11,627 km. That’s the distance from my house in Peel to Delhi, India.

India is in a COVID-19 crisis. South Asian-Canadians are weeping from afar, but also seeing devastating parallels for our people in Ontario

#InTheirOwnVoices by @SabiVM
thestar.com/opinion/contri…
It's been extremely difficult as a first generation Canadian born in India. I watch the devastation occurring in my hometown, and can’t help but see the parallels happening here in Ontario within the South Asian community, she writes. thestar.com/opinion/contri…
"On March 23, India had 40,000 COVID-19 cases. Fastforward to April 22, that number rose to 330,000. Experts believe these numbers are vastly under-reported. There is simply no healthcare system in the world that has the capacity to sustain such volume."
thestar.com/opinion/contri…
My father, who lives with me, spends his entire day calling each and every one of his family and friends. So many infected, many hospitalized, many searching for hospitals.

She shares an old photo on her wedding day, surrounded by family in India. thestar.com/opinion/contri…
"What hurts my heart even more is knowing that what is occurring to my people in India is also occurring here on Canadian soil. South Asians have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. The pandemic has been deeply inequitable."
thestar.com/opinion/contri…
It really feels like because our skin is brown, our lives mean less. But we didn’t get to choose the colour of skin we were born into our socioeconomic status. We didn’t get to choose the country we were born in.

#InTheirOwnVoices by @SabiVM
thestar.com/opinion/contri…

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Toronto Star

Toronto Star Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @TorontoStar

25 Apr
Brampton continues to be at the epicentre of Ontario’s fight against COVID-19 with area hospitals detecting record-high positivity rates in patients and 1 in 5 people who show up at assessment centres testing positive for the virus.
thestar.com/news/gta/2021/…
“We’re seeing younger people being affected. We’re seeing essential workers who are being affected,” said Dr. Tajinder Kaura, an emergency room physician at Brampton Civic. “Am I surprised? I’m not. Am I worried? Yes. There’s no way around it."
thestar.com/news/gta/2021/…
This comes as Peel's top doctor announced they would be using Section 22 to mandate workplaces with five or more COVID-19 cases to close.

The daughter of one Brampton factory worker who died from the virus says this action is too little, too late.
thestar.com/news/gta/2021/…
Read 6 tweets
25 Apr
#Breaking: Toronto has surpassed 3,000 COVID-19 deaths Saturday, logging in 3,011. “There’s no excuse for us to be in this position,” said Dr. Lisa Salamon-Switzman, an emergency physician who works at Scarborough Health Network.

“This was preventable.” thestar.com/news/gta/2021/…
Salamon-Switzman blames the provincial decision to loosen restrictions in many public health units in February for fuelling the most recent wave of illness that includes the transmissible and virulent variants of the virus.
thestar.com/news/gta/2021/…
13 months, 3,000+ deaths.

A look at the 7-day rolling average of deaths reported each day in Toronto since April 2020.
thestar.com/news/gta/2021/… Image
Read 5 tweets
25 Apr
Students switching back and forth between in-school and online learning due to COVID-19 are struggling and will need significant supports in place to help close learning gaps, say the Canada's leading pediatric experts urging Ontario to start making plans.
thestar.com/politics/provi…
It's not just mental health issues. Experts add academic regression, diminished literacy levels, significant decreases in physical activity and increases in screen time and widening inequities, particularly among racialized children and youth.
thestar.com/politics/provi…
“We are urging your government to look ahead at the crisis to come." Toronto pediatrician Dr. Eddy Lau, a member of the society’s board of directors, said the government’s policy decisions have tended to be “reactive” instead of proactive thestar.com/politics/provi…
Read 5 tweets
25 Apr
"It was wanting to have more nature." Many Ontarians are moving to the east coast, driven largely by the chance for a lifestyle change, enabled largely by their ability to work remotely, and attracted by the prospect of housing that's actually affordable. torstar.co/f7rw50Ex7UL
That's why the Blackwell family did in 2019. They swapped their 1,200-square-foot, semi-detached house in the Danforth area — which sold for $1.26 million — for a brand new 3,600-square-foot house on an acre-and-a-half just outside Halifax … for $640,000

torstar.co/f7rw50Ex7UL
“I’ve been a realtor for 17 years and even talking to realtors that have double my time, there’s never been a market like this. Ever,” said realtor David Dunn of the David Dunn Group.

torstar.co/f7rw50Ex7UL
Read 5 tweets
25 Apr
So far, Canada is still struggling to make progress in its fight against COVID-19. But some experts predict there's hope, and the shift in vaccination strategy already underway to target virus hot spots could start to yield gains within four to six weeks. torstar.co/rqlF50Ex6GZ
More than a quarter of Canadians, or 27.6 per cent, have received at least one shot of COVID-19 vaccine. At the beginning of March, the number was less than five per cent. More than 11.3 million doses have now been administered.
torstar.co/rqlF50Ex6GZ
A look at this week in vaccinations at a glance in Canada . torstar.co/rqlF50Ex6GZ Image
Read 6 tweets
25 Apr
After a year working on the front-lines as a nurse, Jenna Heather saw her second COVID-19 vaccine as a “light at the end of the tunnel." Then a month later, she contracted COVID-19.

She's one of a few rare cases of when COVID-19 has a "breakthrough."
torstar.co/zRlR50Ex6qt
What came next was a shock to her system. She suffered from fever, sore throat, runny nose, headaches and nausea for a week. Still, she’s thankful she had some protection from the vaccine.

torstar.co/zRlR50Ex6qt
Scientists say cases like Heather’s — which are rare and normal for any vaccine — are a lesson for Canadians to stay diligent and follow public health measures until most of the population has been jabbed. torstar.co/zRlR50Ex6qt
Read 5 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!