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.
Comments closedThe pandemic has highlighted the lasting health impacts viruses can have, long after the acute infection is over and done with.
Many viruses, not just Covid, play a role in causing more serious long-term diseases. Epstein- Barr Virus (EBV), the mononucleosis or kissing disease virus, is associated with Multiple Sclerosis.
Recently, B.C. rolled out an at home self-test for Human Papilloma Virus, that’s because HPV can cause throat and cervical cancer.
After the Great Influenza of 1918, it took us years to learn that children born in and around that time were later at higher risk for Parkinson’s disease (remember Robert De Niro in the movie Awakenings), not to mention cardiac disease and diabetes.
Comments closedCOVID-19 infections showed another drop in the last seven days, with Ottawa Public Health reporting 144 new cases as of Tuesday.
That compares with 177 new cases reported last week and 264 new cases the week before.
The health agency reported five new deaths from COVID-19, compared with four a week earlier.
Comments closedThe Covid-19 pandemic would be a wake-up call for America, advocates for the elderly predicted: incontrovertible proof that the nation wasn’t doing enough to care for vulnerable older adults.
The death toll was shocking, as were reports of chaos in nursing homes and seniors suffering from isolation, depression, untreated illness, and neglect. Around 900,000 older adults have died of Covid-19 to date, accounting for 3 of every 4 Americans who have perished in the pandemic.
But decisive actions that advocates had hoped for haven’t materialized. Today, most people — and government officials — appear to accept Covid as a part of ordinary life. Many seniors at high risk aren’t getting antiviral therapies for Covid, and most older adults in nursing homes aren’t getting updated vaccines. Efforts to strengthen care quality in nursing homes and assisted living centers have stalled amid debate over costs and the availability of staff. And only a small percentage of people are masking or taking other precautions in public despite a new wave of covid, flu, and respiratory syncytial virus infections hospitalizing and killing seniors.
Comments closedA new study of almost 200,000 newborns in Sweden and Norway shows that maternal receipt of the COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy poses no risk to…
Comments closedThe UK government is due to scrap the country’s entire reserve of coronavirus pandemic intensive care equipment next month, despite requests to send 2,000 respirators to Ukraine.
The Covid Strategic Intensive Care Unit (ICU) Reserve was created in April 2020 due to concerns about a shortage of respiratory equipment during the pandemic. It includes 6,682 Ventura breathing aids, which are set to be disassembled and recycled by April 1, government officials have confirmed.
The Afya Foundation, a US charity that distributes disused quality medical supplies around the world, said its partners in Ukraine have confirmed hospitals there are in desperate need of additional medical equipment and it was standing by to ship 2,000 of the devices to the country.
Comments closedDowntown 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.
Comments closedComments 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.
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