Canadians raced to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in the first years of the pandemic, but data suggests there’s far less of a rush to get the latest shots available this fall.
Federal figures show only 15 per cent of the population aged five and up had received an updated vaccine by Dec. 3. And while older age groups had higher uptake rates, more than half of higher-risk older adults still hadn’t gotten a dose by early December, either.
Comments closedNew Brunswick reported two more deaths from COVID-19, a week-over-week jump in hospitalizations and nursing home outbreaks because of the virus, and an increase in flu cases and hospitalizations Tuesday.
Comments closedTo reduce pressure on overflowing emergencies, the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, asks people with non-emergency problems to practice self-care, contact their family doctor, family medicine group (GMF) or the 811 phone line instead of going to the hospital. He noted that 28 winter clinics are open and that agreements have recently been reached with residential settings to accommodate seniors trapped in hospital due to the lack of CHSLD spaces.
Emergency rooms are facing a “perfect storm”, says Christian Dubé: a cocktail of seasonal viruses, staff holidays (“earned”), a labour shortage (bigger than last year) and a lack of hospital beds with the aging population as a backdrop.
Comments closedQuebec Health Minister Christian Dubé and his chief public health officer warned Tuesday that the province is facing a major COVID-19 resurgence, coupled with a spike in influenza cases.
“We have a lot of vulnerable people that (are being hospitalized) because of influenza and because of COVID, and they should have been vaccinated,” Dubé said at a news conference.
“I think that the situation over the next few weeks will deteriorate. Let’s be clear about that.”
Comments closedOttawa-Carleton District School Board trustee Dr. Nili Kaplan-Myrth says she was subject to a threatening and antisemitic phone call against her which has led to a 39-year-old man from British Columbia being charged with hate-motivated offences on Monday.
In a press release on Monday morning, the Ottawa Police Service Hate and Crime Bias Unit say they charged a man with several offences for a phone call against a healthcare professional which also included mysoginistic and intimidating threats, but did not name the victim.
Comments closedA long-running study into COVID-19 immunity has unearthed promising insights on the still-mysterious disease, one of its lead researchers says — but she’s concerned its funding could soon dry up.
The Stop the Spread project, a collaboration by the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI) and the University of Ottawa, has been monitoring antibody responses to COVID-19 in hundreds of people since October 2020.
Comments closedMore Ontarians have died of COVID-19 in a three-month span this fall than the number of people killed last year on Ontario highways — a comparison one researcher is using to illustrate the stark and ongoing toll of the virus.
Data from Public Health Ontario shows that 574 people died of COVID between Sept. 3 and Dec. 9. Last year, the Ontario Provincial Police reported that about 350 people died in motor vehicle crashes on OPP-patrolled roads.
Comments closedAn infectious disease researcher says COVID-19 cases in Newfoundland and Labrador are on the rise again — and that it comes at a time when the province isn’t showing the full picture when it comes to reporting statistics.
Tara Moriarty, a researcher and professor at the University of Toronto, told CBC News that COVID-19 cases are up across the country heading into the holiday season. And while Newfoundland and Labrador is in a slightly better situation, she said, her research indicates that about one in every 37 residents are infected by COVID-19.
Comments closed“We have to be able to have open conversations about the reality of COVID and not pretend that it’s not there,” infectious disease expert Dr. Dick Zoutman told the Whig-Standard in a candid interview about the terrible toll that the pandemic is taking on public health.
Data published by Public Health Ontario on Dec. 7 reveals that the COVID-19 Wastewater Signal for Eastern Ontario is rising on a steep curve. In other words, SARS-CoV-2, the airborne virus that causes COVID-19, is spreading out of control, sickening adults and children alike.
Comments closedA $300-million proposed class-action lawsuit filed against convoy protesters, donors and organizers on behalf of people who live or work in Ottawa is facing another challenge, with lawyers arguing the case seeks to unfairly limit fundamental freedoms.
“The levels of [COVID-19] are at the highest levels they’ve been ever […] There’s hundreds or even thousands of people that have COVID-19 right now.”
Comments closedAnother 36 Albertans have died from COVID, according to the latest weekly data released by the province on Thursday.
That brings the death toll for the current season to 306.
Comments closedAlberta hospitals are squeezing in extra intensive care unit beds as respiratory virus cases balloon and ICUs fill up.
Alberta Health Services has added 17 adult surge beds since last week — 12 in Edmonton and 5 in Calgary— bringing the total to 240.
Comments closedAn outbreak of COVID-19 has been declared on the fifth floor of Nanaimo Regional General Hospital.
As of Thursday, a total of 10 hospital-acquired cases had been attributed to the outbreak. All patients are experiencing mild illness, an Island Health official said.
Comments closedSince October, only 16% of Quebecers have been vaccinated against COVID-19, and 17.5% against influenza, this year’s flu (H1N1) that Public Health still fears. The main concern of authorities? The fact that just over one in two Quebecers, among those aged 70 and over, was vaccinated.
Comments closedTen Ottawa residents have died of COVID-19 over the past week as the pandemic wave that began in the summer continues, fueled by new sub-variants and the busy season for social gatherings.
Ottawa Public Health reported the 10 new deaths in its latest update on COVID-19, published Wednesday. A total of 1,185 Ottawa residents have died of COVID-19 since the pandemic began nearly four years ago.
Comments closedThe Kingston General Hospital says a surge of emergency department inpatients, including a day that had a near record 580 admissions, has the hospital struggling to keep up as the respiratory virus season peaks across the province.
Comments closed📈 The COVID-19 wastewater viral signal for Ottawa has increased substantially (+2,069%) since a low on July 12, 2023. It is extremely high.
⚠️ The 7-day average of percent positivity is extremely high (19.28%).
🏥 Confirmed COVID-19 patients in Ottawa hospitals: 164 ( increase of 8).
In 2023, there have been 129 COVID-19 outbreaks at Ottawa’s hospitals so far, leading to 20 deaths and 1,027 known cases of COVID-19.
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