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Tag: data suppression

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

COVID-19 prevalence high and rising across most of province as BCCDC revamps reporting dashboards

Published October 3, 2024

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Published by: CTV News
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By Ian Holliday

The prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 – the virus that causes COVID-19 – in B.C. wastewater is high and rising across most regions, according to the latest data from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.

The BCCDC released its first weekly data update of the 2024-25 respiratory illness season Thursday, and took the opportunity to dramatically revise the information it presents and the way it is presented.

Gone is the previous year’s “COVID-19 Situation Report” dashboard, replaced with a new dashboard titled “Viral Respiratory Outcomes.”

While the situation report included specific numbers for newly confirmed infections, hospital admissions, critical care admissions and deaths within 30 days of a positive COVID test, the new dashboard reports the latter three numbers as a rate per million residents.

Continue readingCOVID-19 prevalence high and rising across most of province as BCCDC revamps reporting dashboards
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Topic: data suppressionView all posts for the topic: data suppression

There’s a gaping hole in Canada’s COVID tracking

Published August 22, 2024

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Published by: Toronto Star
Published on:
By Iris Gorfinkel

The Government of Canada’s website tracks the number of hospitalizations and deaths from acute COVID-19. What it fails to include are the hospitalizations and deaths that result from COVID’s longer-term health consequences.

Even mild cases carry risk, but COVID most frequently wallops people after severe cases, especially when hospitalized. Of the nearly 300,000 Canadians hospitalized so far, over half likely have — or will — suffer life-changing health consequences, sometimes years after having recovered from the acute illness. These risks climb with repeated infections.

Hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 are often delayed. Like high blood pressure, SARS CoV-2 can gradually damage the inner lining of blood vessels. This by itself, is painless. While it happens to people following mild cases of COVID, it’s far more likely after severe ones, especially after hospitalization. This doubles the downstream risk of having a heart attack, stroke or blood clot in the lung. It triples the risk of developing an abnormal heart rhythm, including atrial fibrillation.

Continue readingThere’s a gaping hole in Canada’s COVID tracking
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Topic: pro-virus policiesView all posts for the topic: pro-virus policies

The US Government Is Shutting Down A Key Covid Website

Published August 15, 2024

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Published by: ¡Do Not Panic!
Published on:
By Nate Bear

Tomorrow the US government agency responsible for biomedical and public health research, The National Institutes of Health, will shut down its Covid-19 ‘special populations’ website.

This site hosts a huge amount of information about how to treat covid and long covid in the immunocompromised and in people with HIV, cancer and similar immune supressing conditions – so-called ‘special populations.’

The site is going totally offline.

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Topic: data suppressionView all posts for the topic: data suppression

COVID data quietly disappears while cases rise

Published August 6, 2024

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Published by: Prism
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By Ash Peterson

California-based engineer and scientist Patrick Vaughan made a troubling discovery July 10. Dozens of facilities providing COVID-19 wastewater data went offline, seemingly overnight.

Vaughan had been following WastewaterSCAN, a national program that monitors wastewater for diseases. He noticed that 42 of the previously reporting 194 facilities suddenly displayed small blue triangles with the message “data is no longer collected from this site.” The development came just as people across the U.S. scrambled for information during a summer COVID wave that even infected President Joe Biden.

“This is a major blow to our COVID wastewater tracking abilities,” Vaughan told his followers in a video he posted the same day.

Continue readingCOVID data quietly disappears while cases rise
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The Risks of Killing a COVID Early Warning SystemPhoto of a person wearing an elastomeric respirator, with an outstretched, gloved hand reaching forward towards the viewer. On the light blue glove, the text reads: Stop COVID-19. With a bokeh effect, there is a sharp image of the glove, and the person’s face and respirator are blurred in the background. Photo: fernando zhiminaicela via Pixabay.
Topic: OntarioView all posts for the topic: Ontario

The Risks of Killing a COVID Early Warning System

Published August 1, 2024

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Published by: The Tyee
Published on:
By Andrew Nikiforuk

COVID-19 is surging in parts of North America and Europe, and even played a role in ending the presidential campaign of 81-year-old Joe Biden, who was infected for the third time last month.

Nevertheless, on Wednesday the Ontario government shut down its early warning system to detect COVID and other emerging diseases.

Doctors, citizens and researchers are calling the decision to kill the province’s wastewater disease surveillance program both wrong-headed and dangerous. Ending the program will make it harder to track and thwart viral outbreaks, they say, and thereby increase the burden on Ontario’s understaffed hospitals, which experienced more than 1,000 emergency room closures last year.

“Pandemics do not end because science has been muzzled,” Dr. Iris Gorfinkel, a well-known Toronto physician and clinical researcher, told the CBC.

In emails to politicians, more than 5,000 citizens have demanded restoration of the program, with little effect.

Continue readingThe Risks of Killing a COVID Early Warning System
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Topic: OntarioView all posts for the topic: Ontario

Ontario can’t make COVID-19 disappear by pretending it doesn’t exist

Published July 16, 2024

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Published by: Toronto Star
Published on:
By Iris Gorfinkel

Another blow to understanding the spread of COVID-19 is now slated to happen on July 31. That’s when funding ends for Ontario’s extensive wastewater surveillance program. It’s a technology that can detect viral particles up to seven days before people develop symptoms. It costs $15 million annually to check 58 sites throughout Ontario. But the cost of losing this hard-won technology is far greater. No longer having its data means that hospitals, long-term-care facilities, schools and communities will lose critical advanced warning of a potential outbreak. That gives them less time to prepare with masks, air filtration and vaccines.

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Topic: OntarioView all posts for the topic: Ontario

‘Really unfortunate:’ Public health losing tool that tracks emerging threats in infectious diseases

Published July 2, 2024

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Published by: NewmarketToday
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By Joseph Quigley

York Region stands to lose reliability in its warning signs for population-wide COVID-19 and influenza cases as provincial wastewater surveillance ends, public health said.

The Ontario government announced it is ending the program, which allowed public health units to track COVID-19 in wastewater sampling sites across the province, on July 31.

York Region associate medical officer of health Dr. Sarah Erdman said the tool was very useful to help inform public health decisions.

“Given tighter testing eligibility for COVID-19 and influenza, wastewater surveillance provided helpful information about the burden of disease and community transmission among the general population,” Erdman said. “It also provided an early warning of surges ahead of an increase in cases and hospitalizations; without wastewater data, York Region will be unable to reliably obtain these estimates moving forward.”

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COVID-19 no longer novel coronavirus in OntarioCloseup photo of a COVID-19 rapid test. Photo: Dennis Sylvester Hurd. Public domain image.
Topic: OntarioView all posts for the topic: Ontario

COVID-19 no longer novel coronavirus in Ontario

Published June 20, 2024

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Published by: Politics Today
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By Katherine DeClerq

The Ontario government is downgrading COVID-19 from a novel coronavirus to a “disease of public health significance,” limiting the kind of data that needs to be reported to, and by, medical officers of health.

The change is being proposed through a regulation, which was publicly open for comment for a week earlier this month.

Under the new designation, medical officers of health will not need to pass on COVID-19 data unrelated to deaths and outbreaks to the Ministry of Health or Public Health Ontario.

Individuals who perform point of care testing will also no longer need to report every positive result to the medical officer of health.

Continue readingCOVID-19 no longer novel coronavirus in Ontario
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Video | Questions about plans to axe Ontario’s wastewater monitoring networkScreenshot of the broadcast of Question Period, on June 6, 2024. Jeff Burch, Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Niagara Centre, is speaking. He has white and grey hair, glasses, a tie, and a navy blue suit. In the background, there are wood panels on the walls with intricate carvings.
Topic: OntarioView all posts for the topic: Ontario

Video | Questions about plans to axe Ontario’s wastewater monitoring network

Published June 6, 2024

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Published by: Still COVIDing Canada
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During Question Period on June 6, 2024, Jeff Burch, MPP for Niagara Centre, asked some questions about the Ford government’s plans to eliminate Ontario’s wastewater monitoring program: “[…] with a serious gap in the federal government’s current ability to test wastewater in Ontario, why would this government abruptly cut this extremely low cost but highly valuable program?”

The government’s response was misleading. “The program is continuing through an expanded option with the federal government,” said Andrea Khanjin, Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks.

That’s not actually true. The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) is not taking over the program. The Ontario government is planning to shut the existing extensive program that has been developed over years, with 58+ monitoring stations and expert researchers at 13 Ontario universities. In its place, there will be a much more limited network operated by PHAC, covering just five cities in Ontario.

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Topic: OntarioView all posts for the topic: Ontario

Ontario’s wastewater testing program to be replaced by a federal program that is significantly smaller

Published June 6, 2024

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Published by: Ottawa Citizen
Published on:
By Elizabeth Payne

When Ontario’s wastewater surveillance program is shut down next month it will be replaced by a significantly smaller federal program. That potential information gap worries some researchers and public health experts, especially at a time when COVID-19 cases are starting to tick up and avian influenza is spreading rapidly.

Ontario’s wastewater testing initiative, considered a world leader, currently tests wastewater for signs of infectious diseases including COVID, influenza, RSV and more at 58 locations across the province. The provincial government plans to pull the plug on the program at the end of July, saying it wants to avoid duplication with an expanding pan-Canadian wastewater surveillance program.

That new federal program includes plans to conduct wastewater surveillance in five Ontario cities. Four of the five cities have not yet been selected.

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Topic: OntarioView all posts for the topic: Ontario

Ontario is a ‘world leader’ in wastewater surveillance for COVID. The province’s decision to close testing sites will end that, experts say

Published June 5, 2024

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Published by: Toronto Star
Published on:
By Megan Ogilvie

Researchers are warning that Ontario’s decision to shut down its wastewater surveillance program that proved crucial in tracking COVID-19 will limit the province’s ability to rapidly respond to infectious disease threats, including new COVID variants, respiratory viruses and bird flu.

A key member of the waterwater surveillance program says Ontario has been a “world leader and now we’ll probably be one of the passengers” by the scale-back that will also stifle research.

Cancelling the provincial surveillance system — the largest in Canada — will drastically reduce the number of testing sites in the province, experts say. They also caution that shuttering the program will mean that monitoring may no longer take place in smaller communities and in rural and northern areas, potentially missing vulnerable populations.

Continue readingOntario is a ‘world leader’ in wastewater surveillance for COVID. The province’s decision to close testing sites will end that, experts say
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Topic: avian fluView all posts for the topic: avian flu

Scientists say USDA is sharing too little data too slowly on H5N1 flu

Published April 23, 2024

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Published by: CNN
Published on:
By Brenda Goodman

When the US Department of Agriculture announced late Sunday that it had publicly posted new data from its investigation into a bird flu outbreak in cattle, scientists eagerly searched a well-known platform used globally to share the genetic sequences of viruses.

The sequences weren’t there. As of Tuesday morning, they still aren’t.

Researchers looking to track the evolution and spread of H5N1 say the information that was posted — raw data on a US server — isn’t very useful and is anything but transparent. They also say the government’s release of information in the outbreak, which was confirmed in cattle almost a month ago, has been painfully slow.

Continue readingScientists say USDA is sharing too little data too slowly on H5N1 flu
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Topic: SaskatchewanView all posts for the topic: Saskatchewan

Sask. officials knew COVID-19 was spreading at an ‘exponential’ rate in 2021, but refused restrictions

Published April 23, 2024

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Published by: CBC News
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By Alexander Quon, Zak Vescera

This story is a collaboration between the Investigative Journalism Foundation and CBC Saskatchewan.

Newly obtained internal data shows the Saskatchewan government knew COVID-19 was spreading at an “exponential” rate in the fall of 2021, providing new insight into what officials knew before a devastating COVID-19 wave hit the province.

The Investigative Journalism Foundation (IJF) and the CBC have obtained a six-page briefing presented to top officials at Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Health in September 2021, days before the provincial government publicly declined to re-introduce measures doctors said were urgently needed to stop the spread of the virus.

The presentation, dated Sept. 3, 2021, came before a wave of COVID-19 infections that killed hundreds and nearly overwhelmed the province’s health system.

The government would later have to airlift roughly a quarter of its most critically sick patients to Ontario because there were not enough doctors and medical staff to care for them in Saskatchewan.

Continue readingSask. officials knew COVID-19 was spreading at an ‘exponential’ rate in 2021, but refused restrictions
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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: Ottawa-GatineauView all posts for the topic: Ottawa-Gatineau

Will Ottawa Public Health stop updating its COVID-19 dashboard?

Published January 30, 2024

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Published by: CTV News
Published on:
By Toula Mazloum

Ottawa Public Health is clarifying the confusion that has been circulating on social media around its plans to phase out its COVID-19 dashboard.

While the current COVID-19 dashboard will be discontinued in February, the health unit pledges to continue to give updates about COVID-19 and respiratory illnesses circulating in the capital.

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COVID-19 mortality rates are up in N.L., and reporting efforts are down, researcher saysPhoto of Tara Moriarty, a professor and researcher at the University of Toronto. She has long, grey and white hair, and she is wearing glasses.
Topic: Newfoundland and LabradorView all posts for the topic: Newfoundland and Labrador

COVID-19 mortality rates are up in N.L., and reporting efforts are down, researcher says

Published December 16, 2023

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Published by: CBC News
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By Alex Kennedy

An 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.

Continue readingCOVID-19 mortality rates are up in N.L., and reporting efforts are down, researcher says
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2 new COVID-19 variants now dominant in N.B.Electron microscope image of SARS-CoV-2 virus particles. Photo by: NIAID. Creative Commons CC BY 2.0 DEED Attribution 2.0 Generic license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/.
Topic: variantsView all posts for the topic: variants

2 new COVID-19 variants now dominant in N.B.

Published November 28, 2023

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Published by: CBC News
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By Bobbi-Jean MacKinnon

Two new COVID-19 variants quickly gaining traction across Canada are already dominant in New Brunswick.

So far, HV.1 and HK.3, related to Omicron EG.5, do not appear to cause more severe disease than other recent variants, said Colin Furness, an infection control epidemiologist and assistant professor at the University of Toronto.

Continue reading2 new COVID-19 variants now dominant in N.B.
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