Covid and other respiratory viruses in the US and Canada

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More Insane LEAKED Government Covid Documents [Covid Origin]

 

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Student test scores slowly rebounding post-COVID

 

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Covid-19 vaccine can help cut the chances of symptomatic infection by half

 

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Nearly $4M grant awarded for long COVID

 

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Boost your immunity with the updated COVID Vaccine

 

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162 - How Covid Changed The Face Of Jehovah's Witnesses (Well, Some Of Them)

 

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$3.9 million award for Albany Medical College to study long-COVID

 

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I was exposed to COVID and tested negative. Should I test again? | COVID Catch-up with Dr. Laz

 

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This Week In Guns-336 – The COVID Conundrum

 

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COVID-19 reinfection rates high among Toronto people who are homeless: study - Toronto | Globalnews.ca

The St. Michael's Hospital study found homeless people in Toronto who had COVID-19 were more than twice as likely to be reinfected as people who had housing.

globalnews.ca

COVID-19 reinfection rates high among Toronto people who are homeless: study
By Nicole Ireland The Canadian Press
Posted February 2, 2024 9:23 am

The St. Michael’s Hospital study found homeless people in Toronto who had COVID-19 were more than twice as likely to be reinfected as people who had housing.
Lead author Lucie Richard says people who are homeless are more exposed to the virus through crowded living conditions such as shelters.
Get the latest Kitchener news. Sent to your email, every day.
They are also more likely than the general public to have underlying health conditions that make them more vulnerable to illness.
Richard says repeated COVID-19 infections could also make homeless people more susceptible to long COVID.
The study is published in the BMC Infectious Diseases journal.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 2, 2024.
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Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.

 

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Quebec court upholds province's COVID-19 curfew after Charter challenge

A provincial court justice of the peace has upheld the Quebec government's imposition of curfews during the COVID-19 pandemic, finding several people guilty of breaking the health order during a protest.

montreal.ctvnews.ca

Quebec court upholds COVID-19 curfew

A provincial court justice of the peace has upheld the Quebec government's imposition of curfews during the COVID-19 pandemic, finding several people guilty of breaking the health order during a protest.
Marie-France Beaulieu of the Quebec court ruled Tuesday that the curfew, which forced Quebecers to stay indoors from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., infringed Charter-protected rights like freedom of expression and lawful assembly.

Nevertheless, she said those violations were reasonable and justified given the public health context.
"The pandemic and the rapid increase in (COVID-19) cases constitute exceptional circumstances raising public health issues. This situation forced the government to adopt measures to reduce the risks of spread in order to protect the life and health of the population," Beaulieu wrote in a 65-page ruling. "In other words, as no one could predict with certainty what the long-term impacts of the upheavals caused by COVID-19 would be, it was necessary to take appropriate means, including the use of a curfew."

Stephanie Pepin, who, along with seven others, broke the curfew by holding a demonstration after 8 p.m. in January 2021, had raised a Charter challenge against the health order.
She and others demonstrated against the rules in Amos, Que., about 485 kilometres northwest of Montreal in the Abitibi-Temiscamingue region. Her challenge was assisted by the Calgary-based Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms.
Lawyer Olivier Seguin, who represented Pepin, said the ruling will be appealed.
In a statement, he argued it was evident that authorities had "no constitutional basis on which to act."
With this week's decision, the eight defendants were ordered to pay a $1,000 fine within six months.
Premier François Legault's Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government twice used nightly curfews during the pandemic.
The first lasted nearly five months, from Jan. 9, 2021, to May 28, 2021.
He imposed a second COVID-19 curfew on New Year's Eve until Jan. 17, 2022.
Breaking the curfew carried fines of between $1,000 and $6,000.
Quebec was the only province to prohibit its citizens from leaving their homes at night during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Charter case heard testimony from senior Quebec public health officials at the time, including former public health director Dr. Horacio Arruda and Dr. Richard Masse, another public health official.

In her ruling, Beaulieu said the global pandemic was an "exceptional context."
The government, she said, "had to plan and provide a reasonable framework for social activities and interactions, hence the adoption of specific measures."
-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 2, 2024.

 

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Preston Manning: Three lessons for the federal government from the COVID crisis

Future health emergencies can be dealt with without the social and economic harms that came with COVID

nationalpost.com

Preston Manning: Three lessons for the federal government from the COVID crisis
Future health emergencies can be dealt with without the social and economic harms that came with COVID
Author of the article:
Preston Manning, Special to National Post
Published Feb 02, 2024 • Last updated 7 hours ago • 5 minute read
251 Comments

PHOTO BY AZIN GHAFFARI/POSTMEDIA
Article content
The COVID-19 pandemic had an unprecedented impact on the lives of millions of Canadians. It not only negatively affected their physical and mental health, but also impacted their family and social relationships, their children’s educational experience, their jobs and incomes, and saw their rights and freedoms seriously limited by government-imposed health measures.

One would think that an unprecedented event with such widespread impacts would have been followed by an official public inquiry of some kind to determine what went right, what went wrong and what lessons could be learned to better prepare the country to deal with future public emergencies. But with one exception, no government in the country has seen fit to hold such an inquiry.

The one exception was the government of Alberta, which, in January 2022, established the Public Health Emergencies Governance Review Panel (PHEGRP). Its terms of reference called for it to review the relevant legislation and the public-health orders that were made under it, and propose amendments to improve the capacity of the province to respond to future public emergencies.

It was my privilege to chair that panel, which released its report in November 2023 and recommended over 60 amendments to key Alberta statutes, such as the Emergency Management Act, the Alberta Bill of Rights and the Public Health Act.

Since the release of the report, I have been asked whether any of the lessons learned by Alberta might be relevant to the federal government, which played a major role in establishing the national response to COVID-19. The short answer to that question is “yes.” In particular, there are three important lessons that are relevant to the federal government.


1. Choose the emergency response entity carefully and properly equip it to co-ordinate the response.

Because the COVID-19 crisis began as a health emergency, the federal response was automatically assigned to the Public Health Agency of Canada. Yet the response measures adopted or recommended to the provinces — mandatory vaccinations, mask mandates and social distancing, leading to school closures and economic lockdowns — had social, economic and legal consequences far beyond the experience and competence of health officials, such as the chief public health officer, to anticipate or manage.

In future, it would be wiser to assign the overall co-ordination of the emergency response to an agency specifically designed and equipped to perform that role, regardless of the nature of the specific emergency. In the case of the federal government, that should be a reformed and adequately equipped agency, such as Public Safety Canada.

2. Offer Canadians more “balanced protection” during public emergencies — protection from the harms of the emergency, while simultaneously strengthening the protection of rights and freedoms impacted by the emergency response measures.

Measures adopted to protect Canadians from the harms of a national public emergency such as COVID-19 may well involve the temporary imposition of limitations on constitutionally guaranteed rights and freedoms — for example, limitations on freedom of expression, assembly, mobility rights and even the right to equal benefit of law.

There is a need, therefore, to provide more — not less — protection of such rights during a national emergency. If the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms is to have the priority called for by our Constitution, the courts, in particular, need to be directed by law to give more weight, not less, to the expeditious protection of constitutionally guaranteed rights and freedoms during a time of emergency.

While amending the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to ensure such increased protection during public emergencies would be extremely difficult to achieve, the Canadian Bill of Rights could be amended, along the same lines as the amendments to the Alberta Bill of Rights recommended by PHEGRP.

These include: strengthened protection for freedom of expression, academic freedom and professional freedom; explicit protection against prejudicial profiling by the state and discrimination based on medical status or history; and explicit guarantees of the right to informed medical consent and the right to freedom of choice with respect to medical procedures.

3. Significantly expand the service capacity of the Canadian health-care system.

A national health emergency creates a surge in demand for health-care services. But the Canadian health-care system does not have the capacity to meet the increasing health-care demands of Canadians under normal circumstances; it certainly doesn’t have the surge capacity required to meet a spike in demand caused by a health emergency like the COVID crisis.

Dozens of other countries provide their citizens with universal access to quality health services regardless of ability to pay, just like Canada, but have greater system capacity than we do — more doctors and nurses per capita, more treatment beds (including ICUs) per capita and shorter waiting times to see emergency physicians, general practitioners and specialists.

The polarization of the political debate in Canada over much-needed health reforms — with advocates of reform invariably being accused by defenders of the status quo of wanting to abolish universality and install an American-style system — makes addressing the systemic deficiencies revealed by the COVID crisis extremely difficult. But a step in the right direction, as recommended in the PHEGRP report, would be to convene a special colloquium on best 21st-century health-care practices later this year.

Specialists from countries with health-care systems that significantly outperform Canada’s, particularly on the capacity front, should be invited to come and answer two questions: (1) What are the distinctive features of their systems that give them superior capacity and performance? and (2) What changes did their governments have to make in their health-care policies and legislation in order to secure that increased capacity and superior performance?

Canadian legislators, policymakers and media should be invited to attend the colloquium, without any obligation to make any commitments, and with electronic access to all sessions being provided to the general public. The aim would be to identify — from the testimony of credible outside sources — features of other universal health-care systems that Canada and its provinces might consider adopting.

This is necessary in order to improve this country’s capacity to meet increases in future health-care demands, including those created by future health emergencies.

Preston Manning was the founder of the Reform party, former leader of the official Opposition in Parliament and chair of Alberta’s Public Health Emergencies Governance Review Panel.

 

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https://www.thestar.com/news/ontario/we-re-over-the-worst-ontarios-top-doctor-says-covid-influenza-are-past-peak-but/article_84baec02-c08a-11ee-9886-ab5cb6d05c2a.html

 

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https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-region/no-new-covid-19-deaths-reported-in-waterloo-region/article_5aea2386-9d99-5a31-b469-136c6da7a826.html

No new COVID-19 deaths reported in Waterloo Region
The number of people in hospital with the disease also dropped this week, according to weekly statistics released Friday.
By Waterloo Region Record
Friday, February 2, 2024
1 min to read
Article was updated 6 hrs ago

No new COVID-19 deaths are being reported in Waterloo Region this week.
The number of people in hospital with the disease also dropped by three patients, to 26 as of Wednesday, according to weekly statistics released Friday by the regional public health unit.
There were four patients in intensive care as of Wednesday, down from six the previous week.
Eight deaths have occurred this year in the region where COVID-19 was a direct or contributing cause.
A total of 49 new cases were reported for the week, bringing this year’s total to 356. The number of new cases is an underestimate, as testing in Ontario is limited to those at highest risk.

The number of active outbreaks in high-risk settings decreased by one to six; there are four outbreaks in long-term care or retirement homes, one in a congregate setting and one at Grand River Hospital’s Freeport Campus.
Wastewater monitoring in Kitchener and Cambridge to Jan. 21 indicates the COVID-19 signal is decreasing.

 

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Pharmacies in England and Scotland to offer private Covid jabs – for £45

Pharmadoctor is offering appointments from 1 April for vaccinations and intends to add more pharmacies to its network

www.theguardian.com

Pharmacies in England and Scotland to offer private Covid jabs – for £45
Pharmadoctor is offering appointments from 1 April for vaccinations and intends to add more pharmacies to its network

Nicola Davis Science correspondent
@NicolaKSDavis
Fri 2 Feb 2024 16.40 GMT

Covid vaccinations will be available privately in the UK for the first time this year, and patients are already booking appointments for the £45-a-pop jabs.
Pharmadoctor – a company that provides clinical service packages to pharmacists – has announced that jabs will be available for patients aged 12 years and over – provided they pass a face-to-face consultation with a pharmacist.

At present, 27 pharmacies in England and Scotland are listed as offering appointments for the jabs and the company said it expected the figure to grow.
“Over the coming weeks, as pharmacists come on board to offer the service, the network will build and we expect it to mirror the private flu service which we support thousands of pharmacies to offer each year,” said Graham Thoms, the chief executive of Pharmadoctor.

The latest booster jabs have been limited to selected populations, with the latest offered only to over-65s, carers, frontline healthcare workers and the clinically vulnerable, and have so far only been available on the NHS.
That has meant many people have not had a booster jab since late 2021, and experts have warned that their protection will have waned over time. As a result, many have called for Covid jabs to be made privately available, just as flu jabs are, to offer protection against both Covid and long Covid.
Pharmadoctor said the initial vaccine on offer would be the updated Novavax jab, which targets the Omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant of the Sars-CoV-2 virus.
“But as more vaccines become licensed for use in the private market, they will be added into the service,” he said.
The Novavax jab is a protein-based vaccine that uses more established technology than some other Covid vaccinations, meaning it may be more acceptable to some who have concerns over newer types of vaccine based on mRNA or adenovirus platforms – such as the Pfizer/BioNTech or AstraZeneca Covid jabs respectively.
Prof Lawrence Young, a virologist at the University of Warwick, said the version that is to be given privately protects against Omicron variants including the currently circulating JN.1 variant. But he added: “It is likely that the mRNA-based vaccines will also be available privately soon.”

While some have raised concerns about poor uptake of recent booster jabs among some of those eligible for the free jabs, it seems pharmacists are already experiencing demand for the paid-for service.

“By this morning, I’d received seven bookings for the first of April, when it actually goes live,” said Cyril Siou of the Nightingale Pharmacy in Southampton.
Dr Simon Williams, a behavioural scientist at Swansea University, said the development was welcome – but queried the £45 cost. “The decision to offer Covid-19 boosters to purchase privately is a good thing from a public health perspective. Like the flu vaccine, it means that more people now have a choice of whether they want to reduce their risk of getting ill from Covid, including reducing their risk of getting long Covid,” he said.
“However, this new development is not ideal. The fact that the jabs cost £45 excludes a lot of people, particularly those on low incomes, who won’t be able to afford it.”

 

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Understanding Long COVID

 

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Health Minister calls for caution as new Covid cases are recorded

 

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MANDEL: Ontario doc loses licence for anti-vaxx disinformation

There's freedom of speech – but not when it comes to endangering patients.

torontosun.com

MANDEL: Ontario doc loses licence for anti-vaxx disinformation
A second doctor opposed to COVID measures may also lose her licence if she doesn't co-operate with investigation

Author of the article:
Michele Mandel
Published Feb 02, 2024 • Last updated 13 hours ago • 3 minute read
Almost four years since the pandemic began, two outspoken anti-vaxx doctors in Ontario face tough sanctions just issued by their governing body last – with Dr. Mark Trozzi losing his licence and Dr. Crystal Luchkiw suspended for six months and warned that she, too, could face revocation.
Trozzi, on sabbatical from his practice in Bancroft, was found guilty of professional misconduct in the fall by the Ontario Physicians and Surgeons Discipline Tribunal for “misleading, inflammatory speech that contributed to harm to the public during a public health emergency.”
The tribunal found the doctor promoted non-scientific and baseless conspiracy theories about COVID-19.
“The clearest examples of these are the registrant’s efforts, through extreme and inflammatory rhetoric, to convince the public that the pandemic was a hoax and that COVID-19 vaccines are dangerous,” the decision states.
“In his postings, he has described Canadian colleges of physicians and surgeons as ‘ring leaders in crimes against humanity’ and the ‘enforcement tools of the criminal COVID enterprise,’ stating they are ‘corrupted to the core, and on the short list of those who must be taken to court.’ He calls the College’s Registrar a criminal and demands that she be arrested.”

Even after being found guilty of misconduct in November 2023, the tribunal found Trozzi continued to defy them by posting his conspiracy theories. So they concluded the doctor is “ungovernable” and deserved the most serious penalty: revocation of his licence to practise so his misinformation is no longer “cloaked with the appearance of authority.”

“We have no sign that the registrant shows a willingness to change,” the decision concludes. “The registrant is free to continue with his communications but cannot do so while holding the status of a physician.”
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Trozzi was also ordered to pay about $95,000 in hearing costs. He’s vowed to appeal to the Divisional Court.

“I am proud to be one of the rare doctors who has absolutely zero COVID blood on my hands,” the renegade doc wrote on X. ” We will now take the CPSO to court, because this decision was from a farcical kangaroo make-believe court of their own.”

Luchkiw, another ardent opponent of COVID restrictions, is being disciplined for not cooperating with two investigations by the College of Physicians and Surgeons in November and December 2021, with one stemming from a Barrie hospital’s suspicions that she’d given a vaccine exemption to an immunocompromised patient who was at high risk for complications from COVID.

For more than two years, she’s refused the regulator’s request to provide a list of patients and complete medical records for those she issued vaccine and mask exemptions and prescribed ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine.

The Barrie family and palliative care doctor has been suspended since March 2022 for what she called on her blog, an “illegitimate investigation witch hunt against me.”

She’s insisted the college forged ahead with its attack on her without any evidence of misconduct.

“They suspended my licence over a year ago leaving all of my patients orphaned in a shortage crisis. This is inexcusable,” she wrote in May 2023.

While she’s argued all along that the regulatory body doesn’t have the authority to investigate exemptions, all her court challenges have been unsuccessful. In July 2023, the tribunal found her guilty of misconduct for not cooperating with her regulator.

As for penalty, the college wanted her licence revoked.

Representing herself, Luchkiew filed letters describing her as a “compassionate and dedicated” doctor and pleaded with them to let her get back to work.

Instead, the tribunal imposed the six-month suspension but warned that if she still fails to cooperate, they could strip her licence.

“Such conduct would demonstrate that she is unwilling to accept the obligations accompanying the privilege of being a member of a self-regulating health profession.”

She may not care. Luchkiw has apparently launched a private, members-only wellness centre.

 

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https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-covid-weekly-data-summary-jan-27-2023-1.7102430

Alberta's COVID death toll up by 3 since last week, with 98 more hospitalizations
Includes known deaths and hospitalizations up to Jan. 27 but there is a lag in reporting

Robson Fletcher · CBC News · Posted: Feb 01, 2024 6:30 PM EST | Last Updated: February 1

New COVID-19 severe outcomes in the most recent Alberta Health report vs. the report from the week before. The week of the most recent report is Jan. 21 to Jan. 27, 2024. (Data via Alberta Health, table by Robson Fletcher/CBC)

Another three Albertans have died from COVID, according to the latest weekly data released by the provincial government.
That brings the death toll for the current season to 433.
The latest release also shows an additional 98 people were hospitalized for COVID, including 10 admitted to intensive care units (ICU).
In total, there have now been 3,616 hospitalizations this season, including 226 admissions to ICU.

• Alberta government promotes 'pharmacy clinics' to take strain off family doctors, ERs

Admissions do not include patients with "incidental" cases of COVID-19 admitted to hospital/ICU for other reasons.
Alberta Health says the deaths include those "resulting from a clinically compatible illness in a lab-confirmed COVID-19 case, unless there is a clear alternative cause of death identified (e.g. trauma, poisoning, drug overdose, etc.)"
These numbers represent the difference between hospitalizations and deaths in the province's most recent weekly report compared to the report from the week before, for the 2023-24 respiratory virus tracking season.
The season runs from Aug. 27, 2023, to Aug. 24, 2024.
Age breakdown and data notes
Older people tend to be the most vulnerable to severe outcomes from COVID, but younger people can be affected, too.
The table below breaks down the total number of hospitalizations, ICU admissions and deaths in the current respiratory-virus season, by age range.
You'll also find the population-adjusted rate (per 100,000 people) for each age range.

This data all comes from the provincial government's respiratory virus dashboard, which is updated weekly.
There are often delays in reporting, however, meaning not all deaths and hospitalizations that actually happened during the latest weekly reporting period are included.
Each weekly report typically includes severe outcomes that occurred in prior weeks but were only just added to the data.

 

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https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/covid19-flu-rsv-respiratory-ottawa-levels-spread-risk-1.7097777

COVID levels mostly moderate for first time in months
OPH Ottawa's flu trends remain high, health unit says
Andrew Foote · CBC News · Posted: Feb 01, 2024 10:49 AM EST | Last Updated: February 1

A father and son toboggan at Carlington Park in Ottawa in February 2021. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)

The latest
The COVID-19 picture has improved across major categories, according to the latest data from Ottawa Public Health (OPH), with most key numbers moderate for the first time since August.
RSV trends are low to moderate and stable or dropping.
Flu levels in wastewater and flu-related hospitalizations remain high. Hospitalizations are the only indicator that rose, according to the update.
Experts recommend people cover coughs, wear masks, keep hands and often-touched surfaces clean, stay home when sick and keep up with COVID and flu vaccines to help protect themselves and other vulnerable people.
OPH says the city's health-care institutions remain at high risk from respiratory illnesses, as they have been since the end of August. This is expected to be the case until at least March.
In Ottawa
Spread
Ottawa's recent coronavirus wastewater average, as of Jan. 29, had been falling for nearly three weeks from a mid-month peak.
It had been generally rising for more than six months.
OPH says the wastewater signal drops to high.

Researchers have measured and shared the amount of novel coronavirus in Ottawa's wastewater since June 2020. This is the data for 2023 and 2024 up to Monday. (613covid.ca)
The weekly average test positivity rate in the city lowers to 13 per cent, which OPH now considers moderate.
Hospitalizations, outbreaks and deaths
The average number of Ottawa residents in local hospitals for COVID-19 has dropped to 33 over the last week, the fewest since October.
A separate wider count, which includes patients who tested positive for COVID after being admitted for other reasons, were admitted for lingering COVID complications or were transferred from other health units, has edged downward.

Ottawa Public Health has a COVID-19 hospital count that shows all hospital patients who tested positive for COVID, including those admitted for other reasons and who live in other areas. (Ottawa Public Health)
OPH considers the number of new COVID-related hospitalizations in the city — 30 — as moderate, also down from high.
The active COVID outbreak count is stable at 26, mostly in long-term care or retirement homes. There is a moderate number of new outbreaks.
The health unit reported 177 more COVID cases and four more COVID deaths in the last week. All victims were people age 80 or above.
OPH's next vaccination update is now expected next week.
After nearly four years, OPH said it is also ending its COVID-specific dashboard at some point this month. Much of the information is now reflected in OPH's respiratory updates. OPH said COVID open data will continue to be updated.
Across the region
The Kingston area's health unit says it's also in the midst of a high-risk time for respiratory illness. Its COVID-19, flu and RSV pictures are all stable: COVID and flu are at higher levels and RSV is looking lower.
The Eastern Ontario Health Unit (EOHU)'s big-picture assessment rates the overall respiratory risk as moderate and stable.
Hastings Prince Edward (HPE) Public Health, like Ottawa, gives a weekly COVID case hospital average. That has fallen again to nine. Flu activity there is seen as low.
Renfrew County's trends are generally dropping.
Western Quebec drops to 46 hospital patients who have tested positive for COVID. The province reports three more COVID deaths there.
The health unit for Leeds, Grenville and Lanark (LGL) counties reported four more COVID deaths there, while the Kingston area's count rose by three, and HPE's by one.
Renfrew County's health unit reported two more deaths, bringing its total above 100. The entire region has passed 2,700 of these deaths.
LGL data goes up to Jan. 21, when its trends were generally high and dropping.