Alberta Politics & Government Thread 3.0

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Gotta be nice to have that luxury.

Yes, it’s nice to not be severely immunocompromised. But since that’s 98+ per cent of the population, I don’t know that calling it a ‘luxury’ is accurate.

Covid is effectively another strain of flu now. Severely immunocompromised people have always had to cope with living in a society where flu is out in the community.

[KelVarnsen]

One of friends lungs got ####ed up by Covid. Perfectly healthy before not anymore.

But sure its just a cold.

[Drak]

I have some ongoing issues from COVID. Upper lung issues and I sometimes smell a phantom burning dust like chemical odor, which is random but mostly in the morning after drinking coffee. When this started happening I thought it was our HVAC system but I’m the only member of the house that smells it and it happens in other places outside the house.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by KelVarnsen

One of friends lungs got ####ed up by Covid. Perfectly healthy before not anymore.

But sure its just a cold.

And then there are the people who have gotten it countless times and either a) nothing happens (asymptomatic), or b) they're sick for a few days and then they're back to normal. The latter of which has been my personal experience with it every time -- probably at least four or five times by now -- given my only symptoms to date have ever been "mildly sore throat, and ketchup and ketchup-adjacent condiments taste like hot trash for five days", and it seems to be pretty consistent. That's my COVID test now -- does ketchup, hot sauce, or barbecue sauce taste f-cked up? Then it might be COVID, and even then I've had that symptom but tested negative the entire week.


I'm sorry your friend had a terrible experience with it, but -- and I'm not asking this to be a dick or sound heartless -- but so what? People get f-cked up from all kinds of things that are generally easily survived with no ill effects due to freak occurrences. Yeah, it sucks. But what do you want to happen? What's going to make it all better, what's the answer?

You want the Alberta government to start paying for vaccines again, I'm 100% on-board, they should never have stopped covering them in the first place. But that was never enough anyway, we know that; uptake in the population was already too low by dose #3.

So instead of senselessly spiraling about it, what's the desired action that will achieve the desired outcome? There must be some jurisdiction where they're doing it better than us and it can't possibly be the only difference between them and us is the percentage of the population who are abject morons. Because we'll never fix stupid... in fact, it's been illegal since 1972.

[Drak]

Originally Posted by Drak

I have some ongoing issues from COVID. Upper lung issues and I sometimes smell a phantom burning dust like chemical odor, which is random but mostly in the morning after drinking coffee. When this started happening I thought it was our HVAC system but I’m the only member of the house that smells it and it happens in other places outside the house.

Btw, when I’ve had COVID it’s never been harsh. I never felt super sick. Always felt like a standard cold to me.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Covid too, oh but that went away right?

https://covid-tracker.chi-csm.ca/

If it is a big concern for anyone they really shouldn't be leaving their basement in 2025. Come on now!

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by KelVarnsen

One of friends lungs got ####ed up by Covid. Perfectly healthy before not anymore.

But sure its just a cold.

Isn't that what happens naturally in our environment? Something called survival of the fittest? Weak will perish and the strong will thrive.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

And then there are the people who have gotten it countless times and either a) nothing happens (asymptomatic), or b) they're sick for a few days and then they're back to normal. The latter of which has been my personal experience with it every time -- probably at least four or five times by now -- given my only symptoms to date have ever been "mildly sore throat, and ketchup and ketchup-adjacent condiments taste like hot trash for five days", and it seems to be pretty consistent. That's my COVID test now -- does ketchup, hot sauce, or barbecue sauce taste f-cked up? Then it might be COVID, and even then I've had that symptom but tested negative the entire week.

I'm sorry your friend had a terrible experience with it, but -- and I'm not asking this to be a dick or sound heartless -- but so what? People get f-cked up from all kinds of things that are generally easily survived with no ill effects due to freak occurrences. Yeah, it sucks. But what do you want to happen? What's going to make it all better, what's the answer?

You want the Alberta government to start paying for vaccines again, I'm 100% on-board, they should never have stopped covering them in the first place. But that was never enough anyway, we know that; uptake in the population was already too low by dose #3.

So instead of senselessly spiraling about it, what's the desired action that will achieve the desired outcome? There must be some jurisdiction where they're doing it better than us and it can't possibly be the only difference between them and us is the percentage of the population who are abject morons. Because we'll never fix stupid... in fact, it's been illegal since 1972.

Because this is the Alberta politics thread, how about government using public health to tell citizens the truth, instead of throwing our money away on pseudoscience "reports" that prove to themselves why they are right? Public health education is known to be hugely important in vaccine uptake, and we know at the very least vaccines reduce the severity and the risks of developing long covid.

How about doing the bare minimum, which was supposed to be "taking care of the vulnerable"? Getting treatment if you need it is incredibly expensive and very difficult to access.

And by "so what" you ignore the drag on our hospitals, schools and productivity. Economically it's stupid to not do everything you can you keep people working. If they get long covid, that's a hit to insurance rates and many doctor visits and lab work.

Like, gee, what happened here? I just can't match anything up to the date.

Spoiler!

https://insurancenewsnet.com/innarti...cess-mortality

These are real preventable things that when people are educated about them, can make the correct decisions. But I guess it's just better to flush money down the drain because a bunch of moronic idiots can't even get out of the way of science and public health. And run the province, to boot.

Also, the needless deaths.

The statement said Colley had been admitted to hospital with an injured arm after a fall, but he quickly contracted Covid which developed into pneumonia.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8xv50jnwngo

But I'm sure ensuring HCW are doing the bare ####ing minimum to protect patients from going to the hospital for a broken arm and dying is waaay too much for society to ask.

I'm not asking for a lot at this point, but it seems we can't even be bothered to do sweet #### all, and most people follow leadership. They take the stupidest position possible, and society follows them. Abdicating responsibility is a massive failure.

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by KelVarnsen

One of friends lungs got ####ed up by Covid. Perfectly healthy before not anymore.

But sure its just a cold.

The damage it did to my lungs cost me my dream job

[Superflyer]

Originally Posted by Drak

I have some ongoing issues from COVID. Upper lung issues and I sometimes smell a phantom burning dust like chemical odor, which is random but mostly in the morning after drinking coffee. When this started happening I thought it was our HVAC system but I’m the only member of the house that smells it and it happens in other places outside the house.

Is this something common with Covid? I have this as well, it started about a year ago and I still have it. I don't know if I had covid or not, I have been sick a couple times but never got tested for cold\flu\covid.
Just like you I am the only one that has this.

[#-3]

Originally Posted by Superflyer

Is this something common with Covid? I have this as well, it started about a year ago and I still have it. I don't know if I had covid or not, I have been sick a couple times but never got tested for cold\flu\covid.
Just like you I am the only one that has this.

Not excessively common, but when 35M Canadians get covid there will be hundreds / thousands with rare lingering post infection problems.

[Fuzz]

Overall impact of post COVID-19 condition on daily activities

Among adults reporting having had a confirmed or suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection, 16.7% (95% confidence interval (CI): 15.5%, 18.0%) experienced PCC(“post COVID-19 condition” (PCC) or “long COVID”).
Over half of adults dealing with PCC reported noticeable limitations in daily activities:

• 21.7% (95% CI: 18.4%, 25.2%) were often or always limited
• 32.7% (95% CI: 28.9%, 36.6%) were limited sometimes
• 45.7% (95% CI: 41.6%, 49.8%) were never or rarely limited

ome of the more commonly reported symptoms include:

• fatigue
• coughing
• shortness of breath
• brain fog
• general weakness

https://health-infobase.canada.ca/co...24-report.html


It's a lot more common than most people realize.

[Drak]

Originally Posted by Superflyer

Is this something common with Covid? I have this as well, it started about a year ago and I still have it. I don't know if I had covid or not, I have been sick a couple times but never got tested for cold\flu\covid.
Just like you I am the only one that has this.

The smell issue with me started about a year and a half ago, I think. I’m not sure how common it is but I’ve read it generally goes away within several months. But with me it’s still an issue.

[troutman]

I’m hearing Northback moved some heavy equipment to Grassy Mountain under the cover of night.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by troutman

I’m hearing Northback moved some heavy equipment to Grassy Mountain under the cover of night.

Do you think they did that to be sneaky or because it is easier to move heavy equipment when highways and local roads are less busy during the overnight hours?

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Because this is the Alberta politics thread, how about government using public health to tell citizens the truth, instead of throwing our money away on pseudoscience "reports" that prove to themselves why they are right? Public health education is known to be hugely important in vaccine uptake, and we know at the very least vaccines reduce the severity and the risks of developing long covid.

How about doing the bare minimum, which was supposed to be "taking care of the vulnerable"? Getting treatment if you need it is incredibly expensive and very difficult to access.

None of this has anything to do with the context in which the wastewater viral load was posted, which was basically "People are going to Stampede?! BUT COVID!" which is what drew any ridicule from me to begin with. It's a stupid connection to make today; it's not going away, it's not a novel disease. We understand how to deal with it far better than when it first showed up. And as a result, we have plenty of other mass gathering-type events in closer quarters than that, such as concerts, sporting events etc. and those happen year-round.

The original point was that a minor uptick in wastewater numbers (0.0021 copies/person on June 30 versus the 0.0192 peak back in November 2023) is a silly reason to bring it up in the context of Stampede. It's still lower than the same time last year, and the peak is always in the winter. Everything else you brought up wasn’t on the table.

Originally Posted by Fuzz

And by "so what" you ignore the drag on our hospitals, schools and productivity. Economically it's stupid to not do everything you can you keep people working. If they get long covid, that's a hit to insurance rates and many doctor visits and lab work.

Give it a rest Fuzz, "so what" was shorthand for "so what do you propose is done about it?" as I said countless times. There is no argument, no proposal of what to be done, it's mindless arm-flailing. People are going to live their lives, it's tiresome when that reality is met with some permutation of the sarcastic "well good thing COVID isn't around, oh wait..." sentiment as though it's some clever point to make.

You didn't make the initial post anyway, but since you're so energized about it, here's an exercise: you're a legislative Bruce Almighty for a day, you've got carte-blanche for all three levels of government -- municipal, provincial, federal. You can enact government policies and restrictions including shutting down or limiting events / capacity and imposing entry restrictions, but you can't violate free will and make all the morons in the province get their shots or forcibly move them to Edmonton. What do you do? What makes Fuzz feel better?

[Knut]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

https://health-infobase.canada.ca/co...24-report.html


It's a lot more common than most people realize.

Is there information on this for the more recent strains ? It is well known the Delta variant caused a lot of problems for a lot of people.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by Knut

Is there information on this for the more recent strains ? It is well known the Delta variant caused a lot of problems for a lot of people.

Meta-analyses put post-Omicron long-COVID at ~8% in triple-vaccinated adults, less after reinfection.

Prevalence and risk factors of long COVID-19 persisting for 2 years in Hainan Province: a population-based prospective study
Data suggest COVID-19 reinfections less likely to cause long COVID - referenced study

The usual caveat; the latter is referencing a preprint, so take it with a grain of salt, but that one is particularly interesting given it's from Canada (Quebec, specifically).

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by troutman

I’m hearing Northback moved some heavy equipment to Grassy Mountain under the cover of night.

maybe they just want to keep the road clear for happy commuters.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

-snip-

You didn't make the initial post anyway, but since you're so energized about it, here's an exercise: you're a legislative Bruce Almighty for a day, you've got carte-blanche for all three levels of government -- municipal, provincial, federal. You can enact government policies and restrictions including shutting down or limiting events / capacity and imposing entry restrictions, but you can't violate free will and make all the morons in the province get their shots or forcibly move them to Edmonton. What do you do? What makes Fuzz feel better?

I'd make sure experts had the power to make advice to my government, and then, you know, actually listen and follow through. I'd do what the experts have been pleading for for years, I'd make sure public health information is provided regularly to the areas with the lowest vaccination rates, because it's been shown(and I do find this baffling) many people just aren't all that informed about vaccine preventable diseases. I'd make sure schools had vaccination clinics every fall operating on opt-out principles, and if children are being opted out, every effort will be made to have meetings with those parents to discuss REALITY. Then make the vaccines easily accessible and covered.

I'd also make it illegal for any government money to go to fake media organizations that do not peddle in reality. I certainly wouldn't sit down for ####in' interviews with them, for #### sakes.

HCW's would also be required to have whatever vaccines are recommended for them if they are in any patient facing service. Requirement of the job.

Mostly public education and common sense stuff, though requiring a vaccine passport for the Cowboys tent could be a fun thing to do too.