Health

B.C. urges ‘social distancing’ as 7 new COVID-19 cases identified

Published

5 years ago

March 12, 2020

VANCOUVER —
Health officials in British Columbia are underlining the importance of “social distancing” as the province deals with seven new cases of COVID-19.

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and B.C. Minister of Health Adrian Dix made the announcement at their daily virus update in Victoria Wednesday afternoon. Among the new cases was the first one to be reported in the Island Health region, which covers Vancouver Island and parts of the B.C. coast.

Two of the new cases are associated with a North Vancouver seniors’ care home where B.C.’s first community case of the novel coronavirus was recorded. Those two people are both workers at the Lynn Valley Care Centre – a man in his 20s who lives in the Vancouver Coastal Health region and a woman in her 50s who is in the Fraser Health region.

Three others are related to people who recently returned from travel to Egypt, Henry said. A man in his 70s related to the traveller from Egypt reported Tuesday has also tested positive for the virus. He lives in the Vancouver Coastal Health Region.

Another man in his 60s from the same travel group has tested positive for the virus in the Island Health region, which covers Vancouver Island. The remaining case from Egypt is a man from that country who is visiting family in the Fraser Health region, Henry said.

The final two cases are community cases in the Fraser Health region. Those cases are a man and a woman in their 60s, Henry said.

These new developments come on the day the World Health Organization officially declared COVID-19 a pandemic.

“The pandemic declaration is something that’s important,” Henry said. “It’s something that we’ve been talking about for several weeks.”

The provincial health officer stressed that the pandemic declaration does not mean it’s impossible to prepare for or contain the spread of the virus.

“It’s not inevitable that everybody is going to be infected with this,” Henry said. “It’s not inevitable that our systems are going to be overwhelmed. We do not have to be in that position.”

Henry emphasized the importance of social distancing: Increasing the space between yourself and others, staying home if you’re feeling sick, washing hands frequently and thoroughly, covering your mouth when you cough and avoiding large gatherings of people.

“This is not forever,” Henry said. “This is for the coming weeks when we know we have to do everything we can to prevent transmission of infection in our communities, to protect those people who are more likely to have severe illness and particularly our seniors and elders.”

Though they encouraged social distancing, B.C. health officials did not issue any blanket statements against travel or large gatherings.

Sporting events in some U.S. states and in Europe have been played in empty stadiums, and numerous gatherings around the world and in B.C. have been cancelled because of concerns about the virus.

Henry said health officials are assessing such events on a case-by-case basis in B.C., adding that the virus tends to be transmitted more easily in close quarters, where people are sharing meals or meeting together in small spaces. Sporting events don’t necessarily carry a high risk of transmission, she said, particularly if there’s room to spread out people’s seating.

Similarly, Henry did not recommend cancelling school province-wide, and said people with travel booked to the United States or elsewhere need to make a personal decision about whether to cancel.

“Right now, we need to think about it as a personal risk assessment,” Henry said. “If you are older, if you are somebody who has underlying illnesses, in my opinion, you should seriously (re)consider travel internationally. You should seriously (re)consider attending events where there might be a possibility of transmission. Those are things that people need to make choices for themselves.”

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Health

How many Nova Scotians are on the doctor wait-list? Number hit 160,000 in June

Published

1 day ago

September 11, 2024

Anne Joseph

HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.

The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.

Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.

“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”

The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.

A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.

Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.

“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.

Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.

The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.

“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.

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Health

Newfoundland and Labrador monitoring rise in whooping cough cases: medical officer

Published

2 days ago

September 10, 2024

Anne Joseph

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.

Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.

Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.

Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.

The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.

“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.

Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.

Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.

Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.

A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.

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Health

Bizarre Sunlight Loophole Melts Belly Fat Fast!

Published

3 days ago

September 10, 2024

Sven Eggers

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