coronavirus discussion

[westopher]

There’s no reason not to do absolutely everything at this point. Costs and time are out the window. Testing to mitigate it is probably even more effective than vaccinations in terms of controlling spread. Vaccinations will prevent severity and testing will be very effective in terms of school and other large scale gathering spread prevention.

[Hondaracer]

Originally Posted by westopher

If people with cancer are getting treatments delayed (my grandfather has) or getting sent home from the emergency room and having to come back in an ambulance (my mother has) I’d say it’s already fucking collapsed.

I think the media would do well to tell this type of story when they reference the “collapse” rather than the picture of mad max taking place on the stampede grounds that they currently do

[westopher]

Yeah agreed. And I’m not trying to overstate it. They’re both still alive, but there’s no reason to believe that waiting a couple months extra to start radiation could have been the difference in my grandfather surviving, as it was touch and go if they were going to be able to treat it enough to eradicate it. (It was multiple skin tumours)
There are definitely people that are faring worse. A friend of mine lost his wife to cancer this year and I don’t doubt that the delays in her treatment could have played a role. That’s a lot of people affected in my life, and when you extrapolate that over millions of people that could be a shitload or collateral damage. Especially at this point in our vaccination timeline. The people who just didn’t get around to it are very few and far between and the majority are people who are choosing to have this virus to continue to be catastrophic.

[JDMDreams]

I think it has to do with the over all Canadian attitude of being laid back, we are never leading anything. We just have the wait and see attitude, let's see if the numbers go up, numbers are going up, let's see if the numbers stay up, numbers double, well let's just see if the numbers will fix itself.

We're so damn reactionary, in the last 2 years we've done no prevention, all of the policies are reactionary. Let's see if kids start dying first, o but then we might get false positives. Some false positives or negatives are still better than doing nothing at all and cases continue to rise

O and another thing just look at Alberta, all the ppl who skip quarantine doesn't even get fined. So they are just rewarding those who break the law

[westopher]

They don’t reward them. You don’t get a free tv if you skip quarantine.

[JDMDreams]

Lol I just talked to someone that said they can't find a job cuz most employers in her field will most likely need vaccines. And that she's trying to find one that doesn't. Starvation for you then better take your freedom and rights to the grave.

[6793026]

my grandma is 93 and did not want to get vaccine. Her son / daughters tried to convince her.. NO luck.

I had to drag her ass out and SUPER thankful I was able ot convince her to go get the vacccine. I was SOOOO shocked she got off the car at river rock casino and wnet thru it.

It's an empty place (only 5 people getting vaccines) versus line ups out the door.

So happy my grandma got the vacccine you wouldn' tbelieve

[underscore]

Apparently some places in the US are saying anyone who isn't vaccinated has to switch to an "alternative work plan." The only plan available? Unpaid admin leave. Have fun with that.

Originally Posted by Hondaracer

I don’t think that’s why it hasn’t “collapsed”

The reason it hasn’t is that that doesn’t happen. How can you report all these deaths and attribute them to COVID if they aren’t being treated somewhere?

Why are you assuming everyone is getting treated? Some people are dying in their homes.

[SumAznGuy]

I wonder how much truth there is to this video.

YouTube

It's scary that people to think people will do things with blind faith but then again I guess they can say the same thing about us who go vaccinated.

[Hondaracer]

Bonnie Henry - Keep your thanksgiving small

Bonnie Henry - go to a canucks game with 15,000 other people not wearing masks..

[whitev70r]

^ Yah but one ... no double vaccination required for family gatherings. The other, all 15,000 are double vaccinated.

Big announcement about double vaccinated requirement for travel ... but we knew this was coming.

[JDMDreams]

Woooooo As of Oct. 30, all travellers aged 12 and older taking flights leaving Canadian airports or travelling on VIA Rail and Rocky Mountaineer trains must be fully vaccinated before boarding. Marine passengers on non-essential passenger vessels like cruise ships must also complete the vaccination series before travelling.

"For the vast, vast majority of people, the rules are very simple — to travel, you've got to be vaccinated," Trudeau said.

They are trying to keep the muricans inside Alberta.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/fed...date-1.6201528

[westopher]

I have to LOL at the canucks games. Like does half capacity make a difference? 8000 people in an arena is going to “do it’s part” in comparison to 16000? The rows were still full. My coworker went last night and 30/30 seats around her were full so what does partial capacity really accomplish? I guess you could argue the people waiting in line for food and walking around, but that’s basically Costco on a Sunday.

[Presto]

Privacy breach with a 3rd party vaccine passport app in Alberta.

CBC- Private proof-of-vaccination app Portpass exposed personal information, including the driver's licences, of what could be as many as hundreds of thousands of users by leaving its website unsecured.

On Monday evening, CBC News received a tip that the user profiles on the app's website could be accessed by members of the public.

CBC is not sharing how to access those profiles, in order to protect users' personal information, but has verified that email addresses, names, blood types, phone numbers, birthdays, as well as photos of identification like driver's licences and passports can easily be viewed by reviewing dozens of users' profiles.

The information was not encrypted and could be viewed in plain text.

Earlier in the day, the Calgary-based company's CEO Zakir Hussein had denied the app had verification or security issues and accused those who raised concerns about it of breaking the law.

CBC called Hussein late Monday, and agreed to hold off on publishing an article on the lapse until late Tuesday morning in order to give his team time to lock down the site and protect user information.

The portpassportal.com web app was pulled offline that evening and users of the mobile app were met with "Network error" pop-up messages if they attempted to upload or modify any information.

Hussein said Tuesday morning that the breach only lasted for minutes, and repeated that claim when CBC pointed out it had reviewed the personal information for more than an hour — and it's unknown how long the information was exposed before that tip was received.

"Someone that's out there is trying to destroy us here, and we're trying to build something good for people," he said.

"There's holes, and what I'm realizing is I think there are some things that we need to fix here. And you know, we're trying to play catch-up, I guess, and trying to figure out where these holes are."

The CEO said data has been pulled from the server and his developers are investigating. He said he believes only those who were awaiting verification were affected, a claim CBC was unable to verify.

Hussein has said Portpass has more than 650,000 registered users across Canada.

Security, privacy concerns
Cybersecurity analyst Ritesh Kotak said he was shocked but not surprised to hear users' information was exposed.

"These were exactly the privacy and security concerns I've previously raised when it comes to using third-party apps," Kotak said. "You've gotta ask yourself, 'Where's the data housed? Who has access to it? Is it encrypted?'… If this gets out to the wrong individuals it opens them up to fraud, identity theft and a whole other world of potential issues."

Earlier on Tuesday morning, Hussein spoke with 630 CHED Radio and said the servers were turned off to perform a security audit. He did not mention during that interview that users' personal information had been exposed.

The Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation (CSEC), which owns the NHL's Calgary Flames, had recommended the Calgary-based app as a way for ticket holders to prove their COVID-19 vaccination status to enter the Scotiabank Saddledome arena.

CSEC said Monday in an emailed statement, before the security lapse was discovered, that it's aware of concerns raised about the app and is working with the app's developer. CBC has reached out to CSEC for further comment. On Tuesday, after this article was published, CSEC pulled the recommendation for the app from the Flames' website.

"It seems like these were some really basic things that were missed. I question why the Calgary Flames in the first place said go ahead and use this app … you gotta do your homework," Kotak said.

Sharon Polsky, president of the Privacy and Access Council of Canada, said those who fear their information may have been compromised can notify the Office of the Privacy Commissioner. She said the company should have to answer some hard questions about how long the information was accessible and how many users saw their data exposed.

"Will they conduct a forensic audit? Will they bring in a third-party independent auditor, not just somebody from within their company, to look it over and say, 'Yeah, we had a problem?'" Polsky said.

Hussein said his company will notify the offices of the federal and Alberta privacy commissioners.

The Alberta privacy commissioner's office said in an emailed statement that it has not yet received a report, and said it is contacting Portpass to remind it that if "there is a real risk of significant harm to affected individuals" an incident must be reported to the commissioner and individuals must be notified.

The federal privacy commissioner also said it has not yet received a report, and said it has contacted Portpass to seek further information in order to determine next steps, and that it is in communication with its provincial counterpart.

Alberta does not have an official app
On Sunday, Conrad Yeung, a local web developer, had questioned on social media whether the app was accurately verifying vaccination information and CBC News had contacted the company to ask for a response.

Shortly after CBC contacted the company on Sunday, the app began to experience technical difficulties, but Hussein said the crash was due to an influx of users headed to that night's hockey game, overloading the server.

Alberta currently does not have an official proof-of-vaccination app, and the province's PDF vaccine record has been criticized for being easy to edit.

Kristi, one Portpass user, said she was scared to learn her personal information may be compromised. CBC News agreed not to use her last name in case her information was among those exposed.

She said she only downloaded a private app because the government hasn't yet made one available — a delay that frustrates her.

"It was like a kick in the gut when I got the CBC News alert … I don't know if my information is out there," she said.

Yeung had tested the Portpass app by uploading a photo of an actor as an ID photo, and editing a fake vaccination record to display the actor's name that the app verified as legitimate.

However, earlier on Monday, Hussein had denied that the app validated Yeung's false information, despite it appearing to do so, because he said the fake picture would be a giveaway.

"That's not true. We saw it on the back end and we were watching it.… So even if that user showed up, he wouldn't be able to utilize that picture because that's not him. So you wouldn't be able to get in. Secondly, that QR code, if someone scanned it, it would show that picture again," he said at the time.

Hussein had also said security concerns Yeung had raised about the app were false, and suggested he may contact authorities over his social media posts. He said he wished Yeung and others publicly posting concerns instead had privately reached out to the company.

"Instead he did that maliced behaviour. That, you know, that's not nice," he said.

Yeung said earlier on Monday he had no ill-will toward the company but simply wanted to raise the issues he spotted.

"I was trying to warn, I guess, the general public based on the vulnerabilities that I saw. Because at the end of the day, it's personal information people are submitting," he said.

[Hondaracer]

Originally Posted by westopher

I have to LOL at the canucks games. Like does half capacity make a difference? 8000 people in an arena is going to “do it’s part” in comparison to 16000? The rows were still full. My coworker went last night and 30/30 seats around her were full so what does partial capacity really accomplish? I guess you could argue the people waiting in line for food and walking around, but that’s basically Costco on a Sunday.

Rogers Arena is the only arena in the NHL that isn’t back to full capacity

Every game I’ve watched no one is wearing a mask because, like the wedding I went to, you don’t have to wear one when eating and drinking. Don’t want to wear a mask? Keep a drink in your hand. No one seems to be putting their masks back on in between drinks etc lol. So you’d have to think PHO etc. know this is going to be the case

[Traum]

Originally Posted by Presto

Privacy breach with a 3rd party vaccine passport app in Alberta.

The Big Story podcast did an interview with the CBC Calgary reporter that followed through the whole incident:

https://thebigstorypodcast.ca/2021/1...-was-breached/

I'd 1000% have more faith in believing the reporter than I would with the Portpass CEO. Based on what the reporter has said, it seemed like the whole Portpass thing was very poorly written.

And the reporter claimed that she had reached out to the Portpass CEO before making her story public, but the CEO dude did not return her calls or questions, and mostly only denied the allegations until shxt really hit the fan.

[JDMDreams]

Well what company plus government won't deny until shit hits the fan. Just look at Alberta, still denying you gotta show me more numbers first! Numbers!

[pastarocket]

Originally Posted by westopher

I have to LOL at the canucks games. Like does half capacity make a difference? 8000 people in an arena is going to “do it’s part” in comparison to 16000? The rows were still full. My coworker went last night and 30/30 seats around her were full so what does partial capacity really accomplish? I guess you could argue the people waiting in line for food and walking around, but that’s basically Costco on a Sunday.

I agree. However, from the point of view of Canucks ownership, I am sure that Aquilini wants to sell as many tickets as possible to make up for the revenue loss during this pandemic. It's a big difference in terms of the bottom line for Aquaman.

The Canucks are even doing their 50/50 draw for Canucks Place to help kids in palliative care and of course to get more fans to buy tickets to go the games.

[white rocket]

Originally Posted by JDMDreams

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/fed...date-1.6201528

Easily the most significant date so far since this whole mess started. I know plenty of health care workers who took their paid stress leave recently since they won't get jabbed. It will be interesting to see who holds the line once it affects their wallet. That's a LOT of people mandated to get poked.

[whitev70r]

Originally Posted by pastarocket

The Canucks are even doing their 50/50 draw for Canucks Place to help kids in palliative care and of course to get more fans to buy tickets to go the games.

You can buy 50/50 tix online now ... Don't need to be present in the stadium at all.

[westopher]

Originally Posted by white rocket

Easily the most significant date so far since this whole mess started. I know plenty of health care workers who took their paid stress leave recently since they won't get jabbed. It will be interesting to see who holds the line once it affects their wallet. That's a LOT of people mandated to get poked.

Can you really be an adequate medical professional if you don’t believe in the science that your job is based on?
My wife’s best friend is a surgeon in Alberta. She had to cancel all the elective surgery planned as she’s covering for many doctors in non specialized areas as they are out with covid. In a situation like they have there, it’s not an if, it’s when you get it. What’s worse than a healthcare professional leaving the industry, is a healthcare worker that can’t work because they are taking up a hospital bed.

[CRS]

Those that work for the federal government just got notice today. Key take aways are:

1. All federal public service workers in the core public service, including the RCMP, CBSA and Correctional Services, must be fully vaccinated by Friday, October 29, 2021
2. Public service workers who do not provide proof of vaccination by November 15 will be placed on unpaid leave
3. Crown corporations, agencies, and the Canadian Forces are encouraged to implement similar policies, but this policy will not immediately apply to them.

[68style]

^ Yah we were told October 30 deadline... there's 1 person on my team that, so far as I know, did not get vaccinated and called in sick for like 3 days when the passport was announced (probably due to stress) I expect this will get very, very interesting.

She's one of those "no matter what it is, there's a problem" people... we go on work trips, she has to get other people to pay for her/hold down her hotel room because she doesn't have a credit card... you name it, she is causing a problem about it. Totally and utterly useless. Likes to call Bonnie Henry a "floozy" hahahahaa

[white rocket]

Originally Posted by westopher

Can you really be an adequate medical professional if you don’t believe in the science that your job is based on?

I think that question is a very loaded one in these times. Why are there hundreds of legit doctors with legit licenses cautioning vaccine use and speaking out against it? Why would they risk their livelihood and reputation? It's not like they all went crazy in unison and completely forget what they learned pre-pandemic. Let's all band together and look stupid so mainstream media can tear us apart. This tells me that the answer isn't black and white. It's not get the poke or die or drink bleach to cure covid. It's gray.

Originally Posted by westopher

My wife’s best friend is a surgeon in Alberta. She had to cancel all the elective surgery planned as she’s covering for many doctors in non specialized areas as they are out with covid. In a situation like they have there, it’s not an if, it’s when you get it.

These doctors out with covid, did they choose to not get the vax and now they are sick? And if they were vaxxed then they would available to work because they wouldn't be sick now?

Originally Posted by westopher

What’s worse than a healthcare professional leaving the industry, is a healthcare worker that can’t work because they are taking up a hospital bed.

100%. But not everyone is convinced that if every human had the poke today, this pandemic would end today. That's where the doubt comes from. It's becoming vaxxed vs. unvaxxed and that doesn't sit well with some. Not all unvaxxed people are sign waiving protestors.

<------waits for the "are YOU vaxxed?" question

[inv4zn]

Originally Posted by white rocket

I think that question is a very loaded one in these times. Why are there hundreds of legit doctors with legit licenses cautioning vaccine use and speaking out against it? Why would they risk their livelihood and reputation? It's not like they all went crazy in unison and completely forget what they learned pre-pandemic. Let's all band together and look stupid so mainstream media can tear us apart. This tells me that the answer isn't black and white. It's not get the poke or die or drink bleach to cure covid. It's gray.

Of the 'Hundreds of doctors' (don't know where you got that figure from), assuming they're not of the feces-peddling chiropractic type, some are cautioning vaccines because there's the very odd case where someone reacts badly, etc. It's a miniscule percentage of doctors, and you're arguing in bad faith as if somehow there's two equal sides - there are not. And also remember, out of every graduating class of doctors, someone was on the bottom of the grades list...so.

Not all unvaxxed people are sign waiving protestors.

Sure, but all the people waiving signs are unvaxxed.