COVID-19 : How it could impact Lions/CFL

[Hambone]

Novel concept for a novel coronavirus David. Unfortunately some of the same problems that make it difficult, if not impossible, to have CFL games and other sporting events in Canada also exist in many other countries.

Australia has restricted all but Aussie citizens, residents and immediate family from travelling into Oz. There are some exceptions for some Kiwis and people who have to transit through Australia to get to some of the south Pacific island nations. If he had a contract Josh Bartel could play but he'd have to play by himself. The AFL did attempt to start their regular season 4 weeks ago with games but no fans. They ditched that and shut it down after the first week. I contacted my cousin who is a police officer in Melbourne the other day. Sounds like they are locked down pretty much the same as Canada. His wife who works in a law office downtown is working from home. His commute into his downtown offices is a breeze but all the pubs, restaurants and a lot of retail are closed.

Mexico is much more relaxed currently. Direct flights from Canada have stopped but looks like one can still fly there via the US. I don't know what restrictions they impose such as 14 day self-quarantining once a person lands there. However if the CFL is acting with the safety of their players and staff in mind would they want to send their players to a place like Mexico City with 25 million people with relatively minimal social distancing guidelines beyond "wear a mask"? Mexico so far seems to be "we don't have a problem yet but will do what we need to do if something happens" which is kind of like saying "The horse is in the barn and the barn door is wide open. If the horse gets out we're fully prepared to close the barn door behind him."

[Gridiron Ernie]

I'm not saying Mexico doesn't have that lackadaisical attitude, as I don't know, but we all agree they certainly should not! That great website that David linked to (with the worldwide, country-by-country counts) has Mexico currently within the top 40. And their number of today's new cases is near 350. Even if one can go, it doesn't seem like a safe place to go IMO, given things will only get worse there, and perhaps quite suddenly. A dear friend of the family flew back from Mexico and developed COVID-19 within hours upon arrival home in early-to-mid March and is now still in a medically induced coma, for the past week and counting, after being initially just on ventilator. There's nothing inviting about Mexico IMO.

[Hambone]

I'm not saying Mexico doesn't have that lackadaisical attitude, as I don't know, but we all agree they certainly should not! That great website that David linked to (with the worldwide, country-by-country counts) has Mexico currently within the top 40. And their number of today's new cases is near 350. Even if one can go, it doesn't seem like a safe place to go IMO, given things will only get worse there, and perhaps quite suddenly. A dear friend of the family flew back from Mexico and developed COVID-19 within hours upon arrival home in early-to-mid March and is now still in a medically induced coma, for the past week and counting, after being initially just on ventilator. There's nothing inviting about Mexico IMO.

Best thoughts to your friend Ernie.

I don't think Mexico can even know if they have a problem. BTW thanks for that link David. I hadn't looked at until now. Canada has tested at a pace of nearly 10000/million according to that website and premiers are rightfully crying that we aren't testing enough of fast enough to really know where we stand.. Mexico with a population 3 times that of Canada is testing at 200/million. Clicking on Mexico on that table and the numbers inside indicate they had 1378 cases and 37 deaths up until this time last week and have added 1803 cases and 137 deaths since then. It's looking like that nasty rocketing upwards curve on the graph most countries have been hit with may just now be hitting Mexico.

[David]

Yes, I was absolutely just spitballing Mexico and made the comment that their testing was actually very low (so that in itself is a red-flag).

Still, I like the site in that you can parse the data in many different ways by clicking on the column that interests you. You can create rankings. It's also a sobering reminder of how pervasive this virus is and I am now hearing that it will probably do max damage in the southern hemisphere this summer and possibly boomerang back up to us in time for the traditional flu season next winter. So scrap the idea about Australia! Haha, probably Mexico too!


DH

[KnowItAll]

could we see the end of post game hand shakes?

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/world/fa ... spartanntp

never did like shaking hands.

This guy should be the next president.

[Gridiron Ernie]

Yes, I was absolutely just spitballing Mexico and made the comment that their testing was actually very low (so that in itself is a red-flag).

Still, I like the site in that you can parse the data in many different ways by clicking on the column that interests you. You can create rankings. It's also a sobering reminder of how pervasive this virus is and I am now hearing that it will probably do max damage in the southern hemisphere this summer and possibly boomerang back up to us in time for the traditional flu season next winter. So scrap the idea about Australia! Haha, probably Mexico too!


DH

First, thanks Hambone for the kind thoughts. Appreciated. There's a direct Lions fan connection too, in that he and his wife are both longtime season ticket holders. I understand from the friend's son that after a patient's period of induced coma and/or ventilator (usually a minimum of a couple weeks) the recovery period is potentially not weeks but months long. It's an anticipated long haul for those folks, if in fact they survive at all. And I don't mean to sound pessimistic, only realistic. And I thank you, David, for drawing attention to that website -- it's so comprehensive and multifaceted. And exactly as you say, it's a "sobering reminder of how pervasive this virus is". It offers a staggering overview, and it hammers home the facts, blow by blow. Wishing everyone well. Keep safe while you enjoy these beautiful spring days. There's always much to be thankful for, for the simple things in life, and for the concerted efforts of our front-line workers and political leaders.

[Toppy Vann]

We have to be happy with how it's working its way thru British Columbia if the key stats that the experts and researchers focus on are meaningful.

They're saying hospitalization rates, ICU patients and deaths are more important than the actual number of cases.

We're extremely lucky that our kid's spring break was not early March as Quebec.

[DanoT]

We have to be happy with how it's working its way thru British Columbia if the key stats that the experts and researchers focus on are meaningful.

They're saying hospitalization rates, ICU patients and deaths are more important than the actual number of cases.

We're extremely lucky that our kid's spring break was not early March as Quebec.

The reason that actual cases is not a useful stat is because they are hardly testing anyone due to a lack of testing kits so they really have no idea how many people in B.C. are currently infected.

A friend in Kamloops saw his doctor a few days before his doctor tested positive. My friend was contacted by the health authorities but not tested because he did not show symptoms. Now that he is showing symptoms after 18 days and after he went back to work at the liquor store 17 days after exposure, they are now telling him that they are only testing hospital workers.

The health authorities do NOT have a handle on this disease mostly due to lack of testing and their stupidity. Anyone who had contact with a positive tested patient and then does show symptoms, if test kits are rare, then that person should be assumed to have the virus. It is the people who show no symptoms after exposure are the ones who might be carriers and therefore should be tested but this is not what is happening.

My friend in Kamloops who had exposure and is now showing symptoms, now tells me that they are now only testing hospital workers, not food or liquor store workers.

[South Pender]

I think many couples are struggling with newly discovered issues: feelings of confinement and lack of boundaries, disruption to routine, division of labour issues, and of course the inherent stressors and anxiety of losing one's job, the unknowns of the virus etc.
DH

...and all that can lead to this :

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/08/us/toile ... index.html

[KnowItAll]

I probably don't need to say this but

I really hate domestic violence and do not accept this isolation issue to be an excuse.

[DanoT]

I probably don't need to say this but

I really hate domestic violence and do accept this isolation issue to be an excuse.

Don't you mean that you do NOT accept isolation as an excuse for domestic violence?

[KnowItAll]

I probably don't need to say this but

I really hate domestic violence and do accept this isolation issue to be an excuse.

Don't you mean that you do NOT accept isolation as an excuse for domestic violence?

yes. of course.

Thanks for pointing it out

[Toppy Vann]

We have to be happy with how it's working its way thru British Columbia if the key stats that the experts and researchers focus on are meaningful.

They're saying hospitalization rates, ICU patients and deaths are more important than the actual number of cases.

We're extremely lucky that our kid's spring break was not early March as Quebec.

The reason that actual cases is not a useful stat is because they are hardly testing anyone due to a lack of testing kits so they really have no idea how many people in B.C. are currently infected.

A friend in Kamloops saw his doctor a few days before his doctor tested positive. My friend was contacted by the health authorities but not tested because he did not show symptoms. Now that he is showing symptoms after 18 days and after he went back to work at the liquor store 17 days after exposure, they are now telling him that they are only testing hospital workers.

The health authorities do NOT have a handle on this disease mostly due to lack of testing and their stupidity. Anyone who had contact with a positive tested patient and then does show symptoms, if test kits are rare, then that person should be assumed to have the virus. It is the people who show no symptoms after exposure are the ones who might be carriers and therefore should be tested but this is not what is happening.

My friend in Kamloops who had exposure and is now showing symptoms, now tells me that they are now only testing hospital workers, not food or liquor store workers.

First off we don't have the capacity to mass test and cutting this off and flattening the trajectory was exactly the right tactics for health and gov'ts to employ.

Secondly the low number of positive tests suggest mass testing early on versus targeting the right population/people was not the right answer.

There are always stories out there that happen as with your friends but the bottom line is that experts are less interested in the stats of how many new cases but focus more on the other critical factors:

> hospitalization rates,

> ICU rates/cases

> deaths.

Canada may have been slow a few fronts but overall we should be proud to be Canadians where politics is not what drives our fed'l and prov'l and territorial goats.

We are getting a calm, clear, concise and consistent message and here in BC it's working in engaging the public to do their part to knock the curve down.

It's just like top coaches in sports in messaging. It's never about the long speeches or new twists in talk it's clear, concise messaging that focuses on the critical things players must do to win. So consistent and clear all the players know what it means when someone says "we have to play our game".

I'm pleased that elected officials of all stripes are singing off the same song sheets.

Even the US media stress breakdowns and breaking down workers whereas in Canada the media stress the heroism and public support. Even media are on team Canada.

[Toppy Vann]

We have to be happy with how it's working its way thru British Columbia if the key stats that the experts and researchers focus on are meaningful.

They're saying hospitalization rates, ICU patients and deaths are more important than the actual number of cases.

We're extremely lucky that our kid's spring break was not early March as Quebec.

The reason that actual cases is not a useful stat is because they are hardly testing anyone due to a lack of testing kits so they really have no idea how many people in B.C. are currently infected.

A friend in Kamloops saw his doctor a few days before his doctor tested positive. My friend was contacted by the health authorities but not tested because he did not show symptoms. Now that he is showing symptoms after 18 days and after he went back to work at the liquor store 17 days after exposure, they are now telling him that they are only testing hospital workers.

The health authorities do NOT have a handle on this disease mostly due to lack of testing and their stupidity. Anyone who had contact with a positive tested patient and then does show symptoms, if test kits are rare, then that person should be assumed to have the virus. It is the people who show no symptoms after exposure are the ones who might be carriers and therefore should be tested but this is not what is happening.

My friend in Kamloops who had exposure and is now showing symptoms, now tells me that they are now only testing hospital workers, not food or liquor store workers.

First off we don't have the capacity to mass test and cutting this off and flattening the trajectory was exactly the right tactics for health and gov'ts to employ.

Secondly the low number of positive tests suggest mass testing early on versus targeting the right population/people was not the right answer.

If a person has a low grade case of it, testing proves nothing.

There are always stories out there that happen as with your friends but the bottom line is that experts are less interested in the stats of how many new cases but focus more on the other critical factors:

> hospitalization rates,

> ICU rates/cases

> deaths.

Canada may have been slow a few fronts but overall we should be proud to be Canadians where politics is not what drives our fed'l and prov'l and territorial goats.

We are getting a calm, clear, concise and consistent message and here in BC it's working in engaging the public to do their part to knock the curve down.

It's just like top coaches in sports in messaging. It's never about the long speeches or new twists in talk it's clear, concise messaging that focuses on the critical things players must do to win. So consistent and clear all the players know what it means when someone says "we have to play our game".

I'm pleased that elected officials of all stripes are singing off the same song sheets.

Even the US media stress breakdowns and breaking down workers whereas in Canada the media stress the heroism and public support. Even media are on team Canada.

[maxlion]

Our provincial leadership has presented a somewhat unified response to the crisis, and has effectively mitigated the impacts on the health care system to this point. However, our economy is in total meltdown and there is no coherent strategy to deal with this, other than waiting helplessly for a vaccine.

China, on the other hand, pulled out the problem at its roots, and now its economy is booming. If you want a model for how to deal successfully with this pandemic, look to Asia. Our weak, individualist approach is not a model for anyone to be proud of.