Thread by @BarbLarochelle

Today’s Covid update. After listening to Kenney earlier, how bad can it be? We’ll soon find out.

Dr. Hinshaw is ‘clarifying’ how she directly contradicted what she said yesterday about the one week’s notice for easing restriction. She said March 1 decision and open March 8 yesterday. Now she says the restrictions can be eased the same day.

267 new cases of covid on 6300 tests for 4.4%+
231 schools or 10% have alerts
846 cases in schools since Jan. 11
326 in hospital 51 in ICU
11 new deaths

Dr. Hinshaw wants to talk about stigmatizing people who have caught covid and not make them feel blamed. Even mild symptoms must be encouraged to stay home without shame.

Seniors 75+ can start booking appointments for vaccines tomorrow. She has instructions for what to do.
Need to be born in 1946 or earlier. You are eligible if you will turn 75 this year.

Seniors who live independently can book online through AHS or on HealthLink, starting tomorrow. Be patient because there will be enormous demand. It will take weeks to book the appointments (this means site will likely crash?)

New appointments will be made available as doses arrive. They expect all seniors will get doses by the end of March. ALL immunization are done by appointment rather than walk-ins. There will be 58 sites where you can book, and you will have confirmed date and time for both shots.

They will be 7 days a week, including weekends. 8:20 a.m.-3:40 p.m. and they will extend hours as more doses arrive.

Family members can book on behalf of their loved ones. Seniors will need photo ID and AHC cards to confirm age. Family members can bring seniors to appointments or seniors can call 211 if they need help getting there.

CTV reporter asks about the 58 sites across the province. What kind of sites? (What types of buildings?) She doesn’t really answer this. Pharmacies & doctors’ offices will be added later. (One wonders-Did this reporter get to go first so he can’t press for unanswered questions?)

Someone follows up the first question. When will doctors get vaccines? She has no date for that. They have to check to make sure they have the specialized storage (freezers). Couldn’t they have done that while we were waiting?

CTV reporter asks about 3 highest active covid rates that are in all in rural areas. Why is that and what is being done to address it? Dr. Hinshaw says it’s ‘concerning’! She doesn’t want to speculate why ( I wonder why not? I have a speculation on that!)

Global reporter asks about the Step 2 reopening plans and confusion. Why are there no details? Why no advance notice? Dr. Hinshaw says no decisions have been made about what will reopen and when. She says decision March 1. Actual opening maybe that day, maybe later.

What has been done to mitigate the (inevitable) technical issues that will happen tomorrow morning when people try to start booking? They have tested it. You might get put on hold with a timer to show how long you will have to wait to get through. Gong show alert!

Last question is about Step 2 opening again. Is staying at about the same number of cases per day all this week a good indicator? The R=0 has increased over the past few days and so has the positivity rate on tests, so it’s not just hospitalization and new cases.