Comments closedI miss my life. And the future is unknown. I don’t know if I’m gonna get better or worse stay the same. I don’t know what I’m dealing with.
Topic: MinnesotaView all posts for the topic: Minnesota
Still COVIDing Canada Posts
Topic: AlbertaView all posts for the topic: Alberta
Video | COVID-19 cases straining Alberta hospitals
Doctors say COVID-19 cases are spreading rapidly in Alberta, putting strain on hospitals. Chelan Skulski has the details.
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Topic: AlbertaView all posts for the topic: Alberta
High-risk Albertans urged to get another vaccine dose as COVID-19 cases ticking up
After trending downward for several months, COVID-19 is on the upswing in Alberta once again.
The province’s respiratory virus dashboard shows a number of key indicators, including case counts, hospitalization numbers and positivity rates, are ticking up.
“Many jurisdictions in Canada have seen a slight bump in late April in the number of COVID cases, the positivity rate and also in their wastewater monitoring,” said Dr. Dan Gregson, an infectious diseases specialist in the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary.
Comments closedTopic: rapid testsView all posts for the topic: rapid tests
Ottawa will stop providing COVID-19 rapid tests to regions
The Canadian government plans to stop supplying provinces and territories with free COVID-19 rapid tests, which has an infection control epidemiologist worried about two-tiered health care, increased spread and increased health-care costs.
“The federal government continues to support Canada’s rapid testing needs while the federal inventory remains,” Health Canada spokesperson Nicholas Janveau told CBC News.
Comments closedTopic: pandemic responseView all posts for the topic: pandemic response
Scientists, clinicians across Canada preparing for future pandemic threats
Nearly $574 million will be doled out to researchers across the country for projects aimed at ramping up Canada’s preparedness for future health emergencies, including the next pandemic, the federal government announced on Monday.
One of the 19 projects is a national network of existing emergency departments and primary-care clinics, called Prepared, that will screen for any new viruses or pathogens that start to appear in patients.
“As a public health specialist and as a practising physician, I would very much anticipate there being another respiratory pandemic in the future. The challenge is we don’t know when it will be or what it will be,” said Dr. Andrew Pinto, Prepared project lead and a family physician at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto.
Comments closedTopic: rapid testsView all posts for the topic: rapid tests
What are the most reliable rapid antigen tests?
A new study has analysed 26 RATs from Australia and Canada, finding only six could effectively detect the lowest concentrations of COVID-19.
Patients across the globe have come to rely on rapid antigen tests (RATs) to confirm a COVID-19 diagnosis, but a new Australian study has revealed most are not producing accurate results.
Researchers from James Cook University (JCU) say they were left ‘shocked’ after an analysis of 26 RATs from Australia and Canada found just six were effective at detecting the lowest concentration of COVID-19.
One Canadian test failed to detect the COVID-19 protein entirely at any level of concentration.
Comments closedTopic: pandemic responseView all posts for the topic: pandemic response
The unlearned lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic
Four years ago this week, there was only one subject on Canadians’ minds: the incipient COVID-19 pandemic. Schools and businesses were locked down in most of the country. The death count was appalling: close to 1,900 in the first full week of the month. In all, about 4,300 Canadians would die that May – with far more brutal waves of infection and death to come.
The story is much different today. Thanks to the rapid development, approval and delivery of vaccines – an amazing human accomplishment that isn’t celebrated enough – COVID-19 has been brought to heel and is now largely seen as just one more viral disease, like the flu or common cold. The availability of home testing kits means most people who become infected by the latest variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus can manage the disease at home, and never trouble the health care system.
That’s good, but it hides the troubling fact that it is difficult to discern coherent policies at any level of government for continuing the fight against COVID-19, for dealing with its long-term effects, or for preparing for another pandemic.
Comments closedTopic: metforminView all posts for the topic: metformin
Common diabetes drug lowers SARS-CoV-2 levels, clinical trial finds
Today, researchers from the University of Minnesota published evidence that the common diabetes drug metformin decreases the amount of SARS-CoV-2 in the body and helps reduce the risk of rebound symptoms if given early in the course of non-severe illness.
The study, published in Clinical Infectious Diseases, suggests metformin may also help prevent long COVID.
The researchers tested metformin against a placebo in 999 adults infected with COVID-19. More than 50% of the study enrollees were vaccinated, and treatment took place when the Omicron variant was the most dominant strain in the United States.
Comments closedTopic: New BrunswickView all posts for the topic: New Brunswick
N.B. decides against updates to Clean Air Act to improve indoor air quality
Nearly a year after the legislature unanimously passed an Opposition motion to update the New Brunswick Clean Air Act and improve air quality in public buildings to reduce the spread of airborne illnesses, such as COVID-19, the government says it won’t update the act after all.
The Department of Environment and Local Government reviewed the act, which dates back to 1997, and “determined updating was not necessary because protections already exist under other legislation,” such as the Occupational Health and Safety Act, said spokesperson Clarissa Andersen.
Comments closedTopic: vaccinesView all posts for the topic: vaccines
Fall COVID-19 vaccine guidelines are out. Here’s what NACI recommends
The National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) released its updated guidelines on Friday on the use of COVID-19 vaccines during the upcoming fall season.
Although COVID-19 rates are currently low across the country, NACI said it anticipates a surge in activity during the fall and winter months, aligning with patterns seen in previous years and consistent with the behaviour of other respiratory viruses.
“As COVID-19 activity is expected during the upcoming fall and winter months, and COVID-19 disease can compound the impact on the health system of other fall and winter respiratory viruses, NACI continues to provide early guidance on the use of COVID-19 vaccines to facilitate planning by provinces and territories,” the guidelines state.
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Topic: take actionView all posts for the topic: take action
Ontario: Consultation on infection prevention and control (IPAC)
📣 The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario has initiated a consultation on infection prevention and control (IPAC). Do you want healthcare workers to wear N95 respirators? Would it be safer with HEPA filters in healthcare settings? Let them know!
Comments closedTopic: rapid testsView all posts for the topic: rapid tests
International study highlights best RATs
A ground-breaking study by James Cook University researchers has produced damning findings on several COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) available in Australia and overseas.
The new joint study by JCU and National Research Council Canada analysed 16 RATs approved by Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and 10 by Health Canada, using a JCU-developed COVID-19 protein and its Canadian counterpart as reference materials.
Out of the total 26 RATs compared, only six were found to be effective at detecting the lowest concentration of the COVID-19 reference proteins in the dilution series used for benchmarking.
Comments closedTopic: pro-virus policiesView all posts for the topic: pro-virus policies
Trump Threatens to Shut Down Pandemic Preparedness Office Launched by Biden
Joe Biden’s presidential campaign criticized Donald Trump on Tuesday for saying that, if elected, he would close an office in the White House tasked with making sure the country is better prepared for the next pandemic.
In an interview with TIME published Tuesday, Trump said he would disband the Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy (OPPR), which opened last summer after Congress approved a bill in 2022 with bipartisan support to mandate its creation. The office most recently responded to an outbreak of bird flu in dairy farms, coordinating with the Food and Drug Administration to ensure milk remains safe to drink, and working with farmers to contain the virus.
Comments closedTopic: New BrunswickView all posts for the topic: New Brunswick
Two more COVID deaths in New Brunswick
Two New Brunswickers aged 65 or older died from COVID-19 between April 14-20, according to new data from the province.
The news was included in its weekly update on COVID and influenza.
Seventeen people required hospital treatment for COVID between April 14-20, and one patient needed intensive care. There were two lab-confirmed COVID outbreaks in undisclosed facilities.
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New Brunswick mulls future of COVID-19 rapid tests, as virus kills 2, hospitalizes child under 4
New Brunswick is mulling the future of its COVID-19 rapid point-of-care testing program, as the virus claimed two more lives and hospitalized 17 people, including a child under four.
“Demand for rapid tests has been steadily declining since last fall, and the province is currently determining its next steps with regards to the COVID-19 tests,” said Department of Health spokesperson Sean Hatchard.
He made the comment in response to questions from CBC News about how much longer the province will continue to offer free rapid test kits and whether it’s considering phasing them out.
Comments closedTopic: avian fluView all posts for the topic: avian flu
What we’re starting to learn about H5N1 in cows, and the risk to people
The H5N1 bird flu virus has been around for decades, and the damage it wreaks on chickens and other poultry is well documented. But the recent discovery that the virus has jumped into dairy cattle — whose udders seem to be where the virus either infects or migrates to — has dumbfounded scientists and agricultural authorities.
Questions for which there are pretty clear answers when it comes to birds are suddenly unsettled science in cows. How are they getting infected? Are they transmitting the virus cow to cow, or are human actions — activities that are part of the day-to-day of farming — serving as an unrecognized amplifier of viral transmission? In the interface between infected cows and humans, how might people be at risk? Does consuming milk laced with live H5 virus pose a hazard?
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