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Tag: Quebec

Canada heading toward major measles outbreak without vaccine boost, new modelling suggests

As measles cases keep appearing in more parts of the country, new projections suggest there’s a high chance Canada may experience a “sizable outbreak” — with anywhere from dozens to thousands of people infected if the disease strikes communities with low vaccination rates.

As of Friday, at least 31 cases of measles have been reported so far this year across Canada, according to a CBC News tally of provincial and regional figures released by public health teams.

That’s already the largest annual total since 2019 and more than double the number of cases reported last year, as medical experts fear the number will rise while more Canadians travel in and out of the country this month for March break.

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Mask mandate reinstated in some Quebec health facilities following rise in measles cases

New data shows Quebec with 21 measles cases as of Friday 2 p.m., including 15 in Montreal.

According to the CIUSSS de l’Est, health centres in the eastern part of the island have responded by reinstating mask mandates and launching a vaccination campaign in elementary schools.

Notre-Dame and Sainte-Justine Hospitals are also among those requiring patients to wear masks to stop the spread.

“I feel like it’s necessary, especially to protect those who are more vulnerable,” said Montrealer Selena Ringwald. “Masking really doesn’t bother me, even as someone who has breathing issues after having COVID.”

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Radio | Quatre ans avec la COVID longue, le témoignage d’une famille montréalaise

Three years after the WHO declared the pandemic, this report plunges into the heart of the upset daily life of a Montreal family affected by…

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Four years later, long COVID continues to upend lives in Quebec

Sylvie Gagnon has been struggling with the symptoms of long COVID since early 2023, when she caught the virus for a fourth time since the outset of the pandemic.

A business development manager, Gagnon has been off work ever since. Needing help with daily tasks, she’s had to move in with her son and daughter-in-law.

On the few days she manages to leave the house in Vaudreuil-Dorion, she wears sunglasses and earmuffs — the condition has played havoc with her senses, leaving her hypersensitive to light and noise. Her pressure spikes without warning. Any exercise causes extreme fatigue.

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Deux nouveaux cas de rougeole à Montréal, pour un total de 12 au Québec

The Quebec Ministry of Health reports on Thursday two more cases of measles, bringing to 12 the total number of confirmed infections in the province since the beginning of the year.

The Quebec Ministry of Health indicates that since the beginning of the year, two cases of measles have been reported in Laval, north of Montreal, and another in Mauricie–Centre-du-Québec.

The Direction régionale de santé publique de Montréal states that seven cases reported in its territory, including the two new infections, are due to transmission in the community. The other two cases are related to international travel.

The regional agency says it is intensifying its efforts to trace the contacts of infected people.

Authorities said last Monday that the number of cases in Quebec was worrying, noting that measles vaccination rates were sometimes as low as 30% in some schools in Montreal.

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Four provinces confirm measles cases, including rare case in fully vaccinated man

Seventeen cases of measles have been confirmed in Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan and British Columbia — more than half of those in the Montreal area, while one Ontario case has been linked to a high school.

Quebec public health director Dr. Luc Boileau confirmed 10 cases on Monday, almost all of them involving children and making Montreal the country’s epicentre. He said only three of the cases were linked to travel outside of the country, indicating community spread in and around the city.

Public Health Ontario confirmed five cases of measles and said all but one involved travel.

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Quebec urges measles vaccination to prevent spread of highly contagious disease

Quebec public health officials are urging people to get themselves and their young children vaccinated for measles, a highly contagious disease that is making a comeback several years after its eradication.

Quebec’s public health director Luc Boileau, Montreal public health director Mylene Drouin, and pediatrician, microbiologist and infectious disease specialist Caroline Quach-Thanh are holding a news conference in Montreal Monday afternoon.

So far about 10 cases have been detected in the province, mainly in Montreal, but Boileau warns that it could be just the beginning.

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Fall COVID-19 vaccine cut illness risk by half overall

The fall COVID-19 vaccine cut the risk of COVID-19 illness by about half overall, and by 67 per cent for those with a previous infection, according to new research from the Canadian network that has long tracked the performance of the annual flu shot.

This is the first time the Canadian Sentinel Practitioner Surveillance Network, which is comprised of hundreds of primary care providers in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, produced mid-season estimates of the effectiveness of immunization against COVID-19.

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Ottawa Bylaw says police warned officers not to ticket ‘Freedom Convoy’ demonstrators due to ‘risk of escalation’

The City of Ottawa’s general manager of emergency and protective services says there is no double standard when it comes to how Ottawa Bylaw issues tickets to protesters who violate things like noise bylaws.

His comments come after the city announced this week that bylaw tickets were not issued to protesters in Ottawa for the “Freedom Convoy” anniversary rally on Saturday, despite the fact that a group of protesters set off fireworks in a parking lot on Queen Street, in violation of the city’s fireworks bylaw.

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Ottawa-Gatineau community update | 2024‑02‑15

📈 The COVID-19 wastewater viral signal for Ottawa is very high. The signal has decreased substantially since a peak around January 12, 2024. Levels are still about 1,050% higher than the value during a low point on July 12, 2023. The signal has increased during the first week of February 2024.

⚠️ The percent positivity is high (9.39% in Ottawa; 12.0% in the Outaouais).

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Convoy organizers claim Ottawa police board should pay damages in proposed class-action lawsuit

Convoy protest organizers defending a proposed class-action lawsuit now argue the Ottawa Police Services Board should be on the hook for any potential damages to be paid out, claiming protesters were following police directions when they parked hundreds of trucks in downtown Ottawa during the 2022 demonstration.

“None of the defendants … had originally expected to park any vehicles on the streets of downtown Ottawa as part of the protest,” according to a new third-party claim filed by the lawyer for the defendants, which include organizers Tamara Lich, Chris Barber and Pat King.

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Judge tosses motion to dismiss proposed class-action lawsuit against convoy participants

Downtown Ottawa residents and business owners who launched a proposed class-action lawsuit against organizers of the 2022 convoy protest moved one step closer to having their day in court as a judge tossed a defence motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

“There is sufficient basis to conclude that the plaintiffs have a meritorious case,” Superior Court Justice Calum MacLeod said in his ruling, released Monday.

“There is evidence that certain plaintiffs were subjected to what they contend to have been extreme amounts of noise, horn honking, incessant diesel fumes and other pollution, blockage of the streets and intimidation.

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Lawsuit against convoy organizers moves forward

There is evidence that certain plaintiffs were subjected to what they contend to have been extreme amounts of noise, horn honking, incessant diesel fumes and other pollution, blockage of the streets and intimidation. There is evidence that plaintiffs had difficulty accessing their properties and that business was disrupted, reservations cancelled, and revenue negatively impacted.

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High COVID levels persist as other illnesses dip

Flu numbers dropped again over the last week, according to the latest data from Ottawa Public Health (OPH), and RSV trends did the same. Flu levels remain high and RSV’s are more moderate.

The COVID-19 picture remains generally high and stable.

Meanwhile, both the number of respiratory-related and overall emergency room visits in the city have dropped for three straight weeks.

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Federal government’s decision to invoke Emergencies Act against convoy protests was unreasonable, court rules

A federal judge says the Liberal government’s use of the Emergencies Act in early 2022 to clear convoy protesters was unreasonable.

“I conclude that there was no national emergency justifying the invocation of the Emergencies Act and the decision to do so was therefore unreasonable and ultra vires,” Federal Court Justice Richard Mosley wrote in a Tuesday decision. “Ultra vires” is a Latin term used by courts to refer to actions beyond the scope of the law.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters at a cabinet retreat in Montreal that the government plans to appeal the decision.

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Quebec judge OK’s class-action suit over COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care homes

A judge has authorized a class-action lawsuit against the Quebec government on behalf of all residents of public long-term care homes that experienced major COVID-19 outbreaks during the pandemic’s first year.

The lawsuit in Superior Court alleges that the province’s response to the first two waves of COVID-19 was improvised and that a pre-existing pandemic plan was ignored until it was too late.

Members of the class action include anyone living in a public long-term care centre that experienced a COVID-19 outbreak that infected at least 25 per cent of residents between March 13, 2020 and March 20, 2021.

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COVID-19 en CHSLD : la Cour supérieure autorise une action collective

Following numerous representations, a group represented by lawyer Patrick Martin-Ménard has obtained authorization to proceed with a class action against the Government of Quebec on behalf of residents of long-term care facilities (CHSLDs) that experienced COVID-19 outbreaks during the first two waves of the pandemic, and on behalf of the families of those who died.

The main complainant in this application originally filed in April 2020, Jean-Pierre Daubois, had lost her 94-year-old mother, a resident of the Sainte-Dorothée CHSLD in Laval. During this first wave, nearly half of the residents infected with COVID-19 in this facility had died.

According to the judgment consulted by Radio-Canada, nearly 120 public CHSLDs will be included in the class action.

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Montreal university study describes COVID-19 sanitary measures as ‘generally effective’

A study aimed at countering online misinformation finds that health measures taken by governments to protect against COVID-19 helped save lives and reduce the number of people hospitalized in 2020.

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