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COVID-19

You don’t have to be afraid but you have to stay at home – From the front line in Italy

Published

5 years ago

5 minute read

Dr. Daniele Maccini is a doctor on the front line of Italy’s fight against coronavirus 

This is from his Facebook post from late February which is just as COVID-19 began to devastate Italy’s health care system.  It has been translated from Italian.

Good morning everyone. For various reasons it’s been a lot since I posted on Facebook. But today I think it is useful to spend a page to share and ask you to share the words of a fellow common sense reanimator who in my opinion has been able to summarize a message that I would like to be transposed by everyone, regarding what is happening about the epidemic from Coronavirus Covid 19.

Therefore I quote:

” Coronavirus: we explain why you don’t have to be afraid but you have to stay at home.
I’m a CPR doctor and this is why I allow myself to explain why the State is making such drastic decisions.
The problem with Coronavirus is not its gravity, since it is only 10, or maybe 20 times more serious than the flu. Why is it more serious than flu?
It’s different, so we’re not very used to it;
Elders are not vaccinated.
So who is more at risk? The elders. As usual. Children much less, no serious paediatric cases are reported for the time being.
So why do we worry so much? Because it is MUCH MORE INFECTIVE than the flu, that means it is transmitted with enormous ease.
At this point let’s do some calculations so we can better understand what the problem is.

The Influence
As a rule, flu hits over a season, let’s assume in 5 months, about 10 % of the population. So it hits around 5 million Italians in the span of 30*5 = 150 days. Mortality is 0,1 %, so we have about 5000 deaths (almost all elderly) every year in 150 days. For each dead, we suppose we have about 4-5 patients in CPR, to keep us wide, and everyone should be put into ICU. We then put 25.000 people in ICU in 150 days, with an average inpatient of 7 days, which means 1000-2000 patients a day in ICU in Italy during the winter.
Let’s summarize:
Infectivity: 10 % potential (real data) = 50 million * 10 % = 5 million infected, many of them unaware.
Mortality: 0,1 % estimated = 5000 people in 150 days.
Critics: 5*0,1 % = 25.000 people in 150 days. so about 1000-2000 people in ICU a day due to flu.
The beds in ICU are for the province of Venice, where I live, about 60 out of 1 million inhabitants, so it could be about 4000 across Italy. This means that at worst case scenario patients with flu and its complications, i.e. pneumonia, occupy between 25 % and 50 % at maximum intensive therapies in Italy at peak.

The Coronavirus
Let’s see now what can happen with the Coronavirus. Let’s remember that the big difference is that Coronavirus is extremely more infectious and could infect us, instead of in 150 days, in 30-60 days. Suppose 60 days. Let’s remember that it can affect up to 60 % of the population, estimated data, so let’s do some calculations:
Infectivity: 60 % potential (estimated data) = 50 million * 60 % = 30 million infected, of which the vast majority unaware.
mortality: 1-2 % estimated = between 500.000 and 1.000.000 million people.
Critics: 5 % = 1.500.000 people in 60 days. so about 300.000 people in ICU.
But we only have 4000 beds! How can we put 300.000 people in ICU when we only have 4000 beds?
NOW YOU UNDERSTAND WHY YOU NEED TO BE HOME?
If you stay home, people get infected little by bit. Many don’t notice. The others, especially the elderly, but also some young people, we doctors and nurses take them, put them in ICU, treat them and return them to you. A little bit at a time.
If everyone leaves the house, the risk is that they will all get infected together and that we cannot manage them, with an important increase in mortality.
YOU DON ‘ T HAVE TO PANIC BUT TAKE IT SERIOUSLY. STAY HOME.

And above all, let me add, don’t come to the ER for futile reasons. We always say it but this time it’s even more important.”

So don’t be scared: each of you who will read this message has a very low probability of having big trouble from this infection, but try to behave so as to safeguard everyone’s good because there are many people (maybe even your acquaintances) who can instead risk a lot.

My endless date with self-isolation has led to some sobering realizations

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After 15 years as a TV reporter with Global and CBC and as news director of RDTV in Red Deer, Duane set out on his own 2008 as a visual storyteller. During this period, he became fascinated with a burgeoning online world and how it could better serve local communities. This fascination led to Todayville, launched in 2016.

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COVID-19

Court compels RCMP and TD Bank to hand over records related to freezing of peaceful protestor’s bank accounts

Published on July 4, 2025

By

Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms

The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms announces that a judge of the Ontario Court of Justice has ordered the RCMP and TD Bank to produce records relating to the freezing of Mr. Evan Blackman’s bank accounts during the 2022 Freedom Convoy protest.

Mr. Blackman was arrested in downtown Ottawa on February 18, 2022, during the federal government’s unprecedented use of the Emergencies Act. He was charged with mischief and obstruction, but he was acquitted of these charges at trial in October 2023. 

However, the Crown appealed Mr. Blackman’s acquittal in 2024, and a new trial is scheduled to begin on August 14, 2025. 

Mr. Blackman is seeking the records concerning the freezing of his bank accounts to support an application under the Charter at his upcoming retrial.

His lawyers plan to argue that the freezing of his bank accounts was a serious violation of his rights, and are asking the court to stay the case accordingly.

“The freezing of Mr. Blackman’s bank accounts was an extreme overreach on the part of the police and the federal government,” says constitutional lawyer Chris Fleury.

“These records will hopefully reveal exactly how and why Mr. Blackman’s accounts were frozen,” he says.

Mr. Blackman agreed, saying, “I’m delighted that we will finally get records that may reveal why my bank accounts were frozen.” 

This ruling marks a significant step in what is believed to be the first criminal case in Canada involving a proposed Charter application based on the freezing of personal bank accounts under the Emergencies Act. 

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Alberta

COVID mandates protester in Canada released on bail after over 2 years in jail

Published on July 4, 2025

By

Chris Carbert (right) and Anthony Olienick, two of the Coutts Four were jailed for over two years for mischief and unlawful possession of a firearm for a dangerous purpose.

From LifeSiteNews

By Clare Marie Merkowsky

The “Coutts Four” were painted as dangerous terrorists and their arrest was used as justification for the invocation of the Emergencies Act by the Trudeau government, which allowed it to use draconian measures to end both the Coutts blockade and the much larger Freedom Convoy

COVID protestor Chris Carbert has been granted bail pending his appeal after spending over two years in prison.

On June 30, Alberta Court of Appeal Justice Jo-Anne Strekaf ordered the release of Chris Carbert pending his appeal of charges of mischief and weapons offenses stemming from the Coutts border blockade, which protested COVID mandates in 2022.

“[Carbert] has demonstrated that there is no substantial likelihood that he will commit a criminal offence or interfere with the administration of justice if released from detention pending the hearing of his appeals,” Strekaf ruled.

“If the applicant and the Crown are able to agree upon a release plan and draft order to propose to the court, that is to be submitted by July 14,” she continued.

Carbert’s appeal is expected to be heard in September. So far, Carbert has spent over two years in prison, when he was charged with conspiracy to commit murder during the protest in Coutts, which ran parallel to but was not officially affiliated with the Freedom Convoy taking place in Ottawa.

Later, he was acquitted of the conspiracy to commit murder charge but still found guilty of the lesser charges of unlawful possession of a firearm for a dangerous purpose and mischief over $5,000.

In September 2024, Chris Carbert was sentenced to six and a half years for his role in the protest. However, he is not expected to serve his full sentence, as he was issued four years of credit for time already served. Carbert is also prohibited from owning firearms for life and required to provide a DNA sample.

Carbert was arrested alongside Anthony Olienick, Christopher Lysak and Jerry Morin, with the latter two pleading guilty to lesser charges to avoid trial. At the time, the “Coutts Four” were painted as dangerous terrorists and their arrest was used as justification for the invocation of the Emergencies Act by the Trudeau government, which allowed it to use draconian measures to end both the Coutts blockade and the much larger Freedom Convoy occurring thousands of kilometers away in Ottawa.

Under the Emergency Act (EA), the Liberal government froze the bank accounts of Canadians who donated to the Freedom Convoy. Trudeau revoked the EA on February 23 after the protesters had been cleared out. At the time, seven of Canada’s 10 provinces opposed Trudeau’s use of the EA.

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