|
Introduction |
Should the German people renounce the chance of growing stronger and of securing elbow room for their sons and daughters, because fifty or three hundred years ago some tribe of Negros exterminated its predecessors or expelled them or sold them into slavery, and has lived its useless existence on a strip of land where ten thousand German families may have a flourishing existence and thus strengthen the very sap of our people? - Dr. Paul Rohrback,
Der Deutsche Gedanke in der Welt, 1912.
Imperialism is often a sadly contentious topic. A system which brought racism and death on such a scale ought to be entirely repudiated. Yet, in 2020 there are still holdouts. Popularly there are figures such as Niall Ferguson or Jacob Rees-Mogg who play apologetics for the British Empire. While the defense of the British Empire forwarded by figures such as these is disgusting, my aim today is to talk about a different kind of Imperialistic defense that often centers around conceptions of the German Empire. This defense of Imperialism is dangerous as it whitewashes the past and the very real pain caused by Imperial Germany. The conception of German Imperialism being less harsh or severe than that of other powers is rooted in the idea that their colonies were not large and that they didn’t control the colonies for very long. Make no mistake, German Imperialism was not kind. It was not benign. It led to famine, suffering, and even genocide.
Whataboutism is not a defense for this. It does not matter if other Imperial states were also committing atrocities. It does not make any of them better and is in effect utilizing black suffering to silence criticism of white Europeans.
The title quote comes from the final episode of 1989’s Blackadder Goes Fourth, a comedy series set in the First World War written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton. Blackadder and his comrades were having a discussion as to why they were fighting when the patriotic and misguided character George spoke up that it was about German “Empire Building”. Captain Blackadder, our main character, responds that German Imperialism couldn’t have been the cause as the German Empire contained only a “a small sausage factory in Tanganyika” but also that the British had been building an Empire. The purpose of this dialogue was to highlight at least some of the “slither into war” historiography and assign “blame” equally for the war. The July Crisis historiography that Blackadder plays with is not today’s subject. It’s Blackadder’s defense of the German Empire that is and what that defense represents.
|
The German Empire |
I see tomorrow a great future brought to Germany, I see my Fatherland at the height of its power as the Empire of Europe – a goal we can all be happy to die for. - A young character in a piece of First World War German youth literature
What exactly is an Empire? I subscribe to the definition used by Robert Gerwarth & Erez Manela for their edited volume
Empires at War: 1911-1923 which defines Empire as “an inclusive and open concept that describes a polity whose territories and populations are arranged and governed hieratically in relation to the imperial center”. Put in simpler terms it means a “state” which has organized colonies and peoples in a hierarchy which places the metropole at its core, with the colonial possessions (of all stripes) supporting the metropole. This definition allows us to move past the simple conception of needing overseas colonies and allows us to truly consider states such as Austria-Hungary as an Empire. It also allows for us to view the German Empire in Europe in that same mode.
|
Breadth of Empire |
The world is being divided … With time we will inevitably need more space; only by the sword will we be able to get it. It will be up to our generation to achieve this. It is a matter of our existence. - Leutnant Franz Xavier von Epp, en route to South West Africa in 1904
Put simply, Germany’s empire wasn’t just a single “sausage factory”. Its overseas colonies included: parts of Papua New Guinea, German Marianas, Samoa, Togo, Cameroon, modern day Namibia, modern day Tanzania, among other modern states. The population of these combined overseas colonies was well over 11 million people. Its continental Empire had a population of over 64 million people, with at least 2.4 million being ethnically Polish and during the First World War, with their conquests in the East, the Germans would increasingly treat Eastern Europe as a space of colonization. Additionally, regions such as Alsace-Lorraine were treated in a manner similar to colonies. It is safe to say that the German Empire the metropole ruled over millions of Colonial subjects. A common point about the German Empire is that it was not important as it did not provide much economically to the Reich, however, as Heather Jones argues – this is a limited interpretation that ignores the strategic and symbolic value such an overseas Empire had.
|
Common Defenses of German Imperialism |
The German actions in German SW Africa were heavy handed, but A) not in line with how other German colonies were managed, indicating that the Herero genocide was more a reflection of the local military commander than policy, B) There was significant disapproval of this outcome in Berlin, and C) Sadly, not all that remarkable in the context of general European conduct in African colonies - Reddit user in a deleted AskHistorians answer
Some common defenses of the German Empire include
the empire was small and that they were denied what was rightfully theirs echoing the rhetoric of German colonial advocates in the 19th and 20th Century. Contemporaneously this is clearly rooted in the idea that Germany’s empire wasn’t large, historically it was rooted in the competition over overseas colonies, coaling stations, trade, etc…
But what about those who do know about German colonies say?
The former colonies would have been better off as German colonies and that the Germans only made some “mistakes”. This is denialism of imperial crimes.
This meme implies that Alsace-Lorraine was rightfully German, rather than an area with a distinct ethnic heritage and completely ignores both contemporary German views of Alsatians and Lorrainers
and views of Alsatians and Lorrainers themselves.
Looking to expand the Empire makes the Kaiser a “chad”, while King Georg V is a “virgin” for not expanding the British Empire (this is problematic in regards to the British Empire as well).
Neo-Nazis openly waving the Imperial flags and symbols around are great for people who defend the German Empire. The Herero-Nama Genocide gets brought up?
Well, the British were worse you see (and the fun Genocide Olympics that followed).
It is safe to say that people continue to defend the German Empire in 2020. They utilize a variety of methods in their defense, most of them rooted in the idea that German Colonies were not that large or “that bad”, and if that fails the defense falls back on whataboutism. Here I provided examples of whataboutism being provided in regards to both the British and Belgians. So lets talk about that supposedly small, and not as bad as other Empires, the German Empire.
|
Southwest and East Africa |
I gladly express to you that you have to the fullest extent justified my faith in your knowledge and military experience, which moved me to appoint you as the commander of the Schutztruppe in South West Africa in difficult times. I wish to express my Imperial gratitude and my warm acknowledgement of your excellent accomplishment by conferring on you the award, Pour le Mérite.... - Kaiser Wilhelm II on awarding General von Trotha the Pour le Mérite.
One of the saddest events in German colonial history is the Herero-Nama Genocide that was conducted from 1904-1907. The German government only recognized it as such fairly recently, in 2015, but it was long overdue. The Herero peoples rose up against the German colonists due to the cruel punishments, rape, and murder that were commonplace towards the Herero people. In response, General Lothar von Trotha was posted to South-West Africa and he intended to kill every last Herero man, woman, and child. This is his “extermination order”.
I, the great general of the German soldiers, send this letter to the Hereros. The Hereros are German subjects no longer. They have killed, stolen, cut off the ears and other parts of the body of wounded soldiers, and now are too cowardly to want to fight any longer. I announce to the people that whoever hands me one of the chiefs shall receive 1,000 marks, and 5,000 marks for Samuel Maherero. The Herero nation must now leave the country. If it refuses, I shall compel it to do so with the 'long tube' (cannon). Any Herero found inside the German frontier, with or without a gun or cattle, will be executed. I shall spare neither women nor children. I shall give the order to drive them away and fire on them. Such are my words to the Herero people
While Von Trotha would clarify that they weren’t to shoot at the women and children, they were only to drive them into the Omeheke desert where they would die of starvation and thirst. His intent was to murder the entirety of the Herero people. In practice, the orders were interpreted to even include the murder of women and children. Hendrik Campell, a Baster man in command of a troop of Basters working with the Germans witnessed, as an example,yhea (Content Warning for graphic description)
After the fight was over, we discovered eight or nine sick Herero women who had been left behind. Some of them were blind. Water and food was left with them. The German soldiers burnt them alive in the hut in which they were laying.. This was typical of the mass murder seen in South-West Africa. Additionally, “Racial Science” intersected with the Genocide as German Anthropologists raced to study the dying Herero and Nama peoples. Herero women were forced to clean the skulls of dead Herero people, so that they could be shipped back to Germany and studied. Other “scientists” studied the Herero in the concentration camps, as they were dying of disease and starvation.
A common argument about the Herero-Nama genocide is that the German Government and Kaiser were unaware of what was going on. That is false. Firstly, General von Trotha was brought to South-West Africa due to his reputation of brutality in East Africa. Secondly, even if the order did not directly come from the Kaiser (and there is debate over whether or not it did), the German government knew the genocide was ongoing and continued to give Von Trotha what he requested. The German General staff told the German Chancellor, at the time Bernhard von Bülow, that “His [Von Trotha’s] plans to wipe out the entire nation or to drive them out of the country are meeting with our approval”. Jeremy Sarkin quotes Jan-Bart Gewald as saying that the ‘personal involvement of the German Kaiser Wilhelm II, in deciding how the war was to be fought in German South West Africa, signaled the highest authorization and endorsement for acts committed in the name of Imperial Germany’. The Imperial German government is responsible for Genocide.
Genocidal actions were not just limited to South-West Africa, however. Even in other parts of the German Empire, actions which bordered on the line of Genocidal occurred. In response to the “Maji-Maji” Rebellion in 1905, the German leadership instituted a scorched earth policy which led to lasting famine, an estimated 300,000 Africans died as a result. Even before this war, which constituted the interests of 120 ethnic groups of African peoples, the Germans were extremely harsh in East Africa. Between 1891 and 1897 there were a total of
sixty-one “penal expeditions” carried out by Colonial military forces, and not always with authorization. These expeditions included public executions of Africans, public beatings, and the public chaining of prisoners. The violence was not curbed before the First World War, and in fact in many cases rose. There were 315 cases of violent public punishment in Cameroon in 1900. In 1913 that had risen to 4,800 cases. The authors of
German Colonialism: A Concise History argue that the official figures were likely higher in both periods.
In Africa, German Colonialism was not just a “sausage factory” in Tanganikyia. It constituted a massive amount of land where the German colonists ruled over a massive number of African peoples. German rule was at times genocidal, and always brutal. This can not be downplayed. It can not be made into a “whatabout” argument. The facts of German colonialism need to be tackled head on.
German Colonialism was not just limited to Africa.
|
Alsace-Lorraine |
If you are attacked, then make use of your weapon; if you stab such a Wackes in the process, then you'll get ten marks from me. – Leutnant Günter Freiherr von Forstner, 1914
Alsace-Lorraine was taken by the German Empire at the end of the Franco-Prussian war. It was not on the road to “full integration” with the Reich, and was treated in many ways as a colony. Alan Kramer argues that Alsace-Lorrainers would have preferred republican autonomy, which was impossible under German rule. The Germans prohibited the speaking of the Alsatian dialect in schools, even in private, and there was a perceived lack of French language instruction. The "Wackes" were looked down upon by German authorities, epitomized in the infamous “Zabern Affair” of 1913. During the First World War Alsace-Lorrainers were treated as unreliable and potentially treasonous, and within the territory civil liberties were suspended. It was treated similarly to occupied enemy territory and not as “German Clay”.
Alsace-Lorraine then, can be broadly construed as a “colony” of Imperial Germany. It and its citizens were treated as lesser and they were not given the autonomy that many Alsace-Lorrainers felt they should have had. The German Empire existed both close to home, and far abroad. However, Alsace-Lorraine was treated lightly compared to Germany’s other European colonies.
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Eastern Europe and Ober Ost |
Exactly as in the days of our medieval colonization, even today the superiority of the German plow is evident over the un-German [undeutschen] ‘Hake.’ The Lithuanian ‘Zocha,’ only a hook covered with iron, must make way for the swing plow introduced from Germany. - Ober Ost Press Department, 1917
Eastern Europe would be marked forever by the policy of Genocide and Colonialism that the Nazi state embarked on in 1939. However, even before this there had been attempts by the Imperial German state to effectively “colonize” Eastern European lands and bring with them “kultur” to enlighten the native peoples. The fact that the German state and military administration looked down on the people of Eastern Europe is clear, embodied by one official stating “Human life does not count for much in Russia”.
In areas of Imperial Germany inhabited by the Polish, the German state embarked on a policy of “internal colonization” in which the “east” was viewed similarly to the “Wild West” in the United States. 120,000 Ethnic Germans were settled on land bought by the Government in the “Prussian East”. This number, while it may seem small, was many more than the number of Ethnic Germans who had settled in other regions of the German Empire. It was here that Lebensraum was born, and that Ludendorff wished to “ethnically cleanse” the “Polish Border Strip” to make way for German settlers. This would involve forcing 2 million ethnic Polish and Jewish persons from their homes. He envisioned, somehow, of causing this mass of people to “emigrate to the United States”. Adam Tooze argues that this was because Ludendorff assumed that the war would not be the last, and that there would be an even larger confrontation with the western powers. A Colonial view of the “East” started to take shape, and the Ober Ost regime has been described as “proto-colonial”.
The goals of Ober-Ost were twofold and entirely colonial. The first was economic extraction for the better of the German Reich and war machine. Lumber, horses, domesticated animals, and crops were all requisitioned for the German Empire. The other half was the “civilizing” mission where the peoples of Eastern Europe would be enlightened and lifted up through German civilization and culture, one extreme example being the “sanitary police” that would inspect people’s homes for cleanliness as one of the stereotypes the Germans had was that of Eastern Europeans being naturally dirty and unclean. Ludendorff, showcasing how Eastern Europeans were viewed, once remarked “the poor, lice-infested Lithuanian towns”.
Indeed, beyond simply viewing the natives of Eastern Europe as unwashed masses, they viewed them as backwards, “parasitic and incapable of real work”. The Ober Ost administration proclaimed “
If one could breed the people to order, cleanliness, honesty, punctuality, and duty (which is not the least of the problems faced here, which would have to be taken up and will not be easy and simple to solve) this area could become a bread basket of wheat and cattle, wood and wool, of the very highest value”.
Vejas Gabriel Lulevicius wrote that,
According to Kurland’s chief, this was the last chance in world history to ‘‘create truly German land.’’ Kurland ‘‘was ideal settlement land,’’ which ‘‘we now only need to hold and populate in order to possess a new, complete, and valuable piece of Germany!’’
Ober Ost was as colonial as one could get and was marked by colonial practices towards native inhabitants. Forced labor, better called slavery, was the norm. From 1916, all men and women, including the elderly and sick, were subject to being called up for forced labor. If you refused, you were imprisoned for 5 years. The administration had the right to draft these forced laborers “without pay”, which was often done. Furthermore, these laborers were often “rounded up in raids”.
Forced laborers were made to work on a starvation diet – being fed 250 grams of bred and a liter of soup. Disease was rampant and they were forced to work in the cold without suitable clothing. They lived in unheated barracks and were locked in at night. Many of these forced laborers died as a result of the conditions. While these forced labor battalions were formally dissolved at the end of September 1917, many continued to operate as they had been designated as “volunteers”. This was the experienced of civilians under German occupation in Eastern Europe.
Forced labor was not the only mark of German rule in the proto-colonial east. An unequal system of law was also the norm. In Lithuania, the natives were held to a 1903 Russian legal code – but it was administered in German which the Lithuanians more often than not didn’t speak. On the other hand, Germans were held to German law. Additionally, the German judges were not held to precedent and procedure, and more often than not was simply enforcing the orders of the Ober Ost administration. Some of these orders including regulating days that baking could occur, curfews, movement, and even cleanliness. Many did not understand what they were being punished for, as the orders were not translated at first. Eventually, they were, but the translations were notoriously bad (on infamous one read “The German excrement shitted” instead of “The German court judged”).
However, the Ober Ost administration solved this by having laws go into effect as soon as they appeared in German, an understanding by the native populations was not necessary. Non-Germans faced crippling fines for minor infractions and death sentences infractions such as owning a weapon. Public corporal punishment of men and women was frequent, and those arrested faced torture in prison by the German gendarmes who were led by General Rochus Schmidt, a former colonial soldier. Many of the gendarmes were older soldiers, and they were infamously abusive, many people were whisked away to prison for months without charge.
Ober Ost constitutes a major part of the German Empire. While not as infamous as other aspects of German colonialism, it is another point against the idea that the German Empire was small, and that it was relatively harmless. Those under the occupation of the Central Powers during the First World War were not treated well, and this is a pattern derived, at least in part, from Colonial concepts of conquest and rule.
|
Conclusion |
Its really the other way around. Germany was compared to other colonizers pretty fair and not that brutal. They even spent more on the colonies than they got out of it. Germanys colonial interests werent so big either way. Its similar to eastern Europe. They wantet the coal and the food of that region. No interests in terrorising the people or settling there - Reddit user, November 2020.
German Imperialism was not, as Captain Blackadder once uttered, simply limited to a “small sausage factory”. It was not any kinder or gentler than other Imperial powers. It committed Genocide. It oppressed peoples in Africa, Eastern Europe, the Pacific, and Asia. There needs to be a fundamental reworking of how German imperialism is discussed in popular discourse. Many can claim that the German Empire wasn’t as bad as the Nazis, but that’s about as low of a bar as you can get. One of the themes that ran through German colonialism was that of
Lebensraum, first coined in 1901 but as a theory had developed in the 1890s. The idea of forging a new “Volk”, whether in Africa or the East was prominent among Colonial advocates. This idea would later be picked up by the Nazi party, and there were many colonialists who became ranking members of the Nazi party. It’s dangerous to view the German Empire as small and almost pointless, because the truth of the very real suffering it brought is silenced.
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Sources |
- Beatty, Jack, The Lost History of 1914: Reconsidering the Year the Great War Began, Walker Publishing Company, 2012.
- Conrad, Sebastian, German Colonialism: A Short History, Cambridge University Press, 2012.
- Gerwarth, Robert & Erez Manela, “Introduction”, Empires at War: 1911-1923, eds. Robert Gerwarth & Erez Manela, Oxford University Press, 2014.
- Jones, Heather, “The German Empire”, Empires at War: 1911-1923, eds. Robert Gerwarth & Erez Manela, Oxford University Press, 2014.
- Kramer, Alan, Dynamic of Destruction: Culture and Mass Killing in the First World War, Oxford University Press, 2007.
- Kramer, Alan, "Wackes at war: Alsace-Lorraine and the failure of German national mobilization, 1914–1918", State, Society and Mobilization in Europe during the First World War, ed. John Horne, Cambridge University Press, 1997
- Liulevicius, Veja Gabriel, War Land on the Eastern Front: Culture, National Identity and Germany Occupation in World War I, Cambridge University Press, 2000.
- Olusoga, David & Casper W. Erichsen, The Kaiser’s Holocaust: Germany’s Forgotten Genocide, Faber and Faber, 2010.
- Sarkin, Jeremey, Germany’s Genocide of the Herero: Kaiser Wilhelm II, His General, His Settlers, His soldiers, Boydell & Brewer, 2011.
- Tooze, Adam, The Deluge: The Great War, America and the Remaking of the Global Order 19616-1931, Penguin Books, 2015.
I live in South Africa. For the past 2 weeks or so, the 'new variant' narrative has been shoved down our throats as well as 'second wave will continue for another month or so'.
We have various levels of lockdown. At the moment we are in level 3 (which also prohibits alcohol). We have a curfew which starts at 9pm and ends at 5am (up until Monday it ended at 6am). Usually this time of the year, we are outside in the fresh air. There are SO many recreational OUTDOOR activities across SA especially where I live. We have beaches that go on for fucking days, now we cannot even set foot at them. Yet this for me is a 'first world problem' compared to the even poorer communites around me.
In my country, Gender Based Violence and murders are so frequent and expected, yet when there was an outcry for govt to do something they just fucking did nothing. They literally found a body of a 3 year old around the corner from my workplace shoved in a plastic bag after she had been brutally raped in her own home by someone she knew and govt still did fuck all.
I am SO pissed that a country like ours, where we have faced countless atrocities in the not so distant past have given over their liberties to the government once again.
There are just not enough safe places for our kids here, most are now stuck with their abusers and it pains me that there are even fewer options for them now.
Fuck the vaccine, save our fucking kids.
submitted by UPDATE – 26 January 2021 COVID has been in Canada for
one year now.
The strange case of the CEO in disguise to get vaccine for himself.
COVID-19
tax tips.
COVID-19 and
the world of work – the International Labor Organization.
A breakdown of cases among
healthcare workers.
If you’re having trouble regulating life while working from home, the fake commute might be for you, have a look:
https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/18/success/fake-commute-meaning-benefits-pandemic-wellness/index.html “For the many who have been doing your part, you may be asking, what more can I do? Be the voice of support and encouragement for those who may be wavering in their resolve.” – Dr. Bonnie Henry.
Feel free to share this post, or copy and paste, in whole or any part of it.
LOCAL: ·
82 cases among New West residents in the previous week
. ·
No new school exposures in New Westminster since that of the Queensborough Middle School on January 11th.
·
Current outbreaks: Royal City Manor, declared Jan 21; Royal Columbian Hospital, declared Jan 20.
·
The Rio Theatre in Vancouver has converted into a sports bar.
· The theatre is dealing with a full closure of movie theatres. But as restaurants and bars can remain open with safety protocols, the theatre is seeking other ways to do business. The move does show that the Rio cannot do business as a theatre right now, but can meet the safety requirements to operate as a sports bar.
· There are differences though. The theatre has to actually meet the requirements for a bar, such as taking orders from people’s seats rather than allowing a line-up at the concession.
· The move has stirred controversy, with some decrying the Rio as finding a loophole while the basic lay-out is still that of a theatre, with narrow entryways and tiny washrooms. Others welcome the move as innovative, a way for a theatre to survive during the closure.
Sources: CBC, Global News, Fraser Health
PROVINCIAL: ·
The strange case of the CEO in disguise. · Vancouver couple Rod and Ekaterina Baker were fined $575 after sneaking into the Yukon to try to get the vaccine for themselves.
· The couple posed as local motel workers.
· The clinic at Beaver Creek normally has one nurse and a receptionist, but a team of six was flown in to do vaccinations. Beaver Creek was chosen because “of its remoteness, elderly and population, and limited access to health care,” said Chief Angela Demit of the White River First Nation in Beaver Creek.
·
The story of the wealthy executive trying to get vaccine intended for remote elderly First Nations people has not gone over well. · Rod Baker is the Chief Executive Officer of Great Canadian Gaming, since 2011, where he earns $900,000 per year as salary, but last year also made $45.9 million from company stock options.. The company announced his resignation yesterday. The gambling company cited it’s “core values.” Ekaterina Baker is an actor, but not apparently a good enough one to fool Yukon officials. The couple chartered a flight to the Yukon.
· “We had not been imagining that someone would go to this length to mislead or deceive.” John Streicker, Yukon’s Minister of Community Services.
· The manager of the 1202 Motor Inn, where the couple claimed to work, was also rather upset. “That’s a risk (serving travellers) that we take – not a risk that somebody enforces upon us because they are too ignorant.” Staff at the Beaver Creek clinic found the couple suspicious, and phoned the motel to check on their story. While at the clinic and pretending to live and work in town, the couple rather oddly asked if anyone could drive them to the airport afterwards.
· Story from the Globe and Mail:
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-great-canadian-gaming-ceo-resigns-after-being-charged-in-yukon-ove?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Coronavirus%20Update&utm_content=2021-1-25_19&utm_term=Coronavirus%20Update:%20Great%20Canadian%20Gaming%20CEO%20resigns%20after%20alleged%20botched%20disguise%20as%20Yukon%20motel%20worker%20in%20attempt%20to%20get%20COVID-19%20vaccine&utm_campaign=newsletter&cu_id=czq7hF%2BueFDcmmCKozRUQ1bduJl6paGe ·
Ekaterina Baker is known for acting in productions such as Chick Fight, Fatman, The Asset, and The Comeback Trail, and as producer of Big Gold Brick. · IMDB page:
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm9698063/ ·
BC has adopted a four phase vaccination plan.
·
Phase 1, December to February: Residents, staff, essential visitors with long-term care and assisted living; people waiting for long-term care; people in remote Indigenous communities and hospital workers caring for patients with COVID-19.
·
Phase 2, February to March: Seniors over 80; Indigenous seniors over 65, Indigenous elders; more health-care workers; vulnerable populations and nursing-home staff.
·
Phase 3, April to June: Members of the general public aged 60 to 79.
·
Phase 4, July to September: Members of the general public aged 18 to 59.
· Premier John Horgan says the plan is based on those who get most sick, and those most likely to die, so priority goes to the elderly and vulnerable, and those who work around them.
· The Premier said multiple groups argued that they were front-line workers and so should get priority. But with vaccine supply limited, it didn’t seem to make sense to vaccinate people on the basis of their job, like being a front-line worker, ahead people ahead of seniors or those more likely to be hospitalized or to die. Health care workers are not only the most likely to be exposed, but they also work with and have direct contact with patients and the vulnerable.
· Here is a good article with the numbers and the rationale behind the priorities:
https://www.newwestrecord.ca/local-news/opinion-elderly-should-get-covid-19-vaccine-before-bc-teachers-3291898 · The dates might vary, depending on supply.
·
Covid cases in BC have plateaued to an average of 500 per day.
· Dr. Bonnie Henry said that the number is still dangerously high. “For the last few weeks, we have plateaued at 500 new cases. This is too many. We are at a precipice. The virus continues to circulate in our communities. We are at the threshold of where we were in late October and November when cases started to rise.”
· “Over the next two week, I believe we can bend our curve. Not just plateau, but bend it back down…. More than you’ve done before, stay home, stop social interactions.”
·
B.C. will receive no new doses of vaccine over the next two weeks. It is not sure how much will be received in February.
·
Over the past three days – Saturday, Sunday, Monday: · 1,344 new cases. 618 of those in Fraser Health. 527 reported on Saturday, 472 on Sunday, 346 on Monday. 64,828 cases to date.
· 26 new deaths. 1,154 total.
· 4,392 active cases.
· 57,831 recovered.
· 11 outbreaks in long-term care declared over.
· 6 cases of the UK variant in BC, 3 cases of the South Africa variant. No community transmission of the UK variant, but the South Africa variant cases are not connected to travel and are being investigated. Dr. Henry: “I’m very concerned. I’m concerned that if those variants start to spread, it’s just going to make our job that much more difficult.”
· 119,850 doses of vaccine administered to date.
·
New numbers for Tuesday: · 14 new deaths. 1,168 total.
· 407 new cases. 65,234 total. (Comparison: a high of 911 cases happened for Nov 27).
· 313 hospitalized, 71 in intensive care. (A high of 381 were hospitalized on January 6th).
· 4,260 active cases.
· 6,450 in self-isolation.
· 58,352 recovered.
· 122,359 doses of vaccine administered to date. 4,105 are second doses.
· No new outbreaks, one outbreak declared over.
· Dr. Bonnie Henry:
“For the many who have been doing your part, you may be asking, what more can I do? Be the voice of support and encouragement for those who may be wavering in their resolve.” · New restriction may be necessary if the number begins to climb again.
· 4,850 cases among health care workers, from January 2020 to 15 January 2021. About 8% of cases.
· From January to December 17th 2020, care aides had the highest number of cases among healthcare workers at 1,193 or 24.6%. Nurses were second at 833 or 17.2%. Below are the ten highest number of cases by healthcare worker category.
· 1,193 – care aids.
· 833 – nurse.
· 304 – licensed practical nurse.
· 280 – administration.
· 177 – housekeeping.
· 156 – dental professional.
· 151 – physician.
· 149 – kitchen staff, dietary aid, food services.
· 91 – occupational therapist, physiotherapist, respiratory therapist.
· 75 – student.
· The document is here:
http://www.bccdc.ca/Health-Info-Site/Documents/COVID_sitrep/COVID19_healthcare_workers_2021_01_15.pdf ·
BC has has opened 3 clinics for people with longer term Covid symptoms.
· Located at St. Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver General, and the Outpatient Care and Surgery Centre in Surrey.
· Some people still have symptoms months after the start of the disease. Of patients who were hospitalized in BC, after three months half still had breathing issues. About 20% have permanent lung scarring.
· The St. Paul’s clinic already has 160 patients.
·
Nanaimo Regional Hospital has had an outbreak.
· Two staff and a patient tested positive.
· Limited to the 4th Floor on the east wing.
·
A homeless shelter in Surrey has had an outbreak.
· 2 staff and 24 clients test positive.
· The Surrey Emergency Response Centre was set up to make more shelter available to homeless people during the pandemic.
Sources: CBC, New Westminster Record, Globe and Mail, BC Centre for Disease Control.
NATIONAL: ·
Worked from home during Covid-19? Be sure to check out these tax tips:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/accountants-break-down-tips-for-working-from-home-expenses-1.5872477 ·
Covid has been in Canada for one year now, starting back on the 25th of January, 2020, with one case in Toronto.
· Long-terms care homes are particularly hard hit, and it continues to be so that care homes are getting outbreaks.
· From the CBC, “What we’re seeing in the long-term care facilities just demonstrates, unfortunately, years and years of neglect.”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/covid-19-ontario-canada-first-case-one-year-1.5884630 · In those early days, the public was generally told in Canada that the risk was low, and that people should not wear masks, and emphasized into March that there was no community spread.
· In late February, community transmission was evidenced in the U.S., and people returning to Canada from the U.S. began to show Covid. The halt to non-essential travel, on the land border, came on March 20.
·
Canada is considering more travel restrictions, says the Canadian government.
· 143 flights have arrived in Canada in past two weeks with confirmed Covid cases. Deputy Prime Minister Freeland has assured, “We are considering the issue very, very seriously.”
· In this story, you can see where Canadians are flying during the pandemic. There sure seems to be a lot of urgent need to travel to places that happen to be warm vacation spots:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/freeland-travel-restrictions-1.5887163 ·
There is an 8 p.m. curfew in Montreal, and that is hard on the city’s homeless people.
· Homeless people have seen a dramatic reduction in help since the pandemic began. Shelters have to have social distancing, if they are safe to open at all.
· The province has refused to exempt homeless people from the curfew. People who break the curfew are subject to fines that start at $1,000 and can go up to $6,000. Premier Legault says making an exception for homeless people could cause people to pretend to be homeless.
· Some shelters have been forced to close altogether, because they can’t meet the requirements.
· Story:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/montreal-homeless-covid-curfew-1.5880946 ·
90 “adverse events following immunization,” 0.015% of the 601,901 doses administered as of January 9th 2021.
· 63 were non-serious, 0.010%. This includes things like a skin rash.
· 27 were serious, 0.004%. In Canada, this includes a wide range of symptoms from headache to nausea to anaphylaxis.
· Learn about the Canada Adverse Events Following Immunization Surveillance System (CAEFISS) here:
https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/immunization/canadian-adverse-events-following-immunization-surveillance-system-caefiss.html · Here is where the numbers are updated every Friday (but not consistently):
https://health-infobase.canada.ca/covid-19/vaccine-safety/#seriousNonSerious ·
Manitoba is now requiring a 14 day quarantine for non-essential travel from other parts of Canada. · The move is being made to attempt to prevent new variants of Covid-19 from entering the province.
· Applies to air and land travel.
· Includes Manitobans who are returning to the province from elsewhere.
Sources: CBC, Toronto Star, Public Health Canada
INTERNATIONAL: ·
The world is experiencing Covid-somnia – an epidemic of insomnia.
· Insomnia is now at one-quarter of the population in the UK, and at 40% in Italy and Greece.
· There is concern that this is affecting people’s health in other ways.
· Work productivity is also affected.
· A University of Ottawa study of
health care workers in 55 countries and 190,000 people showed that depression, anxiety, and PTSD have all risen at least 15% since the start of the pandemic. Insomnia has risen by over 23%.
· People are advised to seek help, which many are not as people avoid medical services, or those services are unavailable. Seeking help is important, because sleep issues over time can become and ongoing sleep disorder. “Tele-health” now makes treatment more available despite the pandemic.
· Working and using screens in bed is a big part of it. The recommendation is to use your bed only as a place of sleep.
· Full article:
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210121-the-coronasomnia-phenomenon-keeping-us-from-getting-sleep ·
Vaccine delays are happening around the world.
· Canada is receiving zero doses this week.
· Health workers who were scheduled for vaccination were mostly notified by email of their cancellations.
· In Canada, 50% of doses will be delayed for up to four weeks, up to 400,000 doses delayed.
· Restoration of supply will happen in the European union before it happens in Canada. Pfizer explained this as differing contract deals but did not reveal details. Europe has also threatened to sue Pfizer for breach of contracts, and threatened to abandon Pfizer altogether as a supplier, perhaps in doing so catching the company’s attention.
· Pfizer and AstraZeneca say they will catch up to their commitments in the Spring. Pfizer says their delay is due to changing production systems, so a short-term shut down for a greater number of people vaccinated more rapidly overall. Pfizers says that they are upgrading to be able to produce 2 billion doses per year, from the current 1.3 billion. AstraZeneca has not given details.
· UPDATED: The Pfizer production facility in question is in Belgium. The
European Union has threatened to ban exports of the vaccine if commitments to Europe are not met. The company is attempting to distribute the problem in the world somewhat equitably. If Europe followed through on the threat, that could mean delays for other countries would be longer, including Canada, which is served by the Belgium facility.
· The UK, having had Brexit and pulled out of the European Union, has realized that they, too, would be one of those outside countries. The UK, somewhat ironically, is now arguing against nationalism as government policy, referring to what they called “the dead end of vaccine nationalism.”
· The World Health Organization’s Covax program, to distribute vaccine around the world fairly to low-income countries, has not been affected, some good news in the mix. The Covax problem is still on schedule, as its vaccine supply is produced in India and South Korea. The program has also received a substantial boost, following US President Joe Biden’s decision to contribute $4 billion to the program.
·
The CDC in the US says that allergic reactions to the vaccine are extremely rare.
· Out of 4 million given the Moderna vaccine, 10 had severe allergic reactions.
· Moderna – 2.5 per million doses have severe allergic reactions.
· Pfizer – 11.1 per million.
· Normal flu vaccine – 1.3 per million.
· Allergic reactions begin quickly, at a median of 7 and a half minutes, so people are able to be supported through it. The majority were known to have severe allergies in advance. In the US, all vaccination sites must have people trained in responding to anaphylaxis, or severe allergic reaction.
· Story:
https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/22/health/moderna-severe-allergic-reactions-rare/index.html ·
A doctor in Texas has been arrested for stealing vaccine.
· The doctor stole 9 doses to give to his friends and family, authorities allege.
·
A man lived in the Chicago O’Hare airport for three months because he was afraid to fly. Story:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55702003 ·
Los Angeles has lifted its air quality limitations for cremations. An emergency order was issued so that crematoriums can catch up with the number of bodies. One person every eight minutes was dying from Covid every 8 minutes. The rate of death in LA county is double the norm from past years. 13,800 deaths in the city, 7,400 currently hospitalized, and 23% of those in intensive care.
·
Over 200 incidents with plane passengers over the wearing of masks have been reported in the U.S.
· The behaviour has included refusal to wear masks once onboard, shouting abusively at flight attendants, and even physical assault.
· On Thursday, President Biden issued an executive order requiring the wearing of masks across transportation, a move welcomed by flight unions.
· The FAA, Federal Air Administration, has introduced fines up to $35,000 and potential jailing for abusing aircraft personnel, a move made in December after two flight attendants were assaulted.
· One person has been fined $15,000 after hitting the flight attendant, and grabbing her phone away from her while she was notifying the captain of the problem. Another passenger was fined $7,500, who when asked to wear a mask approached other passengers without a mask and sexually harassed a flight attendant.
· Some airlines are banning passengers from their flights who refuse to follow the rules. United Airlines has banned 615 people from flying on the airline since June, Delta Airlines has banned 700.
·
There is a lot of news about variants of the virus.
· New variants have appeared in Britain, South Africa, and Brazil, all countries that have had high rates of Covid.
· So, what about vaccines? Scientists have actually expected that vaccines would still work against the variants. Moderna says that antibodies triggered by their vaccine works on new variants in lab test results. More study will be needed of people who actually have been vaccinated and who had the variant. The study so far was a small sample of eight people. Early results with the Pfizer vaccine also show that it works against variants.
· Moderna is also studying to see if there is a benefit of giving a third booster shot.
· Reports vary almost daily about if the variants are more deadly or not. The truth is that data is too limited and it is too early to really tell.
·
Covid job losses have been four times worse than in the financial crisis in 2009.
· That’s according to a report by the International Labor Organization.
· The report estimates that 8.8% of the world’s work hours were eliminated. The ILO looks not only at those who have become unemployed, but those who have had reduced hours of work as well. That loss is equivalent to 255 million full-time jobs, or $3.7 trillion dollars of income.
· Press release:
https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/newsroom/news/WCMS_766949/lang--en/index.htm · Study: COVID-19 and the world of work. Seventh edition.
https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/documents/briefingnote/wcms_767028.pdf ·
What’s the latest with the Tokyo Olympics? · The government of Japan wants to go ahead with the Olympics that were delayed last summer.
· The Olympics are planned to start on July 23, and the Paralympics on August 24.
· The International Olympic Committee is currently planning on proceeding, but has not made a final decision. Efforts are underway to have Olympics that are Covid safe. That might mean no audiences, athletes restricted to their accommodation areas, and each sport would have to have protocols around training and competition areas.
·
“We need the vaccine to come to Africa.” A note about Grandmothers in Zimbabwe. I encourage you to read this one:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-55726054 Sources: BBC, Toronto Star, International Labor Organization, CNN, Los Angeles Times.
STATS (as of end of Monday) CANADA · 144 new deaths. 19,238 total.
· 5,628 new cases. 753,011 total.
· 1,222
fewer active. 62,446 total.
· 849 in critical care.
· 6,706 new recovered. 671,327 total.
USA · 1,887 new deaths. 431,392 total.
· 152,244 new cases. 25,861,597 total.
· 9,812,845 active.
· 26,259 in critical care.
· 207,426 new recovered. 15,617,360 total.
WORLD · 2,149,496 deaths.
· 100,286,772 cases.
· 72,315,474 recovered.
Sources:
www.covid-19us.live/,
https://www.covid-19canada.com/
Pandemic updates provided on a voluntary basis as a community service, on Tuesdays and Fridays unless circumstances do not allow (currently dealing with an injury that limits my typing).
To provide accurate and timely information, locally, provincially, nationally and internationally, all in one place.
Feel free to share.
With love and hope,
Jaimie McEvoy, City Councillor, New Westminster, B.C.
submitted by It’s official: South Africa has a new, shorter curfew for adjusted level 3. The hours of the curfew under adjusted lockdown level 3 in South Africa will be adjusted. Here's what you need to know ... Kotze added that there would possibly “be a loosening of some of these restrictions”, such as the alcohol ban and curfew. “I think the issue about the curfew will be discussed also, it might be changed to later and shorter hours for the curfew”. Curfew changes in South Africa. Curfew in South Africa will now be in force from 22:00 to 4:00 every single night. This is now one hour shorter than the previous curfew, which started at 21:00. New Year’s Eve is typically “a time of festivity,” but “there is little cause for celebration this year,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a Twitter post on Monday, as he announced the raft of new restrictions, scheduled to take effect at midnight.. Under ‘Alert Level 3,’ people across South Africa will be required to wear masks in public places, as well as to avoid any enclosed ... South Africa: Covid-19 Curfew and Alcohol Ban ... life has become difficult as we are no longer able to search for clients there. Police are not even respecting curfew times as they start chasing ... Ramaphosa announced that South Africa will be moved back to Level 3 lockdown, ... for us here in South Africa and for others around the world, there is little cause for celebration this year. ... – The nationwide curfew will be extended from 9pm to 6am. South Africa on Monday tightened COVID-19 restrictions, banning alcohol sales and extending a nationwide curfew, as infections shot through the one million mark owing to a faster-spreading variant of the disease discovered in the country. South Africa has recorded the highest number of coronavirus infections on continent, with 1,004,413 cases reported and nearly 27,000 deaths. Fellow South Africans, ... There are currently over 15,000 people with Covid-19 in ... It is estimated that Africa as a whole will need 1.5 billion doses to immunise the target of 60 per ... President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced tighter restrictions on public gatherings and a longer curfew as the country heads into the festive season as coronavirus cases continue to rise. South Africa has reported a "grim" Covid milestone sparking fears of stricter lockdown measures as the country battles with an influx of immigrants from neighboring Zimbabwe.
We are currently going through some tough times, with a new disease spreading throughout the world and the economy seemingly going through its worst period s... There's A Crisis That Is Quietly ... Internet-addicted South Korean children sent to digital ... ABC News (Australia) Recommended for you. 2:05. Sudden curfew announcement in Turkey sparks ... He Predicted Trump Would Be President 6 Years Ago; Here's Why This Prophet Says Trump Is in for Two - Duration: 5:40. CBN News Recommended for you Truth of the Holy Bible •The TRUE ISRAELITES/ •YASHARAHLA/•12 TRIBES OF ISRAEL today according to the bible are: 1. Judah- Negroes 2. Benjamin- West indians 3. Levi- Hatians 4. Simeon ... There’s a new YouTube Music web player for desktop! ... Spice Digital South Africa ... mixed by Curfew 2013 - Duration: 17:21. Curfewww 212,966 views. 国内音楽シーンで活躍が期待される新人アーティストに一足先に出会える！Spotifyプレイリスト "Early Noise" のイベント『Spotify Early Noise Night』vol.6を ... (22 Sep 2016) Standing on a hillside above an ancient German town, Syrian refugee Firas al-Habbal winces as he explains why he doesn't go down 'there' anymore. 'There' is the centre of Bautzen ... COVID-19, que faire pendant le confinement quand tu n'as plus de pelouse à tondre. President Cyril Ramphosa announced a 21-day lockdown of the country effective from midnight on March 26 until midnight on April 16. This is part of the measu... There were also reports of heavy gunfire outside a United Nations base sheltering thousands of ... Juba under curfew following clashes that left ... TALK AFRICA: SOUTH SUDAN: BACK ON THE ...
