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.
Comments closedThe answers lie in poop. Based on the latest national sample of wastewater taken on January 13, 2024, the concentration of the SARS-Cov-2 virus is 1,132 copies/mL of sewage, an alarming increase compared to 280 copies/mL six months ago. This is one sign that cases of COVID infections have been rising, resulting in more hospitalizations, deaths, and people developing long COVID.
Like millions of other high-risk people who are service workers, older, chronically ill, disabled, or immunocompromised, I have done everything I can to remain as safe as possible. Due to neuromuscular disability and respiratory failure, my chances of surviving an infection are slim to none. With the latest JN.1 variant likely even more contagious – or better practiced at evading immune system defenses – than previous ones, I wonder if this is the surge when I will become infected, which is terrifying.
Comments closedSpain’s government proposed a nationwide mandate for people to wear masks in hospitals and health clinics on Monday, and Italy said respiratory illness infection rates had hit a record, as flu and COVID spread across Europe.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control recommended that people on the continent stay home if they feel sick, and consider wearing masks in crowds or healthcare settings, with flu spreading as it typically does this time of year but hitting some countries harder than others.
Comments closedA new COVID-19 subvariant, known as JN.1, has emerged and is now the prevailing strain across Canada, prompting health experts to caution that it may be more infectious and could even have extra symptoms.
Currently, the subvariant makes up the highest proportion of all COVID-19 variants, accounting for more than half (51.9 per cent) of all infections in Canada, according to the latest data from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).
JN.1 was first detected in Canada on Oct. 9, and since then has rapidly increased.
Comments closedIndoor mask requirements have been reinstated at all New York City public hospitals amid a rise in respiratory viruses including COVID-19 and flu.
The mandate extends to the 11 hospitals, 30 health centers and five long-term care facilities run by NYC Health + Hospitals.
The city’s health commissioner, Dr. Ashwin Vasan, said Wednesday masks will only be required in areas where patients are being treated, according to local ABC News affiliate ABC 7 NY.
Comments closedSome hospitals across the United States are reinstating indoor masking rules amid rising cases and hospitalizations of respiratory illnesses including COVID-19 and influenza.
Hospitals in at least six states — California, Illinois, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Washington and Wisconsin — have put masking guidelines in place, according to an ABC News count.
Over the weekend, Mass General Brigham, which is the largest health system in Massachusetts, told ABC News it issued guidelines requiring employee caregivers and those working in patient care areas to wear masks.
Comments closedThe provincial government of Quezon has reinstated the mandatory wearing of face masks due to an increasing number of COVID-19 cases and respiratory illnesses.
An order signed by Provincial Governor Angelina Tan on Dec. 27 but made public on Friday said “face masks shall continue to be worn for indoor settings and in outdoor settings where physical distancing cannot be maintained.”
Comments closedWith both COVID-19 and other respiratory virus rates up, nearly all the major hospital groups in Massachusetts are bringing back mask requirements for doctors and staff, and in some cases for patients and visitors as well.
Beth Israel Lahey, Boston Medical Center and Dana Farber have already reimposed requirements. Mass General Brigham and UMass Memorial plan to require masking starting Jan. 2, followed by Tufts Medicine on Jan. 3.
Comments closedWhen the coronavirus pandemic took hold in an unprepared U.S., many states like Ohio scrambled for masks and other protective gear. Supplies were so limited in 2020 that the state bought millions of medical gowns from a marketing and printing company and spent about $20 million to try to get personal protective equipment made in-state.
Three years later, as the grips of the pandemic have loosened, Ohio and other states are now trying to deal with an excess of protective gear, ditching their supplies in droves.
Comments closedIt’s time for our society to admit that we’ve made a mistake and change course. The COVID-is-mild experiment, despite the wishing and the hoping, has been a tragic failure. We aren’t just accepting ongoing hospitalizations and deaths to protect the economy, but also ignoring the social and economic costs of continuing high levels of acute infections. Worse still are more cases of Long COVID, a condition that takes many people entirely out of the workforce. And with every wave, the staffing attrition worsens.
Comments closedAfter 2023, funding for Covid-related services is set to end in BC.
For nearly four years now, British Columbians have been grappling with Covid-19. We’re currently aided by health management initiatives like vaccination, testing, and protective equipment for healthcare workers. Since 2021, these measures have been funded by BC’s Pandemic Recovery Contingencies, a three-year plan that also sustains economic recovery programs and supports for vulnerable community members.
This plan expires at the end of 2023. After that, our government anticipates that “most initiatives will wind down or be integrated into existing government programs.”
Comments closedMasking requirements are increasing at Stevenson Memorial Hospital (SMH) starting on Monday in all areas of the facility, including hallways and shared spaces.
The hospital’s website cites rising COVID-19 cases, including outbreaks at health care and seniors’ facilities as the reason behind the change.
Comments closedCalgary’s Peter Lougheed Centre is one of the latest hospitals to adopt Alberta Health Service’s mask directive to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Masking is now required for Peter Lougheed Centre’s staff, physicians, volunteers, contracted service providers and laboratory workers in patient-facing areas of the hospital.
COVID is on the rise again, with a peak likely over the holiday season. Given this, health authorities in a number of Australian states have…
Comments closedSurging COVID cases in Western Australia has seen the first public health measures introduced since the state’s COVID-19 ‘state of emergency’ declaration was dropped.
From Monday, all staff and patients in high-risk hospital clinical areas must wear masks.
Comments closedOn May 11, 2023, the US federal government put an end to the COVID-19–related public health emergency. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) no longer recommends routine universal masking in most health care settings. Many clinicians and staff at hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes around the country have stopped regularly wearing masks. A conflict might arise when patients who are immunocompromised or have other risk factors that increase their susceptibility to COVID-19 complications seek health care and encounter an unmasked clinician. Individuals who have such conditions are considered disabled under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Those disabled patients nowadays must embark on a “personal crusade for public health” to have their needs met.
Comments closedMore than 100 long-term care residents have died of COVID-19 since late August.
Ontario’s provincial government has announced that staff in long-term care homes are now required to wear masks in the face of an increase in COVID-19 outbreaks, cases and hospitalizations of residents.
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