Read on Twitter
Been thinking about the government's expanded "lockdown" and school return delays all weekend. The thing that comes back to me, again, is the Ontario's total failure to use asymptomatic testing in high-risk settings for surveillance.
The epidemiology experts have been absolutely screaming about this from day one of this pandemic, and the government never invested enough into the effort. An example that blew my socks off, incredibly limited school testing
"Asymptomatic testing confirms 19 new COVID-19 cases at Thorncliffe Park Public School" .... this was a pilot project, for "high-risk" areas... https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/thorncliffe-park-public-school-covid-19-testing-1.5821673
What if we had done this at every school, from September? I think we'd find they are all "high risk"
What if we had done this at every school, from September? I think we'd find they are all "high risk"
Every elementary classroom in Ontario turned into a maskless restaurant at lunch, and twice-daily snack. And the idea that kids don't spread COVID is simply untrue, what they are is typically asymptomatic.
And let's not forget the workplaces...
And let's not forget the workplaces...
Even in the "hardest" lockdowns of the spring hundreds, thousdands, of worksites and job locations were open, and no, they weren't all essential to the maintenance of human life. We left construction sites open and there were cases at them, for example.
Did we demand that Amazon test its workers? No,
https://nationalpost.com/news/more-than-400-covid-19-cases-at-amazon-warehouses-in-ontario-amid-concern-about-industrial-spread-of-virus
Did we demand grocery workers get asymptomatic testing? No. We should have. https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/researchers-show-extent-of-covid-19-spread-in-a-grocery-store-1.5169995
https://nationalpost.com/news/more-than-400-covid-19-cases-at-amazon-warehouses-in-ontario-amid-concern-about-industrial-spread-of-virus
Did we demand grocery workers get asymptomatic testing? No. We should have. https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/researchers-show-extent-of-covid-19-spread-in-a-grocery-store-1.5169995
Basically, the lesson we seem not to have learned is that governments either test early and often, and yes that's expensive. Or, they lockdown later and bluntly and broadly and boy howdy does that cost everyone a whole lot more.