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Tag: pandemic response

US prison deaths soared by 77% during height of Covid-19 crisis, study finds

A study of US prison deaths at the height of the Covid-19 crisis in 2020 has found that mortality rates soared by 77% relative to 2019, or more than three times the increase in the general population.

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Ottawa Public Health to let go most remaining COVID-19 staff as province ends special pandemic funding

Ottawa Public Health will let go most of its remaining COVID-19 staff by the end of the year as the province stops directly reimbursing most costs related to the pandemic.

OPH will continue offering vaccines to the most vulnerable, including long-term care residents and recent immigrants, but will wrap up broader COVID-19 efforts by the end of March.

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The 10 Chilling Laws of Pandemics

The Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, an institutional offshoot of the dysfunctional World Health Organization and its equally wonky partner the World Bank, recently declared the obvious: the world is not ready for the next pandemic.

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Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson ‘bamboozled’ by science, COVID-19 inquiry told

Boris Johnson, the former British prime minister, struggled to come to grips with much of the science during the coronavirus pandemic, his chief scientific adviser said Monday.

In keenly awaited testimony to the country’s public inquiry into the COVID-19 pandemic, Patrick Vallance said he and others faced repeated problems getting Johnson to understand the science and that he changed his mind on numerous occasions.

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Manning panel gives 90 recommendations on Alberta’s COVID‑19 pandemic response

A panel reviewing Alberta’s COVID-19 response is calling for rule changes to ensure the province’s premier and cabinet have the last word in future crises, with help from a new senior science officer.

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We Interrupt This Mood of Denial to Update COVID’s Threat

Although many Canadians act as though the pandemic has ended, the airborne virus that causes COVID-19 continues to evolve at an amazing pace with devastating consequences for both individuals and the public at large.

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Canada has ‘sufficient supply’ of new COVID-19 vaccines amid ‘pandemic amnesia,’ experts say

As doctors recommend new COVID-19 vaccine doses to combat the XBB.1.5 Omicron subvariant, a mutation of COVID-19 that has continued to spread despite misconceptions that the virus is in the past, officials say Canada has sufficient supply.

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Vaccine passport policies boosted COVID-19 vaccinations in Canada, study suggests

COVID-19 proof of vaccination requirements — commonly known as vaccine passports — led to more Canadians under 50 getting their first dose shortly after the policies were implemented, according to a newly published study by public health researchers.

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‘Endemic’ SARS-CoV-2 and the death of public health

SARS-CoV-2 is now circulating out of control worldwide. The only major limitation on transmission is the immune environment the virus faces. The disease it causes, COVID‑19, is now a risk faced by most people as part of daily life.

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Study suggests mass vaccination programs cut COVID cases in Japan 65%

The population benefit of COVID-19 vaccination via direct and indirect effects was substantial in Tokyo in early 2022 during Omicron, with an estimated 65% reduction in the number of SARS-CoV-2 infections, according to a new model that compared risks between unvaccinated and vaccinated individuals.

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‘Political preferences’ played role in COVID-19 pandemic response, Russell reveals

I think New Brunswickers were under the impression that government was looking for recommendations, for opinions from Public Health experts to make these decisions, and [it] feels like that … clearly wasn’t what was happening

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Global COVID vaccination saved 2.4 million lives in first 8 months, study estimates

The COVID-19 vaccination campaign in 141 countries averted 2.4 million excess deaths by August 2021 and would have saved another 670,000 more lives had vaccines been distributed equitably, estimates a working paper from University of Southern California (USC) and Brown University researchers.

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Les lacunes dans les foyers de soins ont aggravé les effets de la COVID à l’Î.-P.-É.

Long-term care facilities in Prince Edward Island were not ready for the pandemic. Because of this, the quality of patient care deteriorated when COVID-19 arrived.

A group appointed by the provincial government came to these conclusions after talking to residents, workers, and managers of long-term care facilities, as well as families whose loved ones live in those facilities.

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P.E.I. long-term care COVID-19 response reasonable, but harmful to residents: report

A long-awaited report into how Prince Edward Island handled the COVID-19 pandemic in its long-term care homes says that while the province’s response was reasonable, it was too severe in its impact on residents.

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Deficiencies at P.E.I. long-term care homes worsened impact of COVID, report says

P.E.I.’s long-term care homes “were not sufficiently prepared for a pandemic” when the COVID-19 crisis began, leading to the quality of care for residents deteriorating, according to an external panel appointed by the provincial government.

The panel headed by mediator and retired lawyer Michele Dorsey reported on its work Thursday, after interviewing and surveying long-term care residents, operators, staff and unions as well as health administrators and Island families who had loved ones in the system.

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Covid-19 vaccines prevented 16,000 deaths in Ireland, study says

Ireland’s Covid-19 vaccination programme prevented 16,000 deaths and hugely reduced hospital and intensive care admissions, according to a Health Service Executive study.

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