We’re breaking down what you need to know about the pandemic by answering your questions. You can send us your questions via email at COVID@cbc.ca and we’ll answer as many as we can. We’ll publish a selection of answers every weekday on our website, and we’re also putting some of your questions to the experts on the air during The National and News Network.
So far, we’ve received more than 20,000 emails from all corners of the country. Your questions have surprised us, stumped us and got us thinking.
Will herd immunity save us from COVID-19?
We are receiving a lot of questions about herd immunity, including an email from Suzanne K. who wants to know: How and when does herd immunity evolve?
By definition, herd immunity evolves when a sufficient amount of the population becomes immune to a disease. When it comes to COVID-19, herd immunity means the virus would not be able to spread on its own, according to Erin Strumpf, a health economics expert at McGill University.
“It’s not prevention of a disease, per se, but it’s prevention of an epidemic,” she says.
Most experts suggest herd immunity cannot be achieved safely without a vaccine, because seniors and other vulnerable populations with suppressed immune systems would be at risk, and hospitals would be overwhelmed.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson rolled back the U.K.’s herd immunity strategy on March 16, just four days after it was implemented. Johnson later tested positive for COVID-19 and was admitted into intensive care. He has since been released.
Watch Dr. Allison McGeer, an infectious diseases specialist, answer audience questions on The National:
An infectious disease specialist answers your questions about COVID-19, including whether herd immunity could eventually be as effective as a vaccine. 1:44
Dr. Allison McGreer, infectious diseases specialist at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, says herd immunity without a vaccine is “theoretically possible” if everyone, or almost everyone, who becomes infected develops antibodies that will protect them for life.
While that might happen, “we don’t know that [yet],” said Dr. McGreer.
“It would just be foolish to count on it, which is why we’re working on vaccines.”
How do I practice physical distancing during Ramadan?
Thanks to Aslam K. for this question. The month of Ramadan will look very different this year. This is the time when Muslims go without food or drink from sunrise to sunset every day, then gather to break their fast and pray together.
Evening prayers during the month of Ramadan, which starts April 23, will be cancelled. Muslims will be asked to pray at home instead, said Abdul Hai Patel, the council’s director of inter-faith relations.
Not having the community aspect of Ramadan this year “is going to be challenging,” said Cindy Jadayel, a member of Ottawa’s Masjid ar-Rahmah or Mosque of Mercy.
“We have to work harder this year to have families happier in the home because we can’t go out and celebrate with others.”
“With the pandemic this year, it seems different,” said Riyaz Khawaja, president of the Hussaini Association of Calgary, the main Shia Islamic organization in the city.
“Congregation prayers and eating together, that part we’ll be missing, but it’s going to be better to observe ourselves and be more spiritual in these hard times,” he said.
He says Ramadan has always been about reflecting on those less fortunate.
Can you sterilize a cloth mask by ironing it?
We’re still receiving lots of questions about masks, including this one from Janet S., who is wondering whether ironing her homemade mask will be enough to sterilize it.
The short answer is no. Ironing your cloth mask will not work.
McGeer says that you can destroy some of the virus by heating it up, but it’s not enough to effectively sterilize the mask.
“Sterilizing requires a certain time, usually at least 10 minutes above a certain temperature like 65-70 degrees Centigrade, which you can’t get from ironing,” she says.
“When you wash it, just the soap and water in the washing machine will remove the COVID-19,” says McGeer.
But what about other masks, such as disposable paper surgical masks, and coveted N95 masks, which are used in both health-care and construction settings?
Disposable masks are not designed to be reused, and N95 masks also have a limited shelf life.
That said, PPE shortages are forcing some health care facilities to experiment with safely decontaminating and reusing disposable masks. For instance, some hospitals are using UV light and pressurized sterilization machines called autoclaves to clean masks, but these methods cannot be safely replicated at home.
With the warmer weather arriving, will wearing open-toed shoes be an issue?
As the weather warms up, people like Eydie are wondering whether open-toed shoes could be an issue in terms of transmitting COVID-19.
Open-toed shoes are okay, according to Dr. Lynora Saxinger, an infectious disease physician at the University of Alberta.
“Even if you had possibly an infectious virus on a shoe, in order to be infected you’d have to handle the shoe and then touch your face, nose or mouth or inhale the virus from the shoe,” she says.
We’ve also received a number of questions about whether the virus can persist on footwear or on the ground.
Dr. Peter Lin, a CBC News medical contributor and family physician, says while there is a small risk of the virus ending up on shoes from surfaces at grocery stores or other shops, the risk of contracting COVID off your shoes is low.
“The virus needs to get to your lungs, so [it’s] very low risk that you will get the virus into your lungs [from your shoes]. When you get home don’t walk around your place with your outside shoes, just leave them on a mat by the door. No need to scrub down. Over a few days the virus breaks down on its own,” he says.
So while the risk transmitting COVID-19 from your shoes to you is low, you can minimize it altogether by keeping a shoe-free household for now.
Read more on how to properly disinfect your home here.
Thursday we answered questions about pool protocol to blood donations. Read here.
Keep your questions coming by emailing us at COVID@cbc.ca.
The Canadian government says it will donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to fight the mpox outbreak in Congo and other African countries.
It says the donated doses of Imvamune will come from Canada’s existing supply and will not affect the country’s preparedness for mpox cases in this country.
Minister of Health Mark Holland says the donation “will help to protect those in the most affected regions of Africa and will help prevent further spread of the virus.”
Dr. Madhukar Pai, Canada research chair in epidemiology and global health, says although the donation is welcome, it is a very small portion of the estimated 10 million vaccine doses needed to control the outbreak.
Vaccine donations from wealthier countries have only recently started arriving in Africa, almost a month after the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
A few days after the declaration in August, Global Affairs Canada announced a contribution of $1 million for mpox surveillance, diagnostic tools, research and community awareness in Africa.
On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said mpox is still on the rise and that testing rates are “insufficient” across the continent.
Jason Kindrachuk, Canada research chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba, said donating vaccines, in addition to supporting surveillance and diagnostic tests, is “massively important.”
But Kindrachuk, who has worked on the ground in Congo during the epidemic, also said that the international response to the mpox outbreak is “better late than never (but) better never late.”
“It would have been fantastic for us globally to not be in this position by having provided doses a much, much longer time prior than when we are,” he said, noting that the outbreak of clade I mpox in Congo started in early 2023.
Clade II mpox, endemic in regions of West Africa, came to the world’s attention even earlier — in 2022 — as that strain of virus spread to other countries, including Canada.
Two doses are recommended for mpox vaccination, so the donation may only benefit 100,000 people, Pai said.
Pai questioned whether Canada is contributing enough, as the federal government hasn’t said what percentage of its mpox vaccine stockpile it is donating.
“Small donations are simply not going to help end this crisis. We need to show greater solidarity and support,” he said in an email.
“That is the biggest lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic — our collective safety is tied with that of other nations.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
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.
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.
