospitals, it may actually worsen the hallway healthcare problem it has promised to eliminate.
"This is without a doubt the most efficient hospital sector in the entire country," said Anthony Dale, the president and CEO of the Ontario Hospital Association, which advocates on behalf of Ontario's 141 hospitals.
"You can't keep asking hospitals to function in this manner. It is time for a significant investment to fix those services."
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/ontario-hospitals-efficiency-healthcare-reform-1.5406753
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Ford’s promised $17 billion for COVID-19 is actually $4 billion.
Roughly $13 billion of aid package is not new spending.
On Wednesday, Doug Ford’s government announced a COVID-19 aid package which touted $17 billion in “new support.”
However, the majority of these announced supports are not new spending at all. The $10 billion in assistance to businesses is, in fact, deferrals of taxes and premiums. Not only is it not new spending, the government still expects to collect this foregone revenue later in the year.
Of the $3.7 billion in “Support for People and Jobs,” $1.5 billion is attributed to electricity cost relief. Yet, the shift from $4 billion to $5.6 billion in cost for Ontario’s hydro subsidies is not new. As early as January, the Ford government was estimating that the cost of these subsidies would balloon to $5.6 billion regardless of a pandemic. The extra spending on electricity cost relief was already earmarked prior to this aid package and does not represent new or expanded relief.
The $3.3 billion in support of the healthcare system is also misleading. Roughly, $1.2 billion of that figure is “the annual increase for rising health system costs due to the aging and growing population,” says CBC’s Mike Crawley. The remainder amounts to $2.1 billion – the real figure for new spending on healthcare.
https://north99.org/2020/03/27/fact-check-fords-promised-17-billion-for-covid-19-is-actually-4-billion/
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2019: Ford government to cut $1-billion in funding to Toronto Public Health over 10 years, board chair says.
The Ontario government has told local public-health units it is slashing provincial funding for programs such as food safety and water-quality inspections and immunization controls – cuts amounting to almost $200-million over the next two years in Toronto.
Mayor John Tory condemned the move, which he said was “hidden” in the recent provincial budget and came without any consultation. He warned the cuts could put lives in his city at risk.
“It is impossible to not to see this as a targeted attack on the health of our entire city and, in particular, the health of Toronto’s most vulnerable people,” he said in a statement.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/toronto/article-ford-government-to-cut-1-billion-in-funding-to-toronto-public-health/
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2018: Doug Ford’s false fiscal promises
Doug Ford is touting the great myth of the anti-tax crusaders, a seductive story that simply isn’t true.
The new Ontario Progressive Conservative leader says if elected premier he will deliver billions of dollars in tax cuts. He will tackle the province’s debt. And he will do all this mostly by weeding out government waste.
Ford is promising a free lunch. Yet experience, including Ford’s own political past, dictates there is no such thing. There will be costs. And while we cannot be sure of exactly what form they will take, we can be confident they will be high and cruel.
Ford says he would cut at least $10 billion in income and sales taxes, a promise held over from the “People’s Guarantee,” the carefully costed platform of Ford’s predecessor, Patrick Brown. To cover the lost revenues, Brown planned to impose a carbon tax, much of which would have been returned to voters. The province’s books, Brown said, would be balanced by 2020. Ford, too, promises balance. But while Ford likes the tax cuts, he doesn’t like the carbon tax (or any other tax), leaving a $10-billion hole in his budget.
Not to worry, says the self-proclaimed stopper of gravy trains. Ford insists the better part of the shortfall – about $6 billion – could be covered through the elimination of so-called inefficiencies. Unfortunately, those who promise savings through waste-elimination rarely say where, specifically, this waste can be found — and Ford is no exception. He wants us to take it on faith.
That would be a mistake, as anyone who recalls Ford’s tenure at Toronto city hall can attest. Had it not been overshadowed by spectacular scandal, the mayoral administration of Doug’s late brother Rob, in which Doug played a central role, might now be remembered first and foremost for its spectacular fiscal folly.
The Fords famously came to power vowing to save the city billions of dollars a year by eliminating waste at city hall. They hired the consulting firm KPMG to find inefficiencies and recommend areas to cut. The consultants were largely stumped. Perhaps, they suggested, the city could afford to close a few libraries.
When residents revolted in the face of this threat, the administration backed off and instead demanded each department cut 10 per cent of its budget. Ten per cent across the board without any apparent rhyme or reason, even though the KPMG report suggested this would in every case cut into core services – core protections for low-income people and the homeless, core infrastructure projects, core economic initiatives. And it did. There simply wasn’t enough gravy. There never is.
Let’s be clear about what’s really on offer here. Ford is asking us to play a sort of austerity lottery. Because Ford won’t tell us, we can’t know which jobs will be lost, which programs deep-sixed, which services cut. At least Tim Hudak, the PC leader who went down in flames in the last provincial election promising to fund tax cuts by slashing 100,000 public-sector jobs, had the courage to spell out the human costs of his proposal.
Ford insists his tax cuts won’t hurt. They will. Let’s hope we never have to find out how bad.
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2018/03/28/doug-fords-false-fiscal-promises.html
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Municipalities pushing back over Ontario health care cuts.
https://london.ctvnews.ca/municipalities-pushing-back-over-ontario-health-care-cuts-1.4652451
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Ontario's - pay more, get less - health care system.
https://www.fraserinstitute.org/article/ontarios-pay-more-get-less-health-care-system
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List of the Ford government health care cuts to date:
https://www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca/index.php/update-mounting-health-care-cuts/
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'Extremely concerned': Protesters decry Ontario health-care cuts, changes.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/extremely-concerned-protesters-decry-ontario-health-care-cuts-changes-1.5354513
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Ontario Funding Cuts To Public Health And Child Care Coming January 1, 2020.
https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/ontario-cuts-health-care-child-care_ca_5d5a7ac5e4b056fafd0e9295
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Everything Doug the Slug Ford Cut or Cancelled During His First Year as Premier.
https://www.flare.com/news/doug-ford-changes-for-ontario/
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A list of cuts and program changes the Ford government has reversed
https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/a-list-of-cuts-and-program-changes-the-ford-government-has-reversed-1.4623131
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NDP calls on Ford to reverse health cuts.
https://torontosun.com/news/local-news/ndp-calls-on-ford-to-reverse-health-cuts
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ONTARIO PREMIER DOUG FORD PICKED UP FACE MASKS FOR HEALTH CARE WORKERS.
Dean Blundell News Mar 31, 2020.
Dental Brands called Ford to donate 100,000 Level 2 face masks to Ontario’s front line Health Care Workers. Instead of passing it off to an assistant or calling a delivery company, Doug never to miss at a cheap photo opportunity threw on his jeans and a work shirt, drove up to Markham and threw them in the back of his pickup leaving his entire staff in the dark until after he delivered these masks to the front lines.
https://deanblundell.com/news/ontario-premier-doug-ford-picked-up-face-masks-for-health-care-workers-without-telling-anyone-because-hes-a-boss/
https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/doug-ford-tours-vaughan-factory-making-respiratory-masks-1.4886304
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Doug Ford would like us to forget his cuts to sick days for precarious workers.
Politicians like to recall tough decisions that turned out to be visionary. Of course, no politician ever likes to speak of the reverse situation — decisions that years later appear ill-advised.
In the midst of COVID-19, many in the Ford government, for example, might like to forget certain parts of Bill 47, Making Ontario Open for Business Act, passed in late 2018.
The legislation, designed to halt minimum wage increases and undo labour legislation brought in by the Wynne government, eliminated two guaranteed paid sick days for low-wage workers — a cringeworthy proposition when we have all been told to self-isolate at the slightest sign of illness.
By reminding everyone about these provisions I am not trying to start a fight with Premier Ford and his team. They appear to be handling the current crisis competently and have introduced a number of measures to support vulnerable workers through the pandemic.
I am also not suggesting two paid sick days would have significantly slowed down COVID-19. What I would argue, however, is that the way the matter was dealt with contains some important lessons for Ontarians to consider.
Although the elimination of paid sick days was only one of many measures contained in the bill, it received considerable attention during public hearings on the legislation. Perhaps the most thoughtful criticism came from Dr. Jesse McLaren, a Toronto-based emergency physician.
Citing an article from the Canadian Medical Association Journal, McLaren noted the accepted medical opinion that people shouldn’t go to work with the flu or other contagious diseases. Unfortunately, the article concluded: “many employees cannot follow these recommendations if it means foregoing their wages or risking their jobs ... Employees who have access to paid sick leave are more likely to stay home when advised to do so by a physician; employees with no sick leave are more likely to go to work and expose others to infection.”
Despite the pleading from McLaren and others, the elimination of paid sick days remained in the bill. How could we as Ontarians have let this happen? Why was there so little public outrage when the government eliminated this basic entitlement?
The answer is easy, but kind of sad. As a society we pay little attention to those at the bottom end of the wage scale — the server at the coffee shop; the store clerk; or the personal support worker.
And yet, as the province released the list of essential workplaces allowed to stay open during the pandemic, many of them involve low-wage workers — from takeout restaurant cooks to delivery people through to those who clean hotel rooms.
While those of us working from home enjoy our relative safety, there is a whole army of individuals out there putting their health at risk for us. Premier Ford has called these individuals — people like grocery store clerks, hydro workers and truckers — “local heroes.”
The premier is right. Although we continuously heap praise on front-line health-care professionals during this crisis (full disclosure, I am married to one), we should also thank these other heroes — those in low-wage and often precarious jobs helping us weather the current storm.
https://www.thespec.com/opinion/contributors/2020/04/05/doug-ford-would-like-us-to-forget-his-cuts-to-sick-days-for-precarious-workers.html
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2020: Toronto recalls faulty face masks as Canada works to secure more supplies. APR. 7TH.
Toronto is recalling more than 60,000 faulty surgical masks, made in China and provided to staff at long-term care facilities, and investigating whether caregivers were exposed to COVID-19 while wearing the equipment.
The masks were distributed to the facilities more than a week ago and are being recalled after reports of ripping and tearing, the city announced Tuesday. The incident highlights one of the concerns Ottawa is trying to guard against as governments at all levels scramble to secure vital protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Around the world countries have been dealing with defective equipment, including Spain, the Netherlands, Czech Republic and Turkey.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-toronto-recalls-faulty-face-masks-as-canada-works-to-secure-more/
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2013: Doug Ford defends himself after handing out $20 bills to constituents
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/doug-ford-defends-himself-after-handing-out-20-bills-to-constituents/article15920479/
https://youtu.be/2ckIcOiJyH4
https://nationalpost.com/news/toronto/doug-ford-hands-out-20-bills-to-public-housing-residents-accused-of-vote-buying
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/doug-ford-sorry-for-handing-out-cash-will-stick-to-gift-cards-1.2461797
https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2013/12/12/video_shows_councillor_doug_ford_handing_out_20_bills_at_tchc_building.html
https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/12/12/doug-ford-20-bills-public-housing-video_n_4433880.html
https://torontolife.com/city/toronto-politics/doug-ford-hands-out-cash/
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Cleaning and Disinfection for Households.
Interim Recommendations for U.S. Households with Suspected or Confirmed Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
Summary of Recent Changes.
Revisions were made on 3/26/2020 to reflect the following:
Updated links to EPA-registered disinfectant list
Added guidance for disinfection of electronics
Updated core disinfection/cleaning guidance
Background
There is much to learn about the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Based on what is currently known about COVID-19, spread from person-to-person of this virus happens most frequently among close contacts (within about 6 feet). This type of transmission occurs via respiratory droplets. On the other hand, transmission of novel coronavirus to persons from surfaces contaminated with the virus has not been documented. Recent studies indicate that people who are infected but do not have symptoms likely also play a role in the spread of COVID-19. Transmission of coronavirus occurs much more commonly through respiratory droplets than through fomites. Current evidence suggests that SARS-CoV-2 may remain viable for hours to days on surfaces made from a variety of materials. Cleaning of visibly dirty surfaces followed by disinfection is a best practice measure for prevention of COVID-19 and other viral respiratory illnesses in households and community settings.
It is unknown how long the air inside a room occupied by someone with confirmed COVID-19 remains potentially infectious. Facilities will need to consider factors such as the size of the room and the ventilation system design (including flowrate [air changes per hour] and location of supply and exhaust vents) when deciding how long to close off rooms or areas used by ill persons before beginning disinfection. Taking measures to improve ventilation in an area or room where someone was ill or suspected to be ill with COVID-19 will help shorten the time it takes respiratory droplets to be removed from the air.
Purpose
This guidance provides recommendations on the cleaning and disinfection of households where persons under investigation (PUI) or those with confirmed COVID-19 reside or may be in self- isolation. It is aimed at limiting the survival of the virus in the environments. These recommendations will be updated if additional information becomes available.
These guidelines are focused on household settings and are meant for the general public.
Cleaning refers to the removal of germs, dirt, and impurities from surfaces. It does not kill germs, but by removing them, it lowers their numbers and the risk of spreading infection.
Disinfecting refers to using chemicals, for example, EPA-registered disinfectants, to kill germs on surfaces. This process does not necessarily clean dirty surfaces or remove germs, but by killing germs on a surface after cleaning, it can further lower the risk of spreading infection.
General Recommendations for Routine Cleaning and Disinfection of Households
Community members can practice routine cleaning of frequently touched surfaces (for example: tables, doorknobs, light switches, handles, desks, toilets, faucets, sinks, and electronics (see below for special electronics cleaning and disinfection instructions)) with household cleaners and EPA-registered disinfectants external icon that are appropriate for the surface, following label instructions. Labels contain instructions for safe and effective use of the cleaning product including precautions you should take when applying the product, such as wearing gloves and making sure you have good ventilation during use of the product.
For electronics follow the manufacturer’s instructions for all cleaning and disinfection products. Consider use of wipeable covers for electronics. If no manufacturer guidance is available, consider the use of alcohol-based wipes or spray containing at least 70% alcohol to disinfect touch screens. Dry surfaces thoroughly to avoid pooling of liquids.
General Recommendations for Cleaning and Disinfection of Households with People Isolated in Home Care (e.g. Suspected/Confirmed to have COVID-19)
Household members should educate themselves about COVID-19 symptoms and preventing the spread of COVID-19 in homes.
Clean and disinfect high-touch surfaces daily in household common areas (e.g. tables, hard-backed chairs, doorknobs, light switches, phones, tablets, touch screens, remote controls, keyboards, handles, desks, toilets, sinks)
In the bedroom/bathroom dedicated for an ill person: consider reducing cleaning frequency to as-needed (e.g., soiled items and surfaces) to avoid unnecessary contact with the ill person.
As much as possible, an ill person should stay in a specific room and away from other people in their home, following home care guidance.
The caregiver can provide personal cleaning supplies for an ill person’s room and bathroom, unless the room is occupied by child or another person for whom such supplies would not be appropriate. These supplies include tissues, paper towels, cleaners and EPA-registered disinfectants (see examplesexternal icon).
If a separate bathroom is not available, the bathroom should be cleaned and disinfected after each use by an ill person. If this is not possible, the caregiver should wait as long as practical after use by an ill person to clean and disinfect the high-touch surfaces.
Household members should follow home care guidance when interacting with persons with suspected/confirmed COVID-19 and their isolation rooms/bathrooms.
How to clean and disinfect:
Hard (Non-porous) Surfaces
Wear disposable gloves when cleaning and disinfecting surfaces. Gloves should be discarded after each cleaning. If reusable gloves are used, those gloves should be dedicated for cleaning and disinfection of surfaces for COVID-19 and should not be used for other purposes. Consult the manufacturer’s instructions for cleaning and disinfection products used. Clean hands immediately after gloves are removed.
If surfaces are dirty, they should be cleaned using a detergent or soap and water prior to disinfection.
For disinfection, most common EPA-registered household disinfectants should be effective.
A list of products that are EPA-approved for use against the virus that causes COVID-19 is available here pdf icon external icon. Follow manufacturer’s instructions for all cleaning and disinfection products for (concentration, application method and contact time, etc.).
Additionally, diluted household bleach solutions (at least 1000ppm sodium hypochlorite) can be used if appropriate for the surface. Follow manufacturer’s instructions for application, ensuring a contact time of at least 1 minute, and allowing proper ventilation during and after application. Check to ensure the product is not past its expiration date. Never mix household bleach with ammonia or any other cleanser. Unexpired household bleach will be effective against coronaviruses when properly diluted.
Prepare a bleach solution by mixing:
5 tablespoons (1/3rd cup) bleach per gallon of water or
4 teaspoons bleach per quart of water
Soft (Porous) Surfaces
For soft (porous) surfaces such as carpeted floor, rugs, and drapes, remove visible contamination if present and clean with appropriate cleaners indicated for use on these surfaces. After cleaning:
Launder items as appropriate in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. If possible, launder items using the warmest appropriate water setting for the items and dry items completely.
Otherwise, use products that are EPA-approved for use against the virus that causes COVID-19pdf iconexternal icon and that are suitable for porous surfaces.
Electronics
For electronics such as cell phones, tablets, touch screens, remote controls, and keyboards, remove visible contamination if present.
Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for all cleaning and disinfection products.
Consider use of wipeable covers for electronics.
If no manufacturer guidance is available, consider the use of alcohol-based wipes or sprays containing at least 70% alcohol to disinfect touch screens. Dry surfaces thoroughly to avoid pooling of liquids.
Linens, clothing, and other items that go in the laundry
Wear disposable gloves when handling dirty laundry from an ill person and then discard after each use. If using reusable gloves, those gloves should be dedicated for cleaning and disinfection of surfaces for COVID-19 and should not be used for other household purposes. Clean hands immediately after gloves are removed.
If no gloves are used when handling dirty laundry, be sure to wash hands afterwards.
If possible, do not shake dirty laundry. This will minimize the possibility of dispersing virus through the air.
Launder items as appropriate in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. If possible, launder items using the warmest appropriate water setting for the items and dry items completely. Dirty laundry from an ill person can be washed with other people’s items.
Clean and disinfect clothes hampers according to guidance above for surfaces. If possible, consider placing a bag liner that is either disposable (can be thrown away) or can be laundered.
Hand hygiene and other preventive measures
Household members should clean hands often, including immediately after removing gloves and after contact with an ill person, by washing hands with soap and water for 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available and hands are not visibly dirty, an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol may be used. However, if hands are visibly dirty, always wash hands with soap and water.
Household members should follow normal preventive actions while at work and home including recommended hand hygiene and avoiding touching eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands.
Additional key times to clean hands include:
After blowing one’s nose, coughing, or sneezing
After using the restroom
Before eating or preparing food
After contact with animals or pets
Before and after providing routine care for another person who needs assistance (e.g. a child)
Other considerations
The ill person should eat/be fed in their room if possible. Non-disposable food service items used should be handled with gloves and washed with hot water or in a dishwasher. Clean hands after handling used food service items.
If possible, dedicate a lined trash can for the ill person. Use gloves when removing garbage bags, handling, and disposing of trash. Wash hands after handling or disposing of trash.
Consider consulting with your local health department about trash disposal guidance if available.
Additional Resources
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/cleaning-disinfection.html
:::
Dr. Tam’s about-face on masks damages trust at a crucial time.
Last week, Canada’s top doctor said that if we’re not sick, or haven’t been around someone with a confirmed case of COVID-19, we shouldn’t wear a mask. “Putting a mask on an asymptomatic person is not beneficial, obviously if you’re not infected,” she said.
This week, Dr. Theresa Tam did a complete about-face: actually, the use of non-medical masks can help to control the spread of COVID-19, she said. “Wearing a non-medical mask, even if you have no symptoms, is an additional measure that you can take to protect others around you in situations where physical distancing is difficult to maintain, such as in public transit or maybe in the grocery store.”
In normal times, a week is not a long time for a public health official to totally reverse a previous policy recommendation. But when the world is in the midst of a deadly pandemic, when a cough from one unknowingly infected person can lead to exponential numbers of infections, a week is a painfully long time.
Countless Canadians have been taking transit, working essential jobs or stopping into stores for necessary food and medicine – all with their mouths and noses uncovered, heeding what was then the advice of Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer. There’s no way of knowing how much virus was shed during that time.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-dr-tams-about-face-on-masks-damages-trust-at-a-crucial-time/
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Dr. Tam finally says wearing mask 'reduces chances' of spreading coronavirus.
Dr. Theresa Tam said that the COVID task force came to the consensus that wearing a mask can reduce the chance of spreading the disease to others.
The announcement comes after weeks of debate surrounding masks and their effectiveness. Tam said on Friday that non-medical masks could reduce the chance of droplets landing on surfaces, further spreading the disease.
https://www.thepostmillennial.com/dr-tam-finally-says-wearing-mask-reduces-chances-of-spreading-coronavirus
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Covid-19: How long does the coronavirus last on surfaces?
We can pick up the Covid-19 by touching surfaces contaminated with the new coronavirus, but it is only just becoming clear how long the virus can survive outside the human body.
As Covid-19 has spread, so has our fear of surfaces. There are now some familiar scenes in public places around the world – people trying to open doors with their elbows, commuters studiously surfing their way through train journeys to avoid grabbing a handle, office workers rubbing down their desks each morning.
In the areas worst hit by the new coronavirus, teams of workers in protective clothing have been dispatched to spray a fog of disinfectant in plazas, parks and public streets. Cleaning regimes in offices, hospitals, shops and restaurants have been increased. In some cities, well-meaning volunteers even venture out at night to scrub the keypads of cash machines.
Like many respiratory viruses, including flu, Covid-19 can be spread in tiny droplets released from the nose and mouth of an infected person as they cough. A single cough can produce up to 3,000 droplets. These particles can land on other people, clothing and surfaces around them, but some of the smaller particles can remain in the air. There is also some evidence that the virus is also shed for longer in faecal matter, so anyone not washing their hands thoroughly after visiting the toilet could contaminate anything they touch.
It is worth noting that, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, touching a surface or object with the virus and then touching one's own face "is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads". Even so, the CDC, the World Health Organization and others health authorities, have emphasised that both washing one's hands and cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched surfaces daily are key in preventing Covid-19's spread. So although we still don't know exactly how many cases are being caused directly by contaminated surfaces, experts advise exercising caution.
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https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200304-coronavirus-covid-19-update-why-people-are-stockpiling
One aspect that has been unclear is exactly how long Sars-CoV-2, the name of the virus that causes the disease Covid-19, can survive outside the human body. Some studies on other coronaviruses, including Sars and Mers, found they can survive on metal, glass and plastic for as long as nine days, unless they are properly disinfected. Some can even hang around for up to 28 days in low temperatures.
Coronaviruses are well known to be particularly resilient in terms of where they can survive. And researchers are now beginning to understand more about how this affects the spread of the new coronavirus. (Read more about the global fight against Covid-19.)
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200317-covid-19-how-long-does-the-coronavirus-last-on-surfaces
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Will hot weather stop Covid-19 from spreading?
Some people hope that outbreaks of the new coronavirus will wane as temperatures rise, but pandemics often don’t behave in the same way as seasonal outbreaks. BBC Future looks at what we know.
Many infectious diseases wax and wane with the seasons. Flu typically arrives with the colder winter months, as does the norovirus vomiting bug. Others, such as typhoid, tend to peak during the summer. Measles cases drop during the summer in temperate climates, while in tropical regions they peak in the dry season.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, many people are now asking whether we can expect similar seasonality with Covid-19. Since it first emerged in China around mid-December, the virus has spread quickly, with the number of cases now rising most sharply in Europe and the US.
Many of the largest outbreaks have been in regions where the weather is cooler, leading to speculation that the disease might begin to tail off with the arrival of summer. Many experts, however, have already cautioned against banking too much on the virus dying down over the summer.
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And they are right to be cautious. The virus that causes Covid-19 – which has been officially named SARS-CoV-2 – is too new to have any firm data on how cases will change with the seasons. The closely related Sars virus that spread in 2003 was contained quickly, meaning there is little information about how it was affected by the seasons.
But there are some clues from other coronaviruses that infect humans as to whether Covid-19 might eventually become seasonal.
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200323-coronavirus-will-hot-weather-kill-covid-19
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Up to 25% of people with COVID-19 may not show symptoms
By Rachael Rettner - Senior Writer.
The data is prompting the CDC to reconsider who should wear face masks.
https://www.livescience.com/coronavirus-asymptomatic-spread.html
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Coronavirus (COVID-19): What patients and families need to know before coming to SickKids. Current as of: April 1, 2020, 4:30 p.m.
SickKids is closely monitoring the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) situation. Please check this page often for the latest updates on clinical services, access to the hospital, and how we are keeping our patients, families and staff safe. Families, friends and members of the public: please avoid coming to SickKids if your presence is not essential to the care of a patient who is currently at the hospital.
http://www.sickkids.ca/skmobile/infection--prevention-and-control/index.html
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Most Kids Only Get Mildly Sick From Covid-19—but Not All.
New studies suggest that children still fare better than adults. But babies, toddlers, and kids with other conditions remain at risk.
https://www.wired.com/story/most-kids-only-get-mildly-sick-from-covid-19-but-not-all/
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Scientists seek reason why coronavirus has less impact on children.
In Sars also, the young were susceptible to infection but their illnesses were milder.
The children of China provided the first clue that Covid-19 does not spread its ill-effects equitably across the generations. The young, except those with underlying health conditions, appear to be escaping the worst of this pandemic.
One early study showed that, of more than 700 children known to have close contact with a confirmed case or to live in a recently affected household, only 10 tested positive. Of those children, all under 15 years old, none needed respiratory support or intensive care. A study in the journal Paediatrics, released early and subject to revision, noted one death in more than 2,000 confirmed and suspected child cases.
Now attention is turning to the scientific reasons for the age discrepancy. One UK academic hopes to start a study into whether young lungs lack an appropriate “lock” that can be picked by the virus to gain entry into the body’s respiratory machinery.
Covid-19 is not the first coronavirus disease to home in on older people: age was also a risk factor in the 2002-03 Sars epidemic. While children and adolescents seemed susceptible to infection, showing symptoms such as fever, cough and vomiting, their illnesses tended to be milder and shorter with, as one paper asserts, no child deaths.
In order to infect an animal or a person, a virus must hijack cell machinery so it can start replicating. That means finding an entry point into cells in the first place. The coronaviruses that cause Sars and Covid-19 share an important feature: they use the same “keyhole” to enter cells, called the ACE2 receptor. The receptors are primed to latch on to the ACE2 protein, which helps to regulate heart and kidney function as well as lung development (remdesivir, a Sars antiviral that targets ACE2 receptors, is being trialled as a Covid-19 treatment).
Calum Semple, professor of child health and outbreak medicine at Liverpool University, theorises that ACE2 receptors in children’s lungs provide a poor fit for this viral key: “We know that lung development doesn’t finish until the teenage years. My hypothesis, and it is just that, is that ACE2 is highly regulated in lung development. Because of this regulation, the ‘lock’ might be expressed differently in kids’ lungs.”
These cellular locks might also look different in children’s upper and lower airways, and explain why they become infected — and able to transmit Covid-19 — but do not show the same progression to severe symptoms. The virus can only descend so far before being barred.
Prof Semple, who heads the UK’s clinical studies response to emerging infections, has recruited more than 2,500 adult and child Covid-19 patients to test this hypothesis, among others. Studies will also examine other crucial aspects of the pandemic: which treatments work best; why people with underlying health conditions fare poorly; and why men outnumber women in Covid-19 hospital admissions.
Other researchers suggest children may enjoy some immunity to Covid-19 via cross-exposure to other coronaviruses associated with common colds. Prof Semple disagrees, saying in that case babies, with no prior immunity, would be especially at risk of severe illness, as they are with influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV puts an estimated 3m under-fives in hospital annually). That is not borne out clinically.
While babies and children are not succumbing to the same degree as adults, it is a mistake to think they are invincible. The Paediatrics study noted that nearly 6 per cent of child patients in China became severely or critically ill, despite only one death being recorded. The US has reported the first death of an infant with Covid-19, although the exact cause of death has not been confirmed.
Even if they are rarely victims, children are still generous spreaders. While so much remains unknown about Covid-19, particularly long-term health outcomes, the precautionary principle should continue to govern our response.
https://www.ft.com/content/2d616ea0-7281-11ea-90ce-5fb6c07a27f2
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As Virus Reaches War Zones, UN Chief Calls for Global Cease-Fire
Guterres says ‘it is time to put armed conflict on lockdown’
He cites infections now being reported in Syria and Gaza
We’re tracking the latest on the coronavirus outbreak and the global response. Sign up here for our daily newsletter on what you need to know.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the spread of the coronavirus demands a global cease-fire in war zones so nations can focus on the pandemic as their true enemy.
With infections now reported in Syria and Gaza, Guterres said that weak health-care systems mean civilian populations face the “highest risk of suffering devastating losses.” Refugees and others displaced by violent conflict are “doubly vulnerable,” he said, calling for “an immediate global cease-fire in all corners of the world.”
“It is time to put armed conflict on lockdown and focus together on the true fight of our lives,” he told reporters on Monday.
Millions of civilians in crowded refugee camps from Syria to Yemen to Myanmar lack basic requirements deployed in richer countries to fight the spread of the epidemic, from clean water and soap to enough space to keep a safe distance from one another. The UN is seeking $2 billion from wealthier countries as part of a global humanitarian plan to help poor countries combat the virus, he added.
While wealthy countries are trying to develop stimulus plans to buttress their healthcare systems and economies as global equity markets sink, Guterres said coordination is needed so that “not only the developed countries can respond effectively to the disease but that there is massive support to the developing world not to let the disease spread like wildfire in the developing world.”
He said an aid package will need to keep households and businesses in poorer countries afloat “and this will require a double‑digit GDP support in the developed world” and the “creation of new facilities” through the IMF to enable swaps among central banks.
By David Wainer. March 23, 2020, 12:20 PM EDT Updated on March 23, 2020, 4:32 PM EDT.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-23/as-virus-reaches-war-zones-un-chief-calls-for-global-cease-fire
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4453666/The-world-war-Interactive-map-reveals-conflicts.html
https://towardsdatascience.com/cord-19-the-data-science-response-to-covid-19-46d57ab811f3
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2020: WASHINGTON — President Trump on Wednesday defended his increasingly frequent practice of calling the coronavirus the “Chinese Virus,” ignoring a growing chorus of criticism that it is racist and anti-Chinese.
“It’s not racist at all,” Mr. Trump said, explaining his rationale. “It comes from China, that’s why.”
But the term has angered Chinese officials and a wide range of critics, and China experts say labeling the virus that way will only ratchet up tensions between the two countries, while resulting in the kind of xenophobia that American leaders should discourage. Asian-Americans have reported incidents of racial slurs and physical abuse because of the erroneous perception that China is the cause of the virus.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075005/
“The use of this term is not only corrosive vis-à-vis a global audience, including here at home, it is also fueling a narrative in China about a broader American hatred and fear of not just the Chinese Communist Party but of China and Chinese people in general,” said Scott Kennedy, a China expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/18/us/politics/china-virus.html
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Secret History - Killer Flu In The US.
The 1918 influenza pandemic was the most severe pandemic in recent history. It was caused by an H1N1 virus with genes of avian origin. Although there is not universal consensus regarding where the virus originated, it spread worldwide during 1918-1919. In the United States, it was first identified in military personnel in spring 1918. It is estimated that about 500 million people or one-third of the world’s population became infected with this virus. The number of deaths was estimated to be at least 50 million worldwide with about 675,000 occurring in the United States.
https://youtu.be/-UVtlm6BQf0
Mortality was high in people younger than 5 years old, 20-40 years old, and 65 years and older. The high mortality in healthy people, including those in the 20-40 year age group, was a unique feature of this pandemic. While the 1918 H1N1 virus has been synthesized and evaluated, the properties that made it so devastating are not well understood. With no vaccine to protect against influenza infection and no antibiotics to treat secondary bacterial infections that can be associated with influenza infections, control efforts worldwide were limited to non-pharmaceutical interventions such as isolation, quarantine, good personal hygiene, use of disinfectants, and limitations of public gatherings, which were applied unevenly.
Discovering a lost killer: The 100-year anniversary of the 1918 pandemic and the 10-year anniversary of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic are milestones that provide an opportunity to reflect on the groundbreaking work that led to the discovery, sequencing and reconstruction of the 1918 pandemic flu virus. This collaborative effort advanced understanding of the deadliest flu pandemic in modern history and has helped the global public health community prepare for contemporary pandemics, such as 2009 H1N1, as well as future pandemic threats. The 1918 H1N1 flu pandemic, sometimes referred to as the “Spanish flu,” killed an estimated 50 million people worldwide, including an estimated 675,000 people in the United States.1,2,3,4 An unusual characteristic of this virus was the high death rate it caused among healthy adults 15 to 34 years of age.3 The pandemic lowered the average life expectancy in the United States by more than 12 years.3 A comparable death rate has not been observed during any of the known flu seasons or pandemics that have occurred either prior to or following the 1918 pandemic. The virus’ unique severity puzzled researchers for decades, and prompted several questions, such as “Why was the 1918 virus so deadly?”, “Where did the virus originate from?”, and “What can the public health community learn from the 1918 virus to better prepare for and defend against future pandemics?” These questions drove an expert group of researchers and virus hunters to search for the lost 1918 virus, sequence its genome, recreate the virus in a highly safe and regulated laboratory setting at CDC, and ultimately study its secrets to better prepare for future pandemics. The following is a historical recounting of these efforts, complete with references and descriptions of the contributions made by all of the remarkable men and women involved. For decades, the 1918 virus was lost to history, a relic of a time when the understanding of infectious pathogens and the tools to study them were still in their infancy. Following the 1918 pandemic, generations of scientists and public health experts were left with only the epidemiological evidence of the 1918 pandemic virus’ lethality and the deleterious impact it had on global populations. A small ocean-side village in Alaska called Brevig Mission would become both testament to this deadly legacy as well as crucial to the 1918 virus’ eventual discovery. Today, fewer than 400 people live in Brevig Mission, but in the fall of 1918, around 80 adults lived there, mostly Inuit Natives. While different narratives exist as to how the 1918 virus came to reach the small village – whether by traders from a nearby city who traveled via dog-pulled sleds or even by a local mail delivery person – its impact on the village’s population is well documented. During the five-day period from November 15-20, 1918, the 1918 pandemic claimed the lives of 72 of the villages’ 80 adult inhabitants. Later, at the order of the local government, a mass grave site marked only by small white crosses was created on a hill beside the village – a grim monument to a community all but erased from existence. The grave was frozen in permafrost and left untouched until 1951. That year, Johan Hultin, a 25-year-old Swedish microbiologist and Ph.D. student at the University of Iowa, set out on an expedition to Brevig Mission in the hopes of finding the 1918 virus and in the process unearth new insights and answers. Hultin believed that within that preserved burial ground he might still find traces of the 1918 virus itself, frozen in time within the tissues of the villagers whose lives it had claimed. In 1951, Hultin successfully obtained permission from the village elders to excavate the Brevig Mission burial site. With the help of several of his university colleagues, Hultin set up a dig site over the grave. The excavation took days, as Hultin had to create campfires to thaw the earth enough to allow for digging. Two days in, Hultin came across the body of a little girl — her body was still preserved wearing a blue dress, and her hair was adorned with red ribbons5. Ultimately, Hultin successfully obtained lung tissue from four additional bodies buried at the site, but logistical and technological limitations of the time period would prove formidable.
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/reconstruction-1918-virus.html
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