I’m neither a mathematician nor a science major as a number of educators in my past can attest to.
When lectured on PI r squared I argued – “:pie are round – CAKE are square “ and was advised at that time to consider another field of study.
That the Province of Alberta is in serious trouble with hospitalizations would appear to be a given.
As of Sept.9th it’s reported that we have:
-1510 new cases
-679 currently hospitalized
-154 currently in ICU
-9 additional deaths
Ontario by comparison, with a population 4 times that of Alberta – reported 800 cases.
Clearly we have a problem.
And so it was with baited breath that I tuned in to yesterday’s Sermon from the Mound hosted by the usual gang from Alberta Health.
Surely with numbers like that and emergency rooms closing down there would be serious and painful announcements made to combat the runaway train?
But no.
For 40 minutes we listened to a regurgitation of statistics, failed modelling protocols, finger pointing, and opinions on why things seem to be going horribly wrong.
But no impactful remedial action I could ascertain.
Mark Twain has been credited with quipping “there are 3 kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics”.
And with all 3 in play 24/7 it comes down to what to embrace and what to toss out.
The 1st 2 appear to have found a permanent home within the bowels of antisocial media and while it can often make for “interesting” reading, personally I’ll defer to the 3rd option.
Flawed as on occasion it may be.
The numbers appear to indicate that 75% of our current hospitalizations are occurring in the unvaccinated/partially vaccinated.
84% of deaths are attributed to the ranks of the unvaccinated/partially vaccinated.
And a staggering 91% of those in ICU are unvaccinated/partially vaccinated.
Doctors at the YouTube, Twitter and Facebook University of Medicine may challenge these figures but I’m a tad more comfortable with listening to medical professionals.
It’s time to get serous kids!
In the absence of irrefutable evidence to the contrary, vaccines appear to provide one of the better hedges in our fight against the virus.
But a governmental mandating of vaccines, while seemingly to some is not such a bad idea, goes pretty much against every aspect that our Charter of Rights and Freedoms is designed to safeguard.
*What If*
We were to get rid of the polarizing concept of vaccine passports and replace it with a simply obtained Proof of Vaccine?
And allow industry and businesses the latitude to request said proof prior to admitting folks to step across their thresholds.
There’s absolutely nothing in the Charter that gives a citizen of Canada the inalienable right to gain admission to Costco provided Costco is not excluding said individual on grounds of race, religion or other Charter specified mentions.
If Costco admits into their hallowed halls 75% of the folks in line – that’s a lot better methinks than having to operate at 15% capacity should case numbers continue to spiral forcing yet another lockdown.
As for the remaining 25% - there’s always on-line, curbside pickup or alternate retailers.
*What If*
We were to re-tool the whole concept of Alberta Health Care and Alberta Blue Cross?
As of yesterday it’s reported that a number of surgeries were being postponed and patients who require hospitalization are being moved into an overflow area in order to make room for non fully vaccinated Covid cases.
Anybody else see the travesty of this scenario?
I called my auto insurance company a couple of days ago with respect to a vintage 28 year old vehicle that endures about 800 km of driving annually.
“Well- given the fact you keep this buggy under tight wraps, put very little mileage on it, and are what our actuaries deem very low risk – we’re prepared to reduce your annual premium by 75%”.
Makes a lot of sense.
Why then are we elevating the “my body-my risk-my choice” segments of the population to the front of the line when it hits the fan and as such unable to accommodate the patient who requires a fairly immediate procedure to remove a tumour?
I guess it’s because the minority has spoken more vehemently than has the majority.
Which in itself is about as ass backwards as it gets.
Whereas the vast majority have decided to take whatever steps they deem prudent to get their lives back to some degree of normalcy – it’s time for our political leaders to re-introduce some common sense into their decision making process.
It’s high time for the tail to stop wagging the dog.
Adios until next time
Dave
