Comments closedThere 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.
A federal appeals court shot down claims Monday that New Jersey residents’ refusal to wear face masks at school board meetings during the COVID-19 outbreak constituted protected speech under the First Amendment.
The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling in two related cases stemming from lawsuits against officials in Freehold and Cranford, New Jersey.
The suits revolved around claims that the plaintiffs were retaliated against by school boards because they refused to wear masks during public meetings. In one of the suits, the court sent the case back to a lower court for consideration. In the other, it said the plaintiff failed to show she was retaliated against.
Comments closedBC’s budget and fiscal report covers a “three year fiscal plan” for housing, sustainability, and healthcare. The report states, “As the funding for pandemic contingencies are set to wind down by the end of 2023/24, it is anticipated that the Ministry of Health will wind down or integrate any services into ministry operations, as appropriate, to support the ongoing health and well-being of British Columbians.”
The report did not elaborate, and The Peak reached out to the Ministry of Health for more information, who said they “will have an update to share following the release of the 2024/25 budget at the end of next month.”
DoNoHarm BC, who advocates for safer COVID-19 protections in the province, is concerned about the effects a potential budget cut could have for residents and provides a series of recommendations.
Comments closedNearly 1,170,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the United States according to official federal counts, but multiple excess mortality studies suggest that these totals are vastly undercounted. While excess mortality provides an estimation of deaths that likely would not have occurred under normal, non-pandemic conditions, there is still little evidence into whether the SARS-CoV-2 virus contributed to these additional deaths, or whether these deaths were caused by other factors such as healthcare disruptions or socioeconomic challenges.
Now, a new study led by the School of Public Health and the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) provides the first concrete data showing that many of these excess deaths were indeed uncounted COVID-19 deaths.
Comments closedComments closedIt is a constant deluge of pain that slowly strips you of everything you used to be by taking away everything you used to do — daily exercise, going out more nights than not, seeing friends, attending concerts.
If you’re heading to a hospital or other health-care facility after 8 a.m. on Monday, you will be required to put on a mask.
The province has returned to masking mandates in health-care centres for the first time since May 2023. The move comes amid concerns about respiratory illnesses such as COVID-19, influenza, strep A and other airborne viruses.
The provincial health department has said it’s a temporary measure, and will be re-evaluated on March 31.
Comments closedAir sampling in Dane County schools is helping health officials track flu and COVID-19, similar to how wastewater is increasingly monitored around the country for the coronavirus to gauge activity as fewer people get tested for COVID-19.
Since the beginning of the school year, flu and COVID-19 data from 16 air monitors at 15 schools in or near the county has been reported on Public Health Madison and Dane County’s respiratory illness dashboard. The devices, roughly the size of microwave ovens, are placed in communal spaces such as cafeterias. They suck air, including airborne viruses, into spongy material that is analyzed for viral genetic material.
Comments closedPeople who are homeless have high rates of COVID-19 reinfection, putting the health of an already vulnerable population at further risk, a study published Friday in the BMC Infectious Diseases journal says.
Homeless people in Toronto who had COVID-19 were more than twice as likely to get it again as people who had housing, said lead author Lucie Richard, a senior research associate at the MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions at St. Michael’s Hospital.
Comments closedCases of influenza, RSV and COVID-19 all increased in B.C. this week, according to the latest respiratory illness data from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.
All three diseases remain well below their recent transmission peaks, however.
There were 528 positive tests for influenza in the province during the most recent epidemiological week, which spanned Jan. 21 to 27. That’s an increase from the 442 positive tests recorded the week before.
Comments closed📣 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.
Comments closedToday in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, researchers published findings showing adults who received an updated 2023-24 COVID-19 vaccine were 54% less likely to have symptomatic infection than those who didn’t, and the vaccine was found to protect against JN.1 and other circulating variants.
This is one of the first studies to update 2023-24 COVID vaccine effectiveness (VE) data. The monovalent (single-strain) booster vaccine derived from XBB.1.5 was approved for use in all Americans 6 months and older on September 12, 2023, but uptake has been low. Moreover, the XBB strains of the virus, which the vaccine was based on, are no longer the dominant strains in the United States, having been replaced by JN.1 in December 2023.
Comments closedMandatory 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 closedCOVID-19 has killed three more New Brunswickers and a new subvariant, JN.1, appears to be on its way to taking over as the dominant strain in the province.
COVID-19 activity remains “moderate,” according to Tuesday’s Respiratory Watch report. Most indicators remained “stable” throughout the reporting period, Jan. 14 to Jan. 20, it says.
The flu has killed two more people, but influenza activity decreased during the reporting week, with the number of new cases dropping back to historical averages, the report shows.
Comments closedOttawa 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.
Comments closedIn an attempt to establish a definitive objective cognitive marker for PCC, or post-COVID-19 condition, researchers tested long COVID patients in Germany and the United Kingdom with cognitive speed tests, and found long COVID patients have a significant lag, suggesting cognitive slowing.
The study, published yesterday in eClincialMedicine, was based on findings on an initial 194 long COVID patient seen at a PCC clinic in Germany. Findings were then replicated in a follow up COVID clinic in the United Kingdom.
All study participants had one or more symptoms of PCC at least 12 weeks following a lab-confirmed COVID-19 infection. They were compared to two control groups, one group that had never had a COVID-19 infection and one group that had COVID-19 12 or more weeks prior but no evidence of PCC.
Comments closedAs all of us know, the COVID-19 pandemic was the worst public health crisis in more than a century. Since the first cases four years ago, well more than 100 million Americans have gotten the virus, more than 6.7 million Americans have been hospitalized and more than 1 million Americans have died.
More Americans have died from COVID-19 than were killed during World War II.
The pandemic created the most painful economic downturn since the Great Depression, disrupted the education of our young people and increased isolation, anxiety and mental illness.
I am more than aware that many Americans are tired of hearing about COVID-19 and would like to sweep it under the rug. Unfortunately, the virus is not done with us.
Comments closedFlu 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.
Comments closedHundreds of doctors are planning to sue the NHS over claims inadequate PPE on the frontline has left them with long COVID, disabled, and in financial ruin.
Dr Kelly Fearnley, 37, was working on a COVID ward at Bradford Royal Infirmary in November 2020 when she caught coronavirus.
More than three years later, the effects of long COVID mean she is still unable to work. After episodes of violent shakes, hallucinations, and a resting heart rate more than double the average, she was diagnosed with limbic encephalitis – inflammation of parts of the brain.
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