Dr. Kieran Quinn says he’s noticed a shift in attitude among his friends, colleagues and community members during the Omicron wave of COVID-19, as preventive vigilance has eroded into resignation that infection seems inevitable.
The clinician-scientist at Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital says he can sympathize with this sense of pandemic fatigue as the Omicron variant rages across Canada, ushering in another round of public health restrictions and backlogged demand for tests and COVID-19 vaccines.
As Omicron gains a reputation as a “mild” virus variant, Quinn says he sees why some people might feel tempted to “let it rip” in hopes of moving on from the pandemic’s latest and in some cases most overwhelming wave.
But Quinn and other doctors say Canadians can’t afford to be so cavalier about Omicron, because while the risks of infection seem lower to some individuals, abetting the variant’s supercharged spread would have devastating consequences across society.
“We need to look beyond ourselves and protect those around us who are most vulnerable,” said Quinn. “Omicron is not going to spare those people if we throw caution to the wind and ‘let it rip.”‘
Emerging evidence suggests Omicron is less likely to cause severe illness than previous COVID-19 strains, but Quinn said those relative differences still translate into absolute numbers that make the new variant’s impact on the health system anything but mild.
Britain’s public health agency released preliminary data last month that found people with the Omicron variant were between 50 to 70 per cent less likely to require hospitalization than those with the Delta strain.
But research also indicates that Omicron is several times more transmissible than its predecessors, Quinn said, adding that even if a smaller proportion of infected people need medical attention, the sheer volume of cases would overwhelm hospitals.
Dr. Katharine Smart, president of the Canadian Medical Association, said the Omicron surge has already put Canada’s health-care system under critical pressure.
Hospitals in many regions have been forced to cancel or delay surgeries to free up beds for the influx of COVID-19 patients. At the same time, the virus’s spread among health workers exacerbates staffing shortages.
“The reality right now is with the pace at which Omicron is already spreading … there really is no wiggle room,” said Smart, a Whitehorse-based pediatrician.
“Trying to be purposely infected with Omicron and taking the risk that you may require medical care right now is a big gamble, as we’re really seeing our health resources stretched to the limit.”
She urged Canadians not to give way to “let it rip” complacency and resolve instead to flatten the curve by reducing social contacts, upgrading masks and booking booster doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.
“We can protect ourselves, our friends, our neighbours, our communities by doubling down again, doing the things that are within our control and really trying to stick together,” she said.
Quinn, who wrote a piece in Healthy Debate last week about the pitfalls of a “let it rip” approach, proposed that people consider how one Omicron case could ripple through their social sphere within six degrees of separation. Chances are it wouldn’t take too many links in the chain for the virus to reach someone susceptible to Omicron’s harms, he suggested.
That could mean infecting someone at higher risk of severe health outcomes from Omicron, such as older adults and individuals with compromised immune systems, said Quinn. Even a mere exposure could cost someone a paycheque if they’re unable to work while in self-isolation.
Quinn said this goes to show how vulnerable people will ultimately pay a catastrophic price if others decide to roll the dice on Omicron.
“We must not forget about the greater good,” he said.
Most individuals will also find that catching Omicron isn’t in their own best interest, said Quinn.
Omicron isn’t your typical winter bug, he said, and “mild” illness shouldn’t be confused with innocuous. There’s a wide spectrum of symptoms — such as a cough, fever, sore throat, fatigue and body aches — that can range in severity from imperceptible to debilitating, he said.
Then there’s the risk of developing long COVID-19. The World Health Organization reported last year that approximately one in four individuals who contracted the virus experienced post-COVID-19 symptoms for at least a month, and one in 10 saw the effects linger for more than 12 weeks.
While some people seem to believe that beating Omicron could be a welcome immunity boost, Dr. Louis Hugo Francescutti, a professor at University of Alberta’s School of Public Health, said the cost-to-benefit calculation of courting the variant tips firmly toward the negative.
Francescutti said it’s true that overcoming Omicron likely confers some degree of natural immunity, but that benefit would wane over time, leaving people vulnerable to COVID-19 reinfection. He added that getting vaccinated is a much safer method of building protection against the virus.
He’s also skeptical of the notion that Omicron is paving the way for COVID-19 to shift into an endemic disease, meaning it would continue to circulate sporadically but with more manageable societal impacts.
It’s too early to predict the trajectory of the virus, said Francescutti, particularly as the uneven distribution of vaccines across the globe creates concerns about the emergence of new variants.
But he believes the rise in “let it rip” sentiment shows how Canada’s piecemeal and inconsistent COVID-19 strategy has left the public confused about the threat Omicron poses.
Francescutti said government officials seem to have thrown up their hands when they should have been redoubling their efforts to contain the highly contagious variant, neglecting to take necessary measures to shore up the health-care system, expand testing and contact tracing capacity and combat vaccine hesitancy.
If the people leading Canada’s pandemic response seem prepared to “let it rip,” Francescutti said it’s no surprise some Canadians feel the same way.
“It’s a pretty dire situation, and any politician or public health official that pretends everything’s under control is doing exactly that — they’re pretending,” he said.
“You think we’d be more vigilant, but instead we’re looking the other way … and going, ‘Que sera, sera.’ And now’s not the time to be singing that song.”
— with files from The Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 16, 2022.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
