COVID-19 deaths led to a five-month decrease in life expectancy at birth last year, recent data released by Statistics Canada suggest, potentially putting the country at a level not seen in seven years.
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Topic: droplet dogmaView all posts for the topic: droplet dogma
The 60-Year-Old Scientific Screwup That Helped Covid Kill
Early one morning, Linsey Marr tiptoed to her dining room table, slipped on a headset, and fired up Zoom. On her computer screen, dozens of familiar faces began to appear. She also saw a few people she didn’t know, including Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization’s technical lead for Covid-19, and other expert advisers to the WHO. It was just past 1 pm Geneva time on April 3, 2020, but in Blacksburg, Virginia, where Marr lives with her husband and two children, dawn was just beginning to break.
Comments closedTopic: zero-COVID policiesView all posts for the topic: zero-COVID policies
All countries should pursue a Covid-19 elimination strategy: here are 16 reasons why
The past year of Covid-19 has taught us that it is the behaviour of governments, more than the behaviour of the virus or individuals, that shapes countries’ experience of the crisis. Talking about pandemic waves has given the virus far too much agency: until quite recently the apparent waves of infection were driven by government action and inaction. It is only now with the emergence of more infectious variants that it might be appropriate to talk about a true second wave.
As governments draw up their battle plans for year two, we might expect them to base their strategies on the wealth of data about what works best. And the evidence to date suggests that countries pursuing elimination of Covid-19 are performing much better than those trying to suppress the virus. Aiming for zero-Covid is producing more positive results than trying to “live with the virus.”
Continue readingAll countries should pursue a Covid-19 elimination strategy: here are 16 reasons why
Comments closed Topic: New ZealandView all posts for the topic: New Zealand
Ardern reveals the moment she chose Covid elimination strategy
New Zealand’s decision to eliminate coronavirus stemmed as much from fear as ambition, the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has revealed, saying there was a point at which she realised the health system simply couldn’t cope with a big outbreak.
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New Zealand suspects ‘some failure at the border’ after COVID-19 returns
New Zealand officials and scientists are eying a breach in isolation security as the possible cause of the first cases of community transmission in the country in 102 days. Investigators are exploring several possibilities, but experts believe the alternatives—that the virus was circulating undetected or that it entered the country on a freight shipment—are unlikely.
Comments closedTopic: universal maskingView all posts for the topic: universal masking
Opinion: Want to save lives and the economy? We need mandatory masks laws
Mandatory public masking has been saving lives and leading to an earlier (and safer) reopening of societies around the world. Despite this, Canadian officials have been reticent to support this cheap, effective measure.
As of May 12, 13 U.S. states, including Illinois, New York and Massachusetts, and 84 countries, including Israel, Germany, Austria, Czechia and France, have laws mandating public masking. And zero Canadian jurisdictions.
Comments closedTopic: pandemic responseView all posts for the topic: pandemic response
What We Can Learn from Six Countries’ Pandemic Battle Plans
Laissez-faire. Lockdowns. Mitigation. Testing. Denial. Elimination.
The world has responded to the pandemic with a diversity of strategies.
Some appear to be working well, while others are just coping or failing altogether.
And history appears to have prepared some countries better than others.
Comments closedTopic: OntarioView all posts for the topic: Ontario
Roughly 55 million N95 masks in Ontario expired before coronavirus hit
Millions of face masks stockpiled by Ontario in the aftermath of the SARS outbreak to protect healthcare workers during a future epidemic have expired, according to provincial officials and documents, raising questions about the readiness of Canada’s most populous province to deal with the spreading coronavirus.
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