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Canada adds health officials at U.S. border crossings to screen for COVID-19 – CBC.ca

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As the volume of travellers entering Canada through the U.S. has increased in recent weeks, public health officials are being placed at land borders to bolster screening for COVID-19.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is adding on-site employees at 36 points of entry, including New Brunswick crossings in St. Stephen, Woodstock and Edmundston.

Tammy Jarbeau, a Health Canada spokesperson, said the “increased presence” of officials is at the points of entry — including air and land — that see 90 per cent of travellers. 

“PHAC officials, including quarantine officers, clinical screening officers and screening officers will be on-site to screen travellers entering Canada at these ports of entry,” she said.

The news follows a surge in new cases of COVID-19 in the U.S., with large daily increases in some of the country’s most populous states. That uptick is paired with an increase in traffic across the international border at airports and land crossings, as restrictions are loosened.

Travel across the border has been linked to a new cluster of cases in Prince Edward Island tied to an individual who came from the U.S. with a student visa. 

The number of passenger cars crossing the border at Calais, Maine, fell to 5,400 for the month of April. In January 106,000 cars entered the U.S. there. (CBC)

Colin Furness, an infection control epidemiologist and associate professor at the University of Toronto, said medical screening for the virus falls outside the job of Canadian Border Service Agency officers.

“That’s a problem,” he said. “We just assume that we can just charge the customs and immigration folks with essentially doing public health work.”

Furness said he believes the health officials will be used for secondary screening if there is an issue, which could be a question that creates cause for concern. He thinks the decision might have been prompted by the recent increase in cross-border travel.

Land crossings nearly double

Traffic between the U.S. and Canada has dropped since the border closed to non-essential travel on March 21. But recent exemptions have allowed for traffic to enter, including immediate family members, who are required to quarantine and stay in the country for a minimum of 15 days.  

Cross-border travel is also permitted for work and study, medical care, health reasons and to maintain the flow of goods and services for essential supply chains. 

Two government orders currently restrict travel into Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic. The first blocks entry to foreign nationals except for certain circumstances, while the second closes the U.S.-Canada land border to non-essential travel until July 21.

Cars line up to cross into the United States at the U.S.-Canada border in February in Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle, Que. (Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images)

The volume of people crossing the land border has increased since restrictions began in March, from about 115,000 a week from late April to early May to 175,000 a week in late June. Those figures include commercial and non-commercial traffic. 

The number of non-commercial highway travellers entering Canada has nearly doubled over that time period, going from about 3,300 a week to about 6,500.

It’s unclear how much of that traffic entered New Brunswick, as the CBSA would not provide statistics for specific ports of entry or provinces, citing security reasons. 

Secondary health screening

Mark Stuart, an agency spokesperson, said officers ask all travellers about their purpose of visit and state of their health and look for visible signs of illness.

“CBSA officers remain vigilant and are highly trained to identify travellers seeking entry into Canada who may pose a health and safety risk,” he said.

Officers will refer any traveller suspected of being ill to a Public Health Agency staff member for further assessment, regardless of how they responded to questions. They also consider if a person is able to properly self isolate or quarantine. 

The health agency said all ports of entry, including land borders, always have access to quarantine officers through a tele-health system. Only the 36 high-traffic sites will have that staff onsite. 

All travellers entering Canada are required to isolate if they have symptoms or quarantine for 14 days without signs of the virus. International arrivals must also complete a contact-tracing form and provide information to allow for physical checks that they are following isolation rules. 

‘People want it shutdown’

St. Stephen Mayor Allan MacEachern said he believes residents in his border community will feel safer with the new measures. 

“People knowing that is put in place, how people will try to bend the rules and try to sneak through even though they could be arrested, you don’t know — they won’t take that chance now,” he said. 

The mayor said his town is in a “tough situation” with the shutdown with families divided and daily life disrupted. St. Stephen also relies on a steady flow of American tourists at its businesses. 

St. Stephen Mayor Allan MacEachern expects his community will be grateful for the border health checks. (Catherine Harrop/CBC)

Despite close ties with neighbouring Calais, Me., fears over COVID-19 are prompting calls for the closure to continue.

“Walking on the street or reading comments on Facebook, you can definitely see people want it shut down, they really do want it shut down,” MacEachern said

Travel restrictions helping

Furness said travel restrictions — despite some flare-ups — have been largely effective at preventing the spread of the virus from the U.S. and internationally. But the risk remains.

“It doesn’t take that many people to cause a lot of COVID,” he said. “I mean one person can spark a whole outbreak.”

In February and March, CBSA officials began asking screening questions and taking temperatures sporadically.

Colin Furness is an infection control epidemiologist and assistant professor at the University of Toronto. (University of Toronto)

Those measures do little to catch asymptomatic individuals. Furness said he’d like to see the use of pulse oximeters, a device that checks how much oxygen is dissolved in blood. That level could indicate decreased lung capacity and the possibility of having COVID-19. 

The infection control epidemiologist said the key measure of how well governments are managing the crisis is looking at the response when a case gets through. 

“The one thing to be afraid of is someone presents at the hospital, they’ve got COVID, and they have no idea how they got it,” he said. “That’s what’s scary.”

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Safety board calls for changes two years after Nova Scotia fisherman’s death at sea

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HALIFAX – An investigation into how the Canadian Coast Guard responded to a Nova Scotia vessel in distress two years ago raises questions about why one fisherman died after a towing operation went awry. 

In an investigation report released Thursday, the Transportation Safety Board says the fishing boat Mucktown Girl was returning to Canso, N.S., with five crew aboard on March 11, 2022, when it was disabled by electrical problems. 

The captain called for a tow from the coast guard as a storm was closing in.

After a seven-hour voyage, the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Jean Goodwill reached the drifting boat and attached a 300-metre tow line to the smaller vessel’s bollard. But as the weather turned rough, the bollard broke off six hours into the recovery mission.

At that point, the decision was made to let the fishing crew ride out the storm aboard the Mucktown Girl rather than attach another tow line that could damage the boat.

By 6 a.m. on March 13, wind speeds had reached 70 to 90 kilometres per hour. The waves were as high as 10 metres — twice the height of the fishing boat, which was then taking on water. Crew aboard Jean Goodwill relayed the mayday distress call from the fishing boat, which was 44 kilometres from shore.

Minutes later, amid heavy rain and dense fog, the five fishermen donned immersion suits and jumped into a life raft. In response, the coast guard crew lowered a scramble net — a type of rope ladder — over the side of the 77-metre medium icebreaker. 

But the water was so rough, the net was washed back onto the ship several times. And as the ship rolled in the big swells, two coast guard crew members were injured and a number of others were almost swept overboard.

“As a result of the environmental conditions, communications broke down and affected the co-ordination of the (rescue effort),” the report says.

At the time, the air temperature was about 12 C, but the water temperature was only 4 C.

Four of the fishermen, including the captain, jumped from the life raft into the frothing water and managed to climb the ladder to safety. But the fifth crewman, 35-year-old Jeremy Hart of Windsor Junction, N.S., drifted to the stern of the coast guard ship and disappeared.

The father of two boys was pulled from the water five hours later by the crew aboard a Cormorant search and rescue helicopter, but he was later declared dead at a Cape Breton hospital.

The report from the independent safety board says there are no Canadian regulations for the towing points on fishing vessels.  

“Without specific guidance for assessing the risks to the towed vessel and its crew, the (coast guard) may underestimate risks and tow vessels with crew on board in hazardous conditions, resulting in an increased likelihood of injuries and loss of life,” the report says. 

But the report does not call for any changes, aside from updating the coast guard’s towing waiver, which explains the responsibilities of those involved and the risks.

More importantly, the report highlights the fact that once the bollard broke, it became clear there were no plans in place to remove the crew from the fishing boat.

“Without comprehensive contingency planning for towing disabled vessels, risks to rescuers as well as crews of vessels under tow may be increased,” the report says.

The safety board’s investigation found that the coast guard’s search and rescue (SAR) training typically involves the use of small, fast-rescue craft rather than larger vessels like the Jean Goodwill. 

“There is limited vessel-specific SAR training such as the use of scramble nets,” the report says. “(This) training does not reflect the realistic conditions and equipment in a rescue operation, where factors can change unpredictably. For example, training is carried out in good weather only, and in … overboard exercises, only one person at a time needs rescue.”

As for the scramble net, the report says it was not suitable for the deplorable conditions that faced the coast guard crew in 2022.

“Although scramble nets do not have specified restrictions for use, they are difficult to climb in rough conditions,” the board says. “They are also difficult to climb in an immersion suit, even in calm weather, and are not usable if a person is injured or incapacitated.”

That’s why the coast guard has already installed a so-called rescue scoop on the Jean Goodwill. The hydraulic device uses an extendable arm to dip a scramble net into the water on its side, allowing the operator to scoop up victims.

The device has been used on other coast guard vessels in the past, and the federal agency is looking at acquiring more. 

“Without emergency drills using realistic scenarios, and their subsequent evaluation, vessel crews may not have the most effective equipment and may not be well prepared to use it in the safest and most effective manner,” the report says.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2024.



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Alberta pitches new rules for auto insurance, including rate hikes, no-fault claims

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EDMONTON – The Alberta government is making changes to auto insurance, including rate hikes and switching to a predominantly no-fault claims model.

Premier Danielle Smith announced the changes at a news conference in the legislature.

Under the new system, car accident victims in most cases won’t be able to sue the party responsible for their injury and, instead, insurers would pay compensation at rates set by the government. 

By cutting down litigation costs, the government estimates that when the new system is in place in 2027, it could lead to savings of up to $400 per year for the average insurance premium. 

It’s also promising better support and benefits for those hurt in collisions. 

Until the new model kicks in, insurers would be allowed to raise rates for good drivers up to 7.5 per cent each year, starting in January. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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Third deer infected with chronic wasting disease in B.C.

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VICTORIA – A new case of chronic wasting disease, an incurable illness that has the potential to decimate deer populations, has been identified in British Columbia. 

The B.C. Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship says the discovery of the infection in a white-tailed deer hunted in the Kootenay region last month brings the total number of confirmed cases in the province to three, after two cases were confirmed in February. 

It says testing by a Canadian Food Inspection Agency lab confirmed the latest infection on Wednesday.

The ministry says the new case occurred within two kilometres of one of the earlier infections in a white-tailed deer near Cranbrook.

Wasting disease affects deer, elk, moose and caribou. It attacks their central nervous system and causes cell death in the brain.

The ministry says there is no treatment or vaccine and the disease is always fatal.

The ministry says there is no direct evidence the disease can be transmitted to humans, but Health Canada recommends people do not eat meat from an infected animal, since cooking is not able to destroy the abnormal protein that causes the illness. 

In July, the B.C. government introduced mandatory testing for the disease in deer, elk and moose killed in certain zones in the Kootenay region.

The first two cases identified in B.C. were a male mule deer killed by a hunter and a female white-tailed deer killed in a road accident.

Other steps included removing urban deer from Cranbrook and Kimberley.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2024. 

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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