79% of the COVID-19 Positive Deaths in Canada Have Been of Nursing Home Residents

79% of the COVID-19 positive deaths in Canada have been of nursing home residents:

Canadian seniors are suffering the most from COVID-19, with 79 per cent of all deaths in the country now connected to long-term care and seniors’ homes.

Numbers released on Tuesday show a steep jump from two weeks ago, when almost half of all coronavirus deaths were linked to the homes. The numbers also show the death rate for the disease at 5.5 per cent, more than double the 2.2 per cent on April 9.

The numbers were released by Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam and her deputy, Dr. Howard Njoo, along with updated short- and long-term projections for the pandemic. By May 5, the models show that the total number of coronavirus-related deaths in Canada could rise to between 3,277 and 3,883, with a 95-per-cent probability.

“As the epidemic comes under control and the growth of cases slows, the severe outcomes and deaths continue to accrue as COVID-19 takes a heavy toll among highly susceptible populations,” Dr. Tam said at a press conference.

Quebec, Ontario and Nova Scotia are particularly challenged by outbreaks in long-term care where deaths in single facilities have reached double digits.

The updated models confirm the well-documented problems in seniors homes and raise more questions about the lack of transparency around the federal models and their underlying assumptions, according to experts who spoke with The Globe and Mail.

While you may assume that means the obvious course of action would be to protect the nursing homes and let everyone else get on with their lives, the Canadian authorities prescribing and enforcing the lockdown don’t think so:

Until there is a treatment or vaccine, life won’t go back to normal, Dr. Tam said. What’s clear, she said, is Canadians will be living with the virus for a “significant number of months” and mass gatherings are off the table for the foreseeable future.

Why do we need to get vaccinated for a disease that is not a threat to us? Why do we need to wait for a vaccine that has never been developed for a coronavirus, and which would be too risky for the elderly and the frail to take anyway, and which can be more easily protected by herd immunity and doing a better job of sealing off nursing homes?

This passage describes the absurdity succinctly:

So far, the federal officials believe Canada is staying within the most optimistic scenario where no more than 10 per cent of people become infected in the first wave of the pandemic. However, if the first wave of the disease has a low infection rate, continuing physical distancing measures will be all the more important, as few people will have immunity.

The more we “succeed” in keeping the infection rates down, the more we have to stay locked down.

Source: The Globe and Mail

78% of all COVID-19 deaths in Ontario have occurred in nursing, retirement & long-term care homes, 1% below the national average of 79%. The home are the epicentre of the pandemic, not cities or provinces. A tragedy caused in part by how we warehouse the elderly. #onpoli #cdnpoli

— Lorrie Goldstein (@sunlorrie) April 29, 2020

In other words 78% of all covid deaths in Ontario were not prevented by shutting down the economy & locking the healthy inside. These people are locked in 24/7 and they were the biggest victims.

— Quintessential (@Hohummm) April 29, 2020