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Tag: Vancouver

Topic: British ColumbiaView all posts for the topic: British Columbia

BC health advocates demand return of mandatory masks in healthcare

Published May 14, 2024

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: The Peak
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By Yashita Dhillon

In response to April’s removal of mandatory mask mandates in healthcare settings, BC’s health advocacy group DoNoHarm BC, joined by Protect Our Province BC and Masks4EastVan, are leading a campaign to urge the provincial government to reinstate these protections. The groups say that BC health authorities have ignored warnings about ongoing COVID-19 risks and other respiratory threats like measles and tuberculosis.

The decision to remove mask mandates in healthcare settings was announced by the Ministry of Health, “the peak of the respiratory illness season has passed.” Though COVID-19 levels typically lessen in the spring, COVID-19 has not been established as a seasonal illness.

The Peak reached out to Dr. Karina Zeidler who organizes with DoNoHarm BC and is the co-founder of Protect Our Province BC for more information. Zeidler referenced a research article from BC Medical Journal which noted that “for some of these most vulnerable patients, the air in the hospital can be deadlier than the diagnosis that brought them in.” This is due to hospital acquired infections, which can then lead to COVID-19 deaths.

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Topic: British ColumbiaView all posts for the topic: British Columbia

BC Supreme Court rules in favour of PHO’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate for health-care workers

Published May 14, 2024

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: CityNews
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By Charlie Carey, Dean Recksiedler

Health-care workers who pushed back against being forced to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or face losing their jobs have lost in the BC Supreme Court.

In a ruling released Monday, presiding judge Justice Simon R. Coval says the provincial health officer was right in mandating COVID-19 vaccinations for health-care workers.

The three cases in question were brought to court by a nurse practitioner and two doctors, with all three saying they didn’t want to get the shot.

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Topic: lung diseaseView all posts for the topic: lung disease

Severe COVID leads to higher risk of pulmonary fibrosis: research

Published April 8, 2024

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Published by: CBC News
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For Vancouver resident Farrell Eckman, having a long conversation or attending a workout class without breaking into coughs is a major accomplishment.

The 50-year-old is one of many people who researchers say developed pulmonary fibrosis — a condition that thickens the tissue in lungs and can affect breathing — after experiencing a severe case of COVID-19.

In January 2022, Eckman was admitted to Vancouver General Hospital because she was having trouble breathing along with flu-like symptoms.

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Topic: long COVIDView all posts for the topic: long COVID

Researchers say more support, education needed to help B.C. long-COVID patients

Published April 5, 2024

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Published by: Global News
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By Darrian Matassa-Fung

Better long-COVID awareness, education and support are needed for patients, according to Simon Fraser University researchers who conducted a study on the topic.

More education for health-care workers, including doctors and nurses, is one of the recommendations made in a report done by the SFU-based Pacific Institute on Pathogens, Pandemics and Society.

The report includes findings from two focus groups of unpaid caregivers, professional care providers, long-COVID researchers and people living with long COVID, identified as “longhaulers.”

“It’s an invisible and new condition,” said Kayli Jamieson, a longhauler who co-led the focus groups as part of a larger study with Kaylee Byers, an assistant professor in SFU’s Faculty of Health Sciences. “Many people don’t believe that long COVID is real or exists. Unfortunately, that permeates through the healthcare system.”

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Topic: British ColumbiaView all posts for the topic: British Columbia

Surrey Memorial Hospital installs portable as waiting area for pediatric ER

Published November 8, 2023

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Published by: CityNews
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By Liza Yuzda, Hana Mae Nassar

Using portables for kids in B.C. isn’t just happening at schools — Surrey Memorial Hospital has installed a temporary emergency waiting area at its pediatric wing, preparing for a potential surge in patients.

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Topic: VancouverView all posts for the topic: Vancouver

East Vancouver woman warns of COVID-19, flu vaccine appointment shortage

Published November 3, 2023

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Published by: CityNews
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By Sonia Aslam

About a month after the provincial government rolled out its flu and COVID-19 vaccine campaign, one East Vancouver woman says she’s having a heck of a time getting an appointment for her family.

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Topic: British ColumbiaView all posts for the topic: British Columbia

Advocacy group calls for stronger COVID-19 measures this fall

Published September 19, 2023

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Published by: The Peak
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By Michelle Young

On August 28, DoNoHarm BC hosted a protest in front of the Minister of Health, Adrian Dix’s office to call for the return of universal mask protections in healthcare settings. The in-person protest featured 25–30 people, but thousands of postcards were mailed to MLAs as part of a campaign to amplify the experiences of those affected by the removal of masks in healthcare. The event organizers read some of the submitted stories to represent those who could not attend.

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Topic: British ColumbiaView all posts for the topic: British Columbia

BC’s first annual clean air festival promotes immunocompromised accessibility

Published September 14, 2023

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Published by: The Peak
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By Eden Chipperfield

On September 2, BC’s first annual Clean Air Festival occurred at Trout Lake in East Vancouver. The event is supported by Protect Our Province, Safe Schools Coalition BC, Masks4EastVan, and DoNoHarm BC. It promoted an accessible space where immunocompromised individuals can find sanctuary among peers who relate to ongoing concerns around airborne pathogens, like COVID-19, and pollutants that significantly affect air quality.

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First-person stories from British ColumbiansAn oversized postcard affixed to the window of Adrian Dix’s MLA office. The postcard reads, “Dear Minister Dix: Restore Masks in Healthcare! Covid is Airborne! DoNoHarm BC.” In place of a postage stamp is a headshot of Health Minister Adrian Dix wearing a respirator mask. Photo from DoNoHarm BC.
Topic: British ColumbiaView all posts for the topic: British Columbia

First-person stories from British Columbians

Published August 28, 2023

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: DoNoHarm BC
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CW: cancer, surgery, medical negligence, denial of care, disability grief

As part of DoNoHarm BC’s #Postcards4PublicHealth campaign, we’ve invited British Columbians to share their stories about the lack of Covid safety in BC – particularly the loss of mask protections in healthcare. Many wrote directly to policy makers. Some generously gave us permission to share their stories with the public and the press.

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Topic: British ColumbiaView all posts for the topic: British Columbia

Four months after healthcare mask mandate dropped, a protest calls for its return

Published August 25, 2023

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Published by: The Georgia Straight
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By V. S. Wells

“It’s now obvious we’ve started a COVID surge with a new variant, right when flu and RSV [respiratory syncytial virus] are about to hit. Our healthcare system is on its knees. We have the tools, and we need to use them. Not restoring mask protections to healthcare would be criminal.”

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Topic: British ColumbiaView all posts for the topic: British Columbia

British Columbians protest calling to restore mask protections in healthcare

Published August 23, 2023

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: DoNoHarm BC
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On Monday, August 28th at 12:00 pm, British Columbians will gather outside the MLA office of Health Minister Adrian Dix to demand the restoration of universal masking in healthcare settings, alongside other key safety measures like clean air. Echoing guidance from the WHO and calls from BC’s Human Rights Commissioner (and doctors and researchers worldwide), healthcare workers, patients and caregivers will tell their stories, and demand measures to protect the most vulnerable.

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Topic: British ColumbiaView all posts for the topic: British Columbia

B.C. wastewater showing increases in COVID-19 concentrations as new variant spreads

Published August 10, 2023

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Published by: CTV News
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By Ian Holliday

For the first time in months, weekly wastewater data released by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control shows increasing concentrations of COVID-19 at most monitored treatment plants around the province.

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Topic: universal maskingView all posts for the topic: universal masking

DoNoHarm BC protests the removal of mandatory masks in healthcare settings

Published May 15, 2023

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Published by: The Peak
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By Michelle Young

All COVID-19 patients (including vaccinated adults and children) are potentially at risk of long-term health damage or death, though some groups are disproportionately affected. These risks multiply with each reinfection.

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Topic: British ColumbiaView all posts for the topic: British Columbia

DoNoHarm BC to stage a die-in protesting end of hospital mask mandate

Published April 27, 2023

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: The Georgia Straight
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By V. S. Wells

Getting rid of masking means I can’t safely get the care I need. I need regular follow-up care, and because I’m immunocompromised, getting Covid in hospital is a massive risk… Right now, one of my greatest health risks is accessing medical care.

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Topic: mental healthView all posts for the topic: mental health

“I don’t feel protected”: How a lack of COVID-19 protections is impacting mental health

Published December 15, 2022

Still COVIDing Canada Posts

Published by: The Georgia Straight
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By V.S. Wells

People who are COVID-aware or at high risk discuss the mental health burden of staying safe.

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