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Month: February 2024

Topic: convoy occupationView all posts for the topic: convoy occupation

Judge tosses motion to dismiss proposed class-action lawsuit against convoy participants

Published February 6, 2024

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Published by: Ottawa Citizen
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By Aedan Helmer

Downtown Ottawa residents and business owners who launched a proposed class-action lawsuit against organizers of the 2022 convoy protest moved one step closer to having their day in court as a judge tossed a defence motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

“There is sufficient basis to conclude that the plaintiffs have a meritorious case,” Superior Court Justice Calum MacLeod said in his ruling, released Monday.

“There is evidence that certain plaintiffs were subjected to what they contend to have been extreme amounts of noise, horn honking, incessant diesel fumes and other pollution, blockage of the streets and intimidation.

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Topic: convoy occupationView all posts for the topic: convoy occupation

Lawsuit against convoy organizers moves forward

Published February 6, 2024

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Published by: CBC News
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By David Fraser

There is evidence that certain plaintiffs were subjected to what they contend to have been extreme amounts of noise, horn honking, incessant diesel fumes and other pollution, blockage of the streets and intimidation. There is evidence that plaintiffs had difficulty accessing their properties and that business was disrupted, reservations cancelled, and revenue negatively impacted.

Continue readingLawsuit against convoy organizers moves forward
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Topic: New JerseyView all posts for the topic: New Jersey

Not wearing a mask during COVID-19 health emergency isn’t a free speech right, appeals court says

Published February 6, 2024

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Published by: The Associated Press
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By Mike Catalini

A federal appeals court shot down claims Monday that New Jersey residents’ refusal to wear face masks at school board meetings during the COVID-19 outbreak constituted protected speech under the First Amendment.

The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling in two related cases stemming from lawsuits against officials in Freehold and Cranford, New Jersey.

The suits revolved around claims that the plaintiffs were retaliated against by school boards because they refused to wear masks during public meetings. In one of the suits, the court sent the case back to a lower court for consideration. In the other, it said the plaintiff failed to show she was retaliated against.

Continue readingNot wearing a mask during COVID-19 health emergency isn’t a free speech right, appeals court says
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BC’s pandemic budget may “wind down” in 2024Photo of two masked friends walking in a corridor in an underground public transit station. Photo by Charlotte May / Pexels.
Topic: British ColumbiaView all posts for the topic: British Columbia

BC’s pandemic budget may “wind down” in 2024

Published February 6, 2024

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Published by: The Peak
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By Michelle Young

BC’s budget and fiscal report covers a “three year fiscal plan” for housing, sustainability, and healthcare. The report states, “As the funding for pandemic contingencies are set to wind down by the end of 2023/24, it is anticipated that the Ministry of Health will wind down or integrate any services into ministry operations, as appropriate, to support the ongoing health and well-being of British Columbians.”

The report did not elaborate, and The Peak reached out to the Ministry of Health for more information, who said they “will have an update to share following the release of the 2024/25 budget at the end of next month.”

DoNoHarm BC, who advocates for safer COVID-19 protections in the province, is concerned about the effects a potential budget cut could have for residents and provides a series of recommendations.

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Topic: United StatesView all posts for the topic: United States

New Analysis Reveals Many Excess Deaths Attributed to Natural Causes Are Actually Uncounted COVID-19 Deaths

Published February 6, 2024

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Published by: Boston University
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By Jillian McKoy

Nearly 1,170,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the United States according to official federal counts, but multiple excess mortality studies suggest that these totals are vastly undercounted. While excess mortality provides an estimation of deaths that likely would not have occurred under normal, non-pandemic conditions, there is still little evidence into whether the SARS-CoV-2 virus contributed to these additional deaths, or whether these deaths were caused by other factors such as healthcare disruptions or socioeconomic challenges.

Now, a new study led by the School of Public Health and the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) provides the first concrete data showing that many of these excess deaths were indeed uncounted COVID-19 deaths.

Continue readingNew Analysis Reveals Many Excess Deaths Attributed to Natural Causes Are Actually Uncounted COVID-19 Deaths
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Topic: Newfoundland and LabradorView all posts for the topic: Newfoundland and Labrador

Mask mandates return to N.L. hospitals today. Here’s what you need to know

Published February 5, 2024

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Published by: CBC News
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By Ryan Cooke

If you’re heading to a hospital or other health-care facility after 8 a.m. on Monday, you will be required to put on a mask.

The province has returned to masking mandates in health-care centres for the first time since May 2023. The move comes amid concerns about respiratory illnesses such as COVID-19, influenza, strep A and other airborne viruses.

The provincial health department has said it’s a temporary measure, and will be re-evaluated on March 31.

Continue readingMask mandates return to N.L. hospitals today. Here’s what you need to know
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Topic: air samplersView all posts for the topic: air samplers

Air sampling in Dane County schools tracks flu, COVID-19

Published February 4, 2024

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Published by: Wisconsin State Journal
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By David Wahlberg

Air sampling in Dane County schools is helping health officials track flu and COVID-19, similar to how wastewater is increasingly monitored around the country for the coronavirus to gauge activity as fewer people get tested for COVID-19.

Since the beginning of the school year, flu and COVID-19 data from 16 air monitors at 15 schools in or near the county has been reported on Public Health Madison and Dane County’s respiratory illness dashboard. The devices, roughly the size of microwave ovens, are placed in communal spaces such as cafeterias. They suck air, including airborne viruses, into spongy material that is analyzed for viral genetic material.

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Topic: TorontoView all posts for the topic: Toronto

Homeless people in Toronto more likely to get COVID again compared to housed population: study

Published February 2, 2024

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Published by: CBC News / The Canadian Press
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By Nicole Ireland

People who are homeless have high rates of COVID-19 reinfection, putting the health of an already vulnerable population at further risk, a study published Friday in the BMC Infectious Diseases journal says.

Homeless people in Toronto who had COVID-19 were more than twice as likely to get it again as people who had housing, said lead author Lucie Richard, a senior research associate at the MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions at St. Michael’s Hospital.

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Topic: British ColumbiaView all posts for the topic: British Columbia

Flu, RSV and COVID-19 cases all increased last week in B.C., data shows

Published February 1, 2024

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Published by: CTV News
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By Ian Holliday

Cases of influenza, RSV and COVID-19 all increased in B.C. this week, according to the latest respiratory illness data from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.

All three diseases remain well below their recent transmission peaks, however.

There were 528 positive tests for influenza in the province during the most recent epidemiological week, which spanned Jan. 21 to 27. That’s an increase from the 442 positive tests recorded the week before.

Continue readingFlu, RSV and COVID-19 cases all increased last week in B.C., data shows
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Ottawa: Don’t trash the COVID-19 dashboardPhoto of Ottawa City Hall, accompanied by some graphs and the text: Don’t trash the COVID-19 dashboard!
Topic: take actionView all posts for the topic: take action

Ottawa: Don’t trash the COVID-19 dashboard

Published February 1, 2024

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📣 Let Ottawa Public Health, Ottawa’s mayor, and city councillors know you want continued access to the city’s COVID-19 dashboard.

✉️ Send letters to let them know you want continued access to updated data in the COVID-19 dashboard, and elsewhere on the City of Ottawa’s website. You can use your own email software to send the letters.

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Topic: vaccinesView all posts for the topic: vaccines

New estimates show latest COVID vaccine cuts risk of symptomatic infection

Published February 1, 2024

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Published by: CIDRAP
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By Stephanie Soucheray

Today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, researchers published findings showing adults who received an updated 2023-24 COVID-19 vaccine were 54% less likely to have symptomatic infection than those who didn’t, and the vaccine was found to protect against JN.1 and other circulating variants.

This is one of the first studies to update 2023-24 COVID vaccine effectiveness (VE) data. The monovalent (single-strain) booster vaccine derived from XBB.1.5 was approved for use in all Americans 6 months and older on September 12, 2023, but uptake has been low. Moreover, the XBB strains of the virus, which the vaccine was based on, are no longer the dominant strains in the United States, having been replaced by JN.1 in December 2023.

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Topic: Newfoundland and LabradorView all posts for the topic: Newfoundland and Labrador

N.L. health-care facilities reviving mask mandate, says minister

Published February 1, 2024

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Published by: CBC News
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Mandatory masking is returning to all areas where clinical care is provided in health facilities in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Health Minister Tom Osborne told CBC News Thursday the recommendation was made by the Infection Prevention And Control team at N.L. Health Services, aiming to protect people inside the hospital and those entering the facilities.

Continue readingN.L. health-care facilities reviving mask mandate, says minister
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