Diana Chard

It’s 12°C out and I am elated

Wastewater Virus Signals graph for Ontario

#Ontario #wastewater graph updated with February 22 data
- Kingston, London, Peel, Toronto updated: wwater.ca/Ontario
- Also updated: AB, BC, MB, NL, NS, PEI, QC, SK, YT

wwater.ca

Source: health-infobase.canada.ca/wastewater/

I hate it here

Completely understandable. Take care of yourself.

NS friends

Homemade!

@sciencevs.bsky.social seems relevant to your most recent episode.

A medical journal says the case reports it has published for 25 years are, in fact, fiction A Canadian journal has issued corrections on 138 case reports it published over the last 25 years to add a disclaimer: The cases described are fictional. Paediatrics & Child Health, the journal…

This story is nuts

The journal ‘Pediatrics and Child health’ has been published an article type, for case reports, that are made up and fictional without having any clear notice 😱

retractionwatch.com/2026/03/03/c...

Photo of a cardamom bun on a grey plate on a wood table.

Rewarding myself with a freshly baked cardamom bun

Dear Premier Ford, Over the last five years, we've witnessed increased circulation of illnesses in schools. The effects that this has on institutions, systems, communities, and individual families can't be overstated; that's why I'm writing to encourage the Ontario Government to implement policies and procedures in response. As a parent, I can anecdotally share that my child has missed 11 days of school due to illness since September and we have had (maybe 3 cumulative weeks without anyone in our three person household being sick. As individuals, we do everything that we can to avoid catching and spreading illness (we have all our vaccinations, mask in public spaces, wash our hands regularly, and stay home when sick whenever possible). This constant carousel of sickness is not sustainable and is detrimental to her learning and our working. We must institute effective infection control in schools. We've known since long before 2020 that children act as vectors, passing pathogens to other family members and then throughout Ontario communities. We've witnessed widespread illness decrease the quality of learning and teaching. Absenteeism and absences due to illness have steadily increased year-after-year since the start of the covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Whether it's students missing classes because of illness, teachers unable to find substitutes, or bus cancellations, all of these factors impact equitable access to quality education.

Many of these illnesses spread through the air, so the province must set and monitor school indoor air quality standards that correspond with international standards (ASHRAE 241) for decreasing the spread of pathogens. For any buildings that don't meet these standards, plans need to be initiated to address this through ventilation and air filtration. We also know that many of these viruses may seem mild in the short-term but can have serious long-term consequences (e.g. Epstein Barr may cause MS, measles can cause SSPE, and a number of viral infections can cause ME/CFS, to name just a few which will place an increasing burden on our already strained healthcare system. Recently, the New Brunswick provincial government committed to adopting ASHRAE 241 for all new NB Government buildings, including schools, and adhering to ASHRAE 62.1 standards for retrofits. They are also launching CO2 monitoring in all schools by June 2026. Now is the perfect time for Ontario to take similar steps and revive work on indoor air quality. If this government cares about accessibility and equitable access to quality education, changes must be made. Now would be an excellent time to change this government's legacy by tackling the conditions that continue the spread of illness. The cost of doing nothing is much greater than the cost of cleaning the air we breath. Sincerely, Diana Chard

Back on my bullshit. Adapted a letter from @popns.bsky.social and sent it to Douglas Ford, Paul Calandra, Sylvia Jones, my school board trustee and superintendent, MPP, and the principal of my child’s school.

This image describes the Canadian COVID Forecast for the fourteen-day period between Feb 28 - Mar 13, 2026, which is produced by COVID-19 Resources Canada. Ontario's COVID Forecast outlook is HIGH [increasing] with a COVID INDEX SCORE of 7.7 About 1 of every 82 people is infected. Estimated infections this week: 261,400-323,300 What these numbers mean: MODERATE 1-5, HIGH 5-10, VERY HIGH 10-15, SEVERE >15 COMPARED TO THE LOWEST POINT IN THE COVID PANDEMIC IN CANADA How much higher are key indicators compared to the lowest point in the COVID pandemic in Canada? Waste water, infections: HIGH; 7.8X higher Long COVID: HIGH; 5.9X higher Hospitalizations: HIGH; 7.4X higher Deaths: HIGH; 8.0X higher HOW TO HELP: EVERYONE: UPDATE vaccines every 6 months WEAR N95-type masks Who is HIGH RISK? People 60 and older, babies < 1 year, pregnant ALL AGES: immunocompromised OR medically at-risk OR no vaccine or infection in the last 6 months Recommendations are based on the COVID-19 Risk Index from the Peterborough ON Public Health Unit COVID-19 Resources Canada is a grassroots organization of volunteer scientists supporting Canadian COVID responses. Sources, data and methods for the COVID Index are available at www.Covid19Resources.ca

Canadian COVID Forecast Feb 28 - Mar 13, 2026

ONTARIO

HIGH [increasing]

About 1 of every 82 people is infected.

Compared to lowest point of pandemic in Canada:

-Infections: 7.8 x higher
-Long COVID: 5.9 x higher
-Hospitalizations: 7.4 x higher
-Deaths: 8.0 x higher

This image shows gauges with the Feb 28 - Mar 13, 2026 COVID Forecast scores for Canada, the provinces, and territories. From left to right: Canada: HIGH - 6.7 Alberta: HIGH - 6.5 British Columbia: MODERATE - 4.4 Manitoba: VERY HIGH - 10.0 New Brunswick: HIGH - 7.1 Newfoundland & Labrador: MODERATE - 4.7 North: HIGH - 6.7 Nova Scotia: HIGH - 6.0 Ontario: HIGH - 7.7 Prince Edward Island: MODERATE - 4.9 Quebec: HIGH - 6.6 Saskatchewan: HIGH - 8.1 A text box reads: 'The COVID Forecast is calculated from 3 equally weighted categories: 1) Current infections and spread; 2) Healthcare system impact; 3) Mortality. Within each category there is one sub-category for trends over the most recent week (Trends) and one sub-category for current parameter values relative to a specified baseline (Current values). Trends and current values are weighted equally when determining the final score for a category. All Forecast input data and sources are available here (https://datastudio.google.com/embed/u/0/reporting/42b886cf-d661-488e-b7d8-5c5836b55ab6/page/p_2yqs028mwc). Past Forecast scores are available in the table below. Forecast scores are grouped into 4 ranges: MODERATE (1 to <5, white), HIGH (6 to <10, yellow), VERY HIGH (10 to <15, orange), SEVERE (>15 red).'

Canadian COVID Forecast: Feb 28 - Mar 13, 2026

SEVERE: none
VERY HIGH: MB
HIGH: CAN, AB, NB, North, NS, ON, QC, SK
MODERATE: BC, NL, PEI

About 1 in 99 people in Canada are CURRENTLY infected.

Prescient

This (2020) is fascinating to read now:
"What is about to be unleashed on American society will be the greatest campaign ever created to get you to feel normal again. It will come from brands...from government...from each other...from the left and from the right."

archive.is/uiC06

Thanks for the input! I’m so discouraged by politics lately.

If only there were something we could do .....

I joined the federal NDP so I could vote in the leadership race but I don’t like any of the candidates 😭

💀

Confession: I’ve been using regular coffee beans to make espresso and I think it actually tastes better than most espresso made with standard espresso beans.

(1) Casey Means is a dreadful nominee and should not be confirmed.
(2) I don't have any desire to defend for-profit advertising of any kind.
(3) "Obesity is a national crisis" as a message both relies on and perpetuates bias against fat people.

Look at you @djroscoe.bsky.social! 🙌

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These fact sheets are for schools but might be helpful: www.usgbc.org/resources/sc...

So sorry for your loss.

Sad, but probably true.

‼️

He and Dr Phil can get in the fucking sea.

Sometimes I wonder if Oprah feels any remorse for unleashing this ghoul (and others) on society.

Remember when public health used to post notices about possible covid exposures and now it’s just everywhere all the time and no one cares.

Southeast Public Health investigating confirmed measles case in Kingston Southeast Public Health (SEPH) is advising residents of potential measles exposure at locations in Kingston re...

A new case of measles in Kingston www.inquinte.ca/2026/02/sout...

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