Pandemic Resources
Remaining Healthy | Distancing | Masks | Vaccine | The Vulnerable
Official Sources Only | Security & Privacy
The COVID-19 pandemic is a black swan event unlike anything before in modern times, both in its scope and in its impact upon our everyday lives.
With COVID, you have healthy people who a month ago were totally fine and now they are on their deathbed. — Dr. Omar Ahmad, Island Health
Let everyone know that this is real, my lungs are on fire. It's like there's bees stinging me. I can't breathe. Please let them know to wear a mask ... because I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. — COVID Patient
It has highlighted serious weaknesses in our medical system and the “just-in-time” delivery of goods manufactured overseas.
Many lost jobs or income (some permanently) while governments racked up astronomical debts that could take generations to pay down. An estimated one-in-seven small businesses will never recover.
Hope for Tomorrow
Shane Koyczan's poem, “A Tomorrow,” gives us hope for a post-pandemic future, showcasing the enduring importance of the arts to society:
News Articles
Yaneer Bar-Yam has been working on pandemic outbreaks for 15 years. His Twitter account looks at the success of proactive versus reactive responses.
- Omicron's here. We invited it in.
- Six unlearned lessons of the pandemic.
- COVID-19's global death toll tops 5 million in under 2 years.
- Canada surpasses grim milestone with over 30,000 COVID-19 deaths.
- The pandemic is becoming a grief crisis.
- More have died of COVID in the US than the US death toll in WW2.
My COVID Resources
- My Health & Medical Links.
- Virtual meeting software (downloads, configuration, etiquette).
- Optimize your WiFi network for working at home.
- A COVID-19 crisis management plan for small businesses.
- Security policies for both business and home.
Information British Columbia Based
The information on this page focuses on British Columbia (BC) information. You should seek guidance from official sources for your region.
BC Provincial Restrictions
Be aware of province-wide restrictions on gatherings and travel designed to slow or stop the spread of COVID-19 and its variants. These can change quickly.
Renewed COVID Measures
Because of rising infection rates, new COVID measures were added in BC:
- Masks required in public indoor settings.
- BC proof of vaccine card required for entrance to non-essential activities including concerts, sports, arts and cultural events, and restaurants.
- Proof of vaccine is required for entering Island Health hospitals.
- You could be fined for unsafe COVID-19 behaviour.
Whether you agree with those mandates or not, ignoring them simply prolongs COVID-based restrictions.
There is only one way to stop more variants from emerging with properties even more extreme than Omicron, and that is to actively and persistently reduce the amount of virus in your community.
— Yaneer Bar-Yam, pandemic expert
The more people continue to flaunt the requirements to socially-distance and wear masks, these conditions are bound to continue until either those opposing vaccination remain isolated or accept the need to be vaccinated.
Shorter Quarantine Questionable
The U.S. CDC reduced the quarantine from 10 days to five, a result of pressure from the U.S. airline industry and many countries and health authorities (including those in BC) followed suite.
Given that Omicron cases can be infectious for up to 12 days and that air travel rapidly spreads variants, this change may be pandering to pandemic fatigue more than science.
Omicron and the Fifth Wave
The emergence of a fifth wave fueled by the Omicron variant was brought on by continued
- resistance to wearing masks;
- vaccine hesitancy; and
- re-opening non-essential services and travel too soon.
COVID is no longer only a disease of the elderly — many under 35, including children, are getting sick and ending up in ICUs.
COVID-19 can have severe adverse affects including requiring critical care (ICU, ventilators), often resulting in death. Vulnerable populations are more at risk, even when fully vaccinated.
COVID is not a mild disease. The evidence is far from in about the effects Omicron can have on people. What might appear to be mild symptoms for one citizen could well become a hospital visit, intubation or death for someone else. — The Tyee
Overwhelmed by Numbers
The emergence of a fifth wave fueled by the Omicron variant resulted from the failure of governments to act soon enough. Leaders haven't learned the lessons from previous waves and lack the political will to do what is right.
Because the majority are vaccinated, the symptoms for most patients are less than earlier variants. However, the sheer number of cases combined with the ease which this variant spreads makes it more dangerous.
COVID a Long Term Problem
COVID-19 is likely to be with us for the long term, but by using vaccinations along with interim masking and distancing restrictions, we may be able to turn this from a pandemic into an endemic where COVID becomes more like the common cold — with us continually, but no longer life-threatening.
COVID is not going away. It's going to be endemic. That means the virus will keep circulating in parts of the global population for years, but it'll come down to relatively manageable levels, so it becomes more like the flu than a world-stopping disease. — Vox
To make this happen, we're going to have to examine the current medical system and how off-loading of federal health funding responsibilities to provinces and other decisions led to the current crisis.
In terms of ICU capacity, we count approximately half as many beds per 1,000 inhabitants as the United States and nearly a third less than Germany. Even prior to COVID, hallway health care was a regular state of being in many provinces. — National Post
Cancelled Surgeries
Each wave has resulted in cancellations of many surgeries and other treatments. While authorities call these “non-essential” surgeries, they will reduce both the quality and length of affected patients' lives.
The normal provision of care to the majority of citizens has been threatened disproportionately by a minority of unvaccinated patients who didn't want to suffer the consequences of their own poor choices.
A Critical Nursing Shortage
Hospitals are again being overwhelmed with new COVID cases. Medical staff, already experiencing pre-pandemic shortages, are suffering burnout at alarming rates.
Nursing shortage is 'going to cost lives,' says ICU nurse on CBC video:
Nurses are breaking down, crying and quitting because of the intense pressure they face on the job due to a severe staffing shortage.
— Toronto ICU nurse, Birgit Umaigba
Two Toronto hospitals have just called a Code Orange, a disaster caused by a critical nursing shortage. ICUs and other units are severely understaffed. The implications are frightening and not confined to Ontario.
Neither COVID nor the opioid crisis is the cause, but are symptoms of much larger issues.
Remaining Healthy
Provincial restrictions are designed to keep most people safe. These measures should be the minimum if you wish to remain healthy and not spread COVID.
Don't buy into fake information (especially on social media). Use legitimate sources.
Keeping Safe
You have the right to protect your own health. Feel free to take any measures you need to protect yourself such as avoiding crowds, indoor shopping or anywhere you feel unsafe.
Minimize your risk by avoiding the 3 Cs:— Government of Canada
- closed spaces with poor ventilation
- crowded places with many people nearby
- close faces, such as close-range conversations
There is much you can to protect yourself, starting with
- maintaining physical distancing when meeting with people from outside of your immediate household;
- wearing a suitable mask when you are inside public buildings or visiting friends; and
- getting vaccinated as soon as you are able.
Learning More
- The risks - know them - avoid them.
- André Picard: straight answers to key coronavirus questions.
- How to exercise at home during the Coronavirus.
- Turning COVID into the common cold: A doctor explains.
Cleaning
We've learned how important cleaning is during the last year. Cleaning our hands as well as surfaces we touch.
These are some reliable resources to help you with finding effective products and methods.
Cleaning Your Home & Office
Our homes have become our refuge, the one place (other than our vehicle) that we feel safe.
For many, it was also our new office as we learned to work from home and our kids began remote learning.
To keep us safe, we need to know what cleaning products can deal with COVID without damaging surfaces.
Cleaning Your Devices
While out and about you are handling your smartphone and possibly other electronics.
When you return home, you'll want to clean your devices to make them safe to use.
Cleaning Your Vehicle
Your car has probably become your safe haven when you're out.
Household Repairs
Having strangers into your home or office during the pandemic has its own risks, particularly if you are more vulnerable.
- How to handle a home service call during the pandemic.
- What to do if your appliance breaks during the pandemic.
Physical Distancing
Physical (or social) distancing helps to reduce the transmission of airborne diseases like COVID-19.
Every time you breathe, laugh, sing, shout, cough or sneeze, you spread micro particles into the air. Think of how your breathe appears when outside in cold weather.
The further apart you are (a minimum of six feet or three metres is recommended outside), the less likely it is that these aerosols are to reach you.
Avoid Crowds
Unfortunately, people have attended parties and other events where they are jammed together with strangers not taking precautions.
Some folks use any excuse to avoid social distancing or wearing a mask.
- Those in crowded stadiums leave their masks off while sipping their beers then jump up to cheer loudly for their team.
- Passengers on airplanes have their masks tucked below their chin while snacking the entire flight on a single bag of peanuts.
Wear a Face Mask
The wearing of masks should always be mandatory while indoors except when you are only with members of your own household.
Masks Protect Others
Wearing a face mask, even a less advanced one, can help reduce both the risk and the severity of illness. Wearing one indoors in public settings minimizes the possibility of spreading COVID.
- I wear a mask to protect you.
- You wear a mask to protect me.
Choosing a Mask
The better the mask, the better your protection and the less likely you are to become infected or infect someone else. Consider fit, filtration and function.
A mask should have 3 layers of cotton, or 2 layers of cotton with a pocket for a polypropylene filter insert. Single layer masks will not provide enough filtration.The mask should fit snugly around your face. There should be no gaps around the nose bridge, sides of the face or under the chin.
DO NOT buy a mask with a filtration valve. Filtration valves let out air.
— Masks4Canada
Difficulty Breathing?
If you're finding it difficult to breathe, find a better-fitting mask.
- Masks4Canada has excellent information.
- A scientific look at why masks work (but only if everyone wears them).
- How face masks work and which types offer the best COVID-19 protection.
- New standards will help you choose an effective COVID-19 face mask.
Cloth Masks Compared to N95s
A simple cloth mask no longer has enough filtration efficiency to prevent the spread of the Omicron variation nor does a bandana.
You need to up your game. Wearing a cloth mask is not good enough any more. You want to have a higher grade filtration mask. — Dr. Lyne Filiatrault
An article in the Wall Street Journal contains a table showing the time to infection between a person that is infected and one that isn't depending upon which each is wearing.
It will take 25 hours for an infectious dose of Covid-19 to transmit between people wearing non-fit-tested N95 respirators. If they're using tightly sealed N95s — where only 1% of particles enter the facepiece — they will have 2,500 hours of protection. — WSJ
The table was posted on Twitter.
The table includes all variations, but the following shows the increased protection as the quality of mask improves assuming both have the same protection:
- If neither is wearing anything: 15 minutes;
- If both are wearing a cloth mask: 27 minutes;
- If both are wearing a surgical mask: 1 hour; and
- If both are wearing an N95 mask: 25 hours.
The results were published in Spring 2021 and the CDC expects the Omicron variant to spread more quickly.
- Yes, you need to use a better mask.
- Why cloth masks might not be enough as Omicron spreads.
- Seriously, upgrade your face mask. Omicron is everywhere.
COVID-19 Vaccines
Much like wearing masks, getting vaccinated helps protect others as well as yourself.
Being double-vaccinated (or better) allows for more freedoms because you're less vulnerable and less likely to infect someone.
Vaccination needs to be supported by mask mandates and social distancing until COVID is no longer a threat.
Failures to enforce these mandates has resulted in a fourth wave fueled by the Delta variant followed closely by a fifth Omicron wave which spread even faster.
Vaccines Free for Everyone
COVID-19 vaccines are free for everyone living in BC who is eligible.
Vaccines, including those for children 5 to 11, are safe and effective against COVID-19.
When booking your vaccination in BC, only your name and BC personal health number (PHN) are required.
Vaccination Slows Spread; Improves Outcomes
Vaccination helps to slow the spread of COVID and reduces the severity of symptoms. You're less likely to be admitted to hospital or require ICU treatment. Your chances of dying from COVID are greatly reduced.
In B.C., the eight per cent of eligible yet unvaccinated individuals make up 54 per cent of COVID cases, 68 per cent of hospitalizations and 72 per cent of patients in intensive care. — The Tyee
Reduced Period You Spread COVID
Not only does vaccination help protect you from being infected, but it also reduces the period during which you can spread the disease as well as greatly reducing the chance that you'll need to have expensive life-saving treatment on a ventilator in the ICU.
While there's a small chance COVID-19 vaccinated people can still get sick and spread the virus (called breakthrough cases), research suggests they are less likely to transmit the virus than unvaccinated people.
— USA Today
It is true that 67 percent of hospitalizations in Ontario are people who have been vaccinated — but those people constitute 90 percent of the population.When you look at the latest ICU cases, 52 percent are unvaccinated patients, despite making up just 10 percent of the population.
— John Ivison, National Post
Vaccine Refusal
Refusal to be vaccinated remains a significant barrier to ending the pandemic.
While vaccines are not the only tool needed to end the pandemic, they play a critical role.
Arguing that vaccinated people can spread COVID and get sick is like arguing that people wearing seatbelts still get into car accidents. In both cases, the outcome is much worse for those that ignore recommendations.
Unvaccinated patients are the vast majority of severely infected, particularly those requiring treatment in an ICU.
[W]hile the non-vaccinated accounted for 21.9% of new infections, the group also accounted for 67.2% of hospitalizations. — Times Colonist
[U]nvaccinated people are seven times more likely than those with two doses of a vaccine to contract COVID-19. The unvaccinated are also 30 times more likely to be hospitalized and 50 times more likely to need critical care. — Times Colonist
Why Do People Hesitate?
People are either refusing to believe that COVID is dangerous or are waiting for proof that vaccines are 100% safe and effective.
We know more about the vaccines than the long term effects of COVID. mRNA vaccines are not new; the technology has existed for nearly 20 years.
If you land in the ICU, treatment is both brutal and uncertain.
No Basis for Myths on Social Media
They may also be listening to the myths spread on social media.
Health Feedback, a network of scientists fact-checking media coverage, proved (to my satisfaction at least) that there is no evidence the pandemic was planned; that COVID vaccines have proven their safety in clinical trials involving tens of thousands of people; that previously infected people do not have permanent immunity; and that reports submitted to the VAERS database do not constitute evidence of vaccine-induced deaths. — John Ivison, National Post
- No, vaccinated people are not "just as likely" to spread the coronavirus as unvaccinated people — The Atlantic.
- COVID-19: The unvaccinated pose a risk to the vaccinated — FactCheck.org.
Are You on the Fence?
Are you on the fence about getting vaccinated?
Then watch this Dr. Zubin Damania YouTube video discussing a 37 year old man that waited to vaccinated, then blamed himself when he realized he had infected his parents only days before they were to be vaccinated.
COVID-19 patients in the ICU universally regret not being vaccinated. ICU treatment is brutal and the death rate is high.
What About Medical Exemptions?
The fear of a deadly reaction to COVID-19 vaccines has fueled a lot of the resistance to being vaccinated.
Medical reasons for refusing to be vaccinated have proven short-lived.
Everyone who is eligible can be safely vaccinated against COVID-19, although a very small number of people may need to delay vaccination if they have severe allergies to parts of the vaccine.There are no medical exemptions for the COVID-19 vaccines. If you have concerns, discuss with your health care provider about how you can safely receive the vaccines.
If you have an allergy to an ingredient of one type of COVID-19 vaccine, you are still able to receive the other type….
— BC Centre for Disease Control
Unfortunately, there continues to be both misinformation and questionable “medical” exemptions issued without any scientific basis (e.g., fear of needles).
Your “Rights” Have Limits
To refuse to be vaccinated then continue to move about society is not covered in any freedoms guaranteed by our constitution because the public good overrides your rights.
[F]reedom of religion and conscience, freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association… and the other rights protected by the Charter, are not, however, absolute and are subject to reasonable limits, prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.These limits include proportionate, precautionary and evidence-based restrictions to prevent loss of life, serious illness and disruption of our health system and society. — BC Provincial Health Officer
Much like your right to get drunk then drive a vehicle, your refusal to get vaccinated must be suspended when it endangers others.
The Cost of Vaccine Refusal is High
The cost of refusing to be vaccinated is high.
- The cost to treat COVID is much higher than most diseases.
- Our health care system is over-stretched and our health care workers are burning out.
- Treatment was delayed or cancelled for other patients, diminishing their chances for recovery.
- The most vulnerable, even when fully vaccinated, have little protection.
If the health system collapses, a lot more people are likely to die.
Unvaccinated Outcomes Worse
Critical treatment is much more severe than vaccine opponents would have your believe. Outcomes for the unvaccinated are much worse, no matter how young or how healthy they are.
“No matter how young or how healthy…”
If you get sick with COVID and get really sick, it doesn't matter how young you are or how healthy you are. Once you end up [in the ICU], your chances of surviving are minimal.
— Dr. Sunjay V. Sharma, Medical Director of Critical Care
Dr. Sharma discusses patients on critical life support.
Royal Jubilee ICU Conditions are Similar
Expensive to Treat
A COVID-19–related hospitalization with ICU admission (ventilator) is estimated to cost over $50,000:
According to data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information, the average cost for patients treated for the virus is more than $23,000, four times higher than for a flu patient. However, for a COVID patient needing intensive care, the average cost more than doubles to more than $50,000 — about six times the cost of treating someone who's had a heart attack.The COVID-related healthcare spending surge in Canada could reach a record $308 billion in 2021, or roughly $8,019 per Canadian, according to CIHI projections. — Times Colonist
Post-COVID Symptoms Could Last Years
There is also growing evidence of long-term post-COVID symptoms that could last for years with both a personal cost in terms of quality of life and a financial cost for treatment.
Who Should Pay?
Those that choose to remain unvaccinated without a valid medical reason should expect to pay for alternatives like frequent testing.
You can't expect the taxpayer or your employer to pay for frequent testing or treatment when a free vaccine is available to you.
Singapore No Longer Paying for Unvaccinated COVID Treatments
Singapore's government has announced that it will no longer pay for COVID medical treatment for those that are unvaccinated by choice. Other countries are sure to follow if their health care system is threatened.
The Human Cost
This is not just about money. There is a human cost.
Many patients' surgeries have been cancelled to ensure that our hospital system isn't overwhelmed.
This has caused much stress and some will die while waiting for delayed surgeries and hospital treatments.
Clinically Vulnerable Disproportionately Affected
Those that are immunosuppressed or with other existing health conditions have a greatly reduced quality of life.
People over 70 years of age, and people with chronic health conditions or compromised immune systems, are particularly vulnerable to severe illness and death from COVID-19, even if they are vaccinated.
— BC Provincial Health Officer
[A] list of conditions that have been designated as risk conditions for COVID-19 by public health agencies: diabetes, heart disease, asthma or chronic obstructive airway disease, chronic kidney disease, disabling neurological disease, liver disease and immunodeficiency or immunosuppression. — Paul M. McKeigue et el
The clinically vulnerable are at much higher risk of poorer outcomes.
Reduced Quality of Life
Triple-vaccinated vulnerable patients are unable to enjoy many of the benefits available to most double-vaccinated people, including eating indoors in restaurants when restrictions are relaxed.
Visits to essential services like the grocery store, pharmacies and medical appointments are more dangerous because of those that refuse to wear masks or be vaccinated.
Listen to the changes to the quality of life for a transplant patient in Alberta:
Vulnerable people are depending upon everyone else that is eligible to get vaccinated in order to make it safe enough for them to rejoin many of the activities that became available (if you're fully vaccinated) as governments allowed gradual reopening of social activities.
Vaccination in Vulnerable Populations
Those with these conditions can and should definitely be vaccinated.
Protection for Immune Compromised Uncertain
Vaccination is even more important for those whose immune system is compromised: people with kidney failure, cancer patients on chemotherapy and organ transplant recipients.
Organ transplant patients take immunosuppressants (anti-rejection medications). As the name implies, these medications not only suppress rejection, but also reduce the ability to resist infection.
In addition, those with underlying conditions such as diabetes, heart conditions, COPD, etc. are going to experience more complicated recovery.
These patients, even when fully vaccinated, are likely to have worse outcomes if they become infected with COVID.
The coronavirus vaccines are highly effective in protecting against serious disease, but they are not a guarantee. This is especially the case for a subset of elderly and immunosuppressed people whose immune system did not mount a strong response to the shots.
— New York Times
Unlike the measles vaccine, the mRNA vaccines are not “live” vaccines and are therefore safe for immune-compromised individuals. It is more dangerous to remain unprotected.
Inability to Create Antibodies
Immunosuppressed patients were not a part of the pre-release human trials for any of the COVID-19 vaccines. The research indicates that many such patients are unable to create the antibodies required to make the vaccine effective.
Among 436 people who'd had liver, heart, kidney, and other organ transplants, just 17% had detectable antibodies.
— Science Magazine
In the study of more than 650 organ recipients -- who take drugs to suppress their immune system so they won't reject their new organs -- 46% had no antibody response after two doses of Pfizer or Moderna.
— CNN
A Third Dose Shows Improvement
A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that a third vaccine dose for solid organ transplant patients greatly increases the antibodies needed to fight off COVID infections.
The prevalence of anti–SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was 0%…before the first dose, 4%…before the second dose, 40%…before the third dose, and 68%… 4 weeks after the third dose.
— The New England Journal of Medicine
Even after this third dose, the protection (represented by the dots in chart B) is significantly less than the protection provided to the bulk of the population with just two doses.
Despite three doses of vaccine, some transplant recipients will continue to have a poor response, about 40% to 50% of the time compared to the general population and could remain unprotected. Because of this, it is critical that household contacts and healthcare workers be fully vaccinated and that extra cautions should still be taken.
— Kidney Foundation
- Relief and worry for immune-suppressed people.
- Three doses of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine in solid-organ transplant recipients.
- Caught in a 'pickle,' millions of Americans might not have had an adequate response to the COVID-19 vaccine.
Resources for Renal Patients
The Kidney Foundation of Canada has provided resources for renal patients: COVID-19: How to protect yourself. These may be useful for others that are more vulnerable.
