covid tracking

I’ve read some great stories recently about successes with the Contact Tracing in Ontario: springing wide-spread testing on whole buildings where you know there was a case, to catch anyone else who might be infected before it spreads further.

Ontario is making some very small moves to “open up” the economy again, because we are seeing consistent downward trends in the number of new cases & deaths. That’s great, and I’m super happy about the finally declining numbers (only several weeks later than I predicted), but what’s the new normal actually going to be LIKE?

Lots of people are talking now about when and how we’re going to be able to unlock and get “back to normal”, so I figured I’d join that chorus.

I guess the first thing that I’d like to say is that this event is of massive historical significance. It’s going to leave wounds, and cause changes, to a much greater degree than anything in recent decades.

Today’s disturbing Ontario numbers – 380 new cases – have to be understood in the ‘more testing’ context, obviously wider testing is going to uncover newer/more cases. What’s ALARMING about the number isn’t so much the size, as the fact that the test positive rate was so high.

Our idea is to basically help coordinate independent makers and small businesses which have e.g. 3d printers or sewing machines in order to help with supplies (masks, etc) for the coronavirus epidemic here in Ontario.

We HAVE acted quickly, but my impression so far is that we’re not acting strongly, i.e. the state of our “lockdown” isn’t very severe compared to what’s possible.

Ontario is still on track for low-thousands of cases with a dozen or two death total. In the last three days (March 17, 18, 19), the province reported 22, 44, and 36 new cases, total now 251 with 2 deaths. Toronto: 20, 7, and 18, total now 128 and zero deaths, 11 people hospitalized, 4 in intensive care. 

Toronto numbers on Monday were scary, with 20 new cases in Toronto, some of them community spread cases, but numbers yesterday were amazingly low at 8 (I would have bet money on 40+), so that’s great.