Emergency departments and other hospital services have closed a record number of times in Ontario so far in 2023, according to a new Ontario Health Coalition report being described as “staggering.”
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Topic: NovavaxView all posts for the topic: Novavax
Health Canada approves updated Novavax vaccine to protect against COVID-19
Health Canada has authorized an adapted vaccine from Novavax to prevent COVID-19 in people age 12 and older.
The vaccine uses a traditional approach to defend the body against COVID.
It contains a version of the viral spike protein and is also authorized as a booster for those 18 and older, according to Health Canada’s webpage.
Comments closedTopic: air samplersView all posts for the topic: air samplers
Study: School air sampling worked as well as other methods in tracking COVID, flu
Air sampling was as effective in monitoring COVID-19 and influenza A (IAV) activity as three other methods in a Wisconsin school district from September 2022 to January 2023, according to a study published today in JAMA Network Open.
Comments closedTopic: NunavutView all posts for the topic: Nunavut
Winter brings higher risk of flu, COVID-19, Health Department warns
With winter increasing the chance of contracting influenza and COVID-19, the Department of Health says it’s important that people get their shots.
Comments closedTopic: Ottawa-GatineauView all posts for the topic: Ottawa-Gatineau
COVID-19 hospitalizations higher than last December, MOH warns
Ottawa’s medical officer of health is warning that COVID-19 levels in the community are high and the number of people in hospital because of the disease is higher than it was at this time last year.
In her verbal report to the Board of Health on Monday, Dr. Vera Etches said there is a lot of COVID-19 in the community.
Comments closedTopic: cognitive issuesView all posts for the topic: cognitive issues
Small study finds brain alterations after COVID Omicron infection
Researchers in China report thinning of the gray matter and other changes in certain parts of the brain in 61 men after COVID-19 Omicron infection.
For the study, published late last week in JAMA Network Open, the researchers evaluated 61 men before and after infection with the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant in January 2023. The men had been part of a larger cohort who had undergone magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and neuropsychiatric screenings before infection in August and September 2022. Average age was 43 years.
Comments closedTopic: Ottawa-GatineauView all posts for the topic: Ottawa-Gatineau
Ottawa Public Health wrapping up COVID-19 operations, cutting pandemic staff
Ottawa Public Health will layoff most of its COVID-19 staff by the end of the year and wrap up its immunization programming at the end of March, as the Ontario government stops reimbursing for extraordinary costs related to the pandemic.
Comments closedTopic: conspiracy theoriesView all posts for the topic: conspiracy theories
Conspiracy theories are popular in Canada, especially among conservatives: poll
The Earth is flat. We have been secretly contacted by intelligent beings from other planets. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin did not land on the moon in 1969. They may sound like bizarre statements, but a new poll suggests a sizable number of Canadians believe in these and other conspiracy theories.
Comments closedTopic: United StatesView all posts for the topic: United States
US prison deaths soared by 77% during height of Covid-19 crisis, study finds
A study of US prison deaths at the height of the Covid-19 crisis in 2020 has found that mortality rates soared by 77% relative to 2019, or more than three times the increase in the general population.
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Topic: Ottawa-GatineauView all posts for the topic: Ottawa-Gatineau
Ottawa Public Health to let go most remaining COVID-19 staff as province ends special pandemic funding
Ottawa Public Health will let go most of its remaining COVID-19 staff by the end of the year as the province stops directly reimbursing most costs related to the pandemic.
OPH will continue offering vaccines to the most vulnerable, including long-term care residents and recent immigrants, but will wrap up broader COVID-19 efforts by the end of March.
Comments closedTopic: climate crisisView all posts for the topic: climate crisis
Dubai climate talks focus on health as Canadian doctors warn patients already seeing impacts
A group of Canadian doctors are in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, this week at COP28 to raise awareness about the impacts climate change is having on the health of patients and the overall health-care system.
Comments closedTopic: QuebecView all posts for the topic: Quebec
Les virus respiratoires prennent d’assaut les urgences du Québec
A trio of respiratory viruses hover over Quebec and send many patients to the emergency room.
According to Jean Longtin, a microbiologist-infectiologist at the CHU in Québec-Université Laval, it is mainly the respiratory syncytial virus, the RSV, influenza and COVID-19 that are currently circulating.
Comments closedTopic: Nova ScotiaView all posts for the topic: Nova Scotia
24 Nova Scotia long-term care homes currently dealing with COVID-19 outbreaks
There are currently two dozen COVID-19 outbreaks reported at long-term care homes across Nova Scotia, and some health-care officials are concerned about a lack of COVID protocols.
Comments closedTopic: disinformationView all posts for the topic: disinformation
Fact Check: Iceland has not banned COVID vaccines
A headline shared online falsely claims that Iceland has banned COVID-19 vaccines and cites sudden deaths for which there is no evidence, according to the Icelandic national health authority.
Iceland has not banned COVID vaccines and “there are no soaring sudden deaths,” Guðrún Aspelund, chief epidemiologist at the Icelandic Directorate of Health, told Reuters in a Nov. 29 email.
Comments closedTopic: influenzaView all posts for the topic: influenza
Flu season has officially started in Canada, public health agency says
Flu season has officially begun in Canada, the federal public health agency said on Friday.
“At the national level, influenza activity has crossed the seasonal threshold, indicating the start of influenza season,” the Public Health Agency of Canada said in its weekly FluWatch report posted online.
Comments closedTopic: life expectancyView all posts for the topic: life expectancy
‘Dramatic’ increases in younger Canadians’ deaths contributed to our reduced life expectancy
Amid a declining life expectancy across the country, new national data released this week show that years on from the beginning of the pandemic, COVID-19…
Comments closedTopic: South KoreaView all posts for the topic: South Korea
COVID-19 shrinks life expectancy in S. Korea for first time since 1970
Babies born in South Korea last year are expected to live 82.7 years, down from 83.6 years in 2021, the statistics agency said on Friday, after life expectancy fell in 2022 for the first time since 1970, hit by a spike in deaths linked to COVID-19.
Following a global trend of such declines over the past few years, the OECD grouping said last month that average life expectancy had dipped 0.7 years across its 39 member nations between 2019 and 2021.
Comments closedTopic: ManitobaView all posts for the topic: Manitoba
Manitoba reduces recommended wait time between COVID-19 shots
Respiratory viruses are on the rise in Manitoba and the province is reducing recommended intervals between COVID-19 vaccines.
Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba’s chief provincial public health officer, said residents are now eligible to receive an updated vaccine three months after their previous shot.
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