“Children are not going to wear masks unless there’s a mask mandate, because we saw how quickly kids stopped wearing masks when they didn’t have to. The peer pressure that affects children in school, it’s really extraordinary. We’re still going to need to make it a rule for children and young adults to wear masks in school.”
Comments closedTag: Canada
Topic: life expectancyView all posts for the topic: life expectancy
L’espérance de vie diminue pour une deuxième année d’affilée au Canada
COVID-19 was the fourth leading cause of death, although it caused fewer deaths. More than 14,000 people died in 2021 due to the virus, compared to more than 16,000 deaths the previous year.
However, Statistics Canada notes that COVID-19 has hit younger groups more than in the first year of the pandemic.
Comments closed
Topic: British ColumbiaView all posts for the topic: British Columbia
First-person stories from British Columbians
CW: cancer, surgery, medical negligence, denial of care, disability grief
As part of DoNoHarm BC’s #Postcards4PublicHealth campaign, we’ve invited British Columbians to share their stories about the lack of Covid safety in BC – particularly the loss of mask protections in healthcare. Many wrote directly to policy makers. Some generously gave us permission to share their stories with the public and the press.
Comments closedTopic: OntarioView all posts for the topic: Ontario
COVID outbreak declared at Cambridge Memorial Hospital
Cambridge Memorial Hospital is declaring a COVID-19 outbreak in its Inpatient Surgery Unit.
Comments closedTopic: OmicronView all posts for the topic: Omicron
What Canada’s newest COVID data shows us about the toll of Omicron
The latest snapshot of Canada’s battle against the pandemic captures the toll the Omicron variant has taken on the elderly.
The highly infectious variant drove up hospitalizations across Canada, especially in those age 65 and older, according to data released Wednesday from the Canadian Institute for Health Information.
Comments closedTopic: hospitalizationsView all posts for the topic: hospitalizations
COVID-19 hospitalizations jump nearly 20% year-over-year, ICU and ER visits down, data show
Across the country, hospital emergency departments and intensive care units have seen a decline in COVID-19 patients compared with a year ago, but the number of people admitted to hospital because of the virus has increased nearly 20 per cent, according to new data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information.
Comments closedTopic: British ColumbiaView all posts for the topic: British Columbia
British Columbians protest calling to restore mask protections in healthcare
On Monday, August 28th at 12:00 pm, British Columbians will gather outside the MLA office of Health Minister Adrian Dix to demand the restoration of universal masking in healthcare settings, alongside other key safety measures like clean air. Echoing guidance from the WHO and calls from BC’s Human Rights Commissioner (and doctors and researchers worldwide), healthcare workers, patients and caregivers will tell their stories, and demand measures to protect the most vulnerable.
Comments closedTopic: PirolaView all posts for the topic: Pirola
Highly mutated COVID virus variant BA.2.86 showing up in multiple countries
“It is unusual for [this virus] to change so significantly and develop 30 new mutations. The last time we saw such a big change was when [Omicron] appeared.”
Comments closedTopic: ErisView all posts for the topic: Eris
COVID-19 : une nouvelle vague s’approche avant que la dose de rappel soit disponible
There are warning signs that Canada is already entering its fall wave of COVID-19, but vaccine booster doses will likely not be available for several weeks.
Continue readingCOVID-19 : une nouvelle vague s’approche avant que la dose de rappel soit disponible
Comments closed The summer wave of COVID-19 is being felt in Quebec hospitals, where there are nearly 560 patients who have contracted the virus, an increase of 30% over a week. The Legault government is not overly concerned, but will monitor the situation closely, especially the spread of the Eris variant.
Comments closedTopic: sick leaveView all posts for the topic: sick leave
Federal agency no longer tracks how many public servants take special COVID leave
The government department in charge of managing labour relations with federal public servants is no longer keeping track of how many employees across 75 institutions are taking time off work under a special paid leave provision made widespread during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Comments closedTopic: British ColumbiaView all posts for the topic: British Columbia
Parents’ group wants more COVID protections in B.C. classrooms ahead of new school year
Protect Our Province is asking for HEPA filters, mask mandates, and fast-tracked COVID vaccinations.
Comments closedRadio-Canada
August 9, 2023
Comments closedManitoba has detected an unknown number of cases of the latest Omicron subvariant, EG.5, of COVID-19 that has become dominant in the United States.
Comments closedTopic: ErisView all posts for the topic: Eris
What to know about EG.5, the latest Omicron subvariant in Canada
The hyperinfectious Omicron subvariant called EG.5 has been designated a variant of interest by the World Health Organization (WHO).
EG.5 has been circulating in Canada since at least May, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). The subvariant and its offshoots are estimated to have made up 36 per cent of cases in Canada between July 30 and August 5, according to PHAC.
Comments closedTopic: British ColumbiaView all posts for the topic: British Columbia
Dozens sign open letter urging ‘safe return to school’ amid respiratory illness concerns
With students returning to B.C. classrooms in four weeks, an open letter to the province is outlining five things the signatories say must be addressed to ensure “a safe return to school.”
Comments closedTopic: wastewater monitoringView all posts for the topic: wastewater monitoring
What’s the future of wastewater testing for COVID‑19?
Wastewater surveillance became an important tool for detecting COVID-19 outbreaks in communities throughout the pandemic, and it continues to be used in search for coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 as well as other pathogens.
But it’s unclear whether current levels of government funding to monitor wastewater for SARS-CoV-2 will continue beyond next year. Experts are calling on the federal government to create a standardized system for wastewater surveillance to bolster and replace the patchwork being used today.
Comments closedTopic: hospital-acquired infectionsView all posts for the topic: hospital-acquired infections
Hospital-acquired COVID infections worsened as the pandemic progressed, research finds
The chances of becoming infected with COVID-19 while hospitalized increased as the pandemic progressed, according to recent Canadian research.
In fact, significantly more Canadians became infected with hospital-acquired COVID-19 during the fifth and sixth waves of the pandemic — the first two Omicron waves from late 2021 until the spring of 2022 — than during earlier waves, according to the study published in the journal JAMA Network Open. Researchers looked at cases of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 between March 2020 and May 2022.
Comments closed