You might be reading this while sitting on your front porch or lounging at the beach. Perhaps you’re on a park bench or taking a pit stop on a summer road trip.
Wherever you are in Canada, chances are you don’t have sub-zero temperatures on your mind just yet. But amid the COVID-19 pandemic, winter could bring a whole host of new challenges — and experts say now is the time to prepare.
“No one’s talking about winter,” said Laura Rosella, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health.
“I think, frankly, everyone’s just overwhelmed with the next big change, which is back to school, and we almost can’t think that far — but it’s probably what we should be doing.”
For months, we’ve been told to stay apart to stop the spread, but chilly temperatures will force people to cram indoors. We’ve been able to run for fun and bike to work, but snow-covered streets will bring workouts into gyms and more commuters onto transit networks.
Classrooms will fill up, more restaurants and offices will open, all while patios and parks empty out. Layer in the regular cold and flu season and the mental health impacts of darker days and isolation, and it’s easy to picture the Great White North being a great big mess.
Summer, in comparison, is easy.
“It’s actually really nice that people are able to socialize and see family and see their friends outside in a safe way,” Rosella said.
More Canadians could be crowding onto public transit or carpooling during the winter months to get to work and school. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)
“So I think it’s going to be very hard when people are going to have to make the decision about maybe not entering those social situations, because it is much higher risk in an indoor environment.”
Dr. Andrew Morris, an infectious disease specialist with the Sinai Health System and University Health Network in Toronto, said the winter months also mean added risks going to and from work and school — whether that’s people forced to carpool together, take a school bus or crowd onto transit.
“I anticipate that we will start to see transmissions occurring not as much necessarily in the workplace but going to and from the workplace,” he said.
So how can Canadians mitigate the risks when the temperature starts dropping, forcing people increasingly inside?
Housing, filtration both key, experts say
Experts say solutions need to come from all levels — policy-makers, business owners and individuals — and should tackle both the essential trips people need to make and the inevitable social gatherings Canadians crave.
There’s definitely cause for concern when it comes to the design of buildings where people will be spending more of their time, said Linsey Marr, an expert in the transmission of viruses by aerosol at Virginia Tech, in Blacksburg, Va.
That’s because it’s harder to open windows for better airflow in many offices and schools once temperatures drop and heating systems are turned on.
“And I think to prepare, the filtration will be important,” she said.
Winter weather can make getting around more difficult, sending more people indoors, like this January 2020 snowfall in Vancouver. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
Dr. Andrew Boozary, an assistant professor at U of T’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health, said political leaders also need to ensure that people struggling to physically distance from others at home or work have proper supports — whether that’s offering housing to those crowded into shelters or ensuring essential workers have paid sick leave to take time off when needed.
Hotel rooms for people to recover from COVID-19, for instance, can be helpful for those who can’t isolate at home or in the shelter system, but Boozary said that’s merely a stopgap.
“All levels of government are going to need a generational response on housing,” he said.
Socialize outdoors ‘as much as possible’
There’s also growing concern over the recreational aspect of winter life and the hurdles Canadians face socializing when temperatures drop.
“We need to be changing all aspects of our life, and we need to get back to really encouraging more outdoor life and outdoor recreation,” Morris said.
Both business owners and policy-makers should be looking at winter gathering options, creating event spaces that maintain air flow while offering a bit of shelter and outdoor heating, he said — “the kinds of things to encourage socialization outside as much as possible.”
WATCH | Epidemiologist focuses on managing risks for children returning to school:
Dr. Christopher Labos says there is little value in testing every child for the coronavirus before school starts and he speaks to concerns about keeping kids apart in the classroom. 5:43
Rosella stressed the need to create incentives for people to go outside, whether that’s building more outdoor skating rinks or creating snowshoeing paths, even in dense city environments.
“These are the types of things that people that actually live in very cool climates all year round do all the time,” she said.
These strategies for keeping people safe inside and out are, of course, layered on top of the well-worn public health messaging that’s been in place for months: Wear a mask, stay apart from others and wash your hands regularly.
None of those recommendations have changed, and they’re perhaps even more crucial now that people are set to spend more time gathered indoors for work and play — and as the regular cold and flu season approaches.
Flu season means added ‘challenge’ ahead
During a news conference this month, Canada’s chief public health officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, stressed the months ahead will be a “period of challenge” given the combination of COVID-19 and influenza.
But some public health officials, Tam included, are optimistic that widespread, continued uptake of their advice might even ward off those seasonal illnesses.
‘We need to be changing all aspects of our life, and we need to get back to really encouraging more outdoor life and outdoor recreation,’ says Toronto infectious disease expert Dr. Andrew Morris. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
“From what we have seen in other countries, public health measures such as physical distancing can also be effective against the flu, but we’ll likely be able to see more evidence of this once the flu season is over in the southern hemisphere,” Dr. Vinita Dubey, Toronto’s associate medical officer of health, said in a statement.
Morris said facing this complex set of challenges requires coming to terms with one key fact: While the seasons may be changing, the virus behind COVID-19 isn’t going anywhere.
That means Canadians need to figure out new ways to handle the cold winter months and mitigate spread.
“We’re not getting back to normal any time soon,” he said.
CALGARY – The Calgary Flames have re-signed defenceman Ilya Solovyov and centre Cole Schwindt, the NHL club announced Wednesday.
Solovyov signed a two-year deal which is a two-way contract in year one and a one-way deal in year two and carries an average annual value of US$775,000 at the NHL level.
Schwindt signed a one-year, two-way contract with an average annual value of $800,000 at the NHL level.
The 24-year-old Solovyov, from Mogilev, Belarus, made his NHL debut last season and had three assists in 10 games for the Flames. He also had five goals and 10 assists in 51 games with the American Hockey League’s Calgary Wranglers and added one goal in six Calder Cup playoff games.
Schwindt, from Kitchener, Ont., made his Flames debut last season and appeared in four games with the club.
The 23-year-old also had 14 goals and 22 assists in 66 regular-season games with the Wranglers and added a team-leading four goals, including one game-winning goal, in the playoffs.
Schwindt was selected by Florida in the third round, 81st overall, at the 2019 NHL draft. He came to Calgary in July 2022 along with forward Jonathan Huberdeau and defenceman MacKenzie Weegar in the trade that sent star forward Matthew Tkachuk to the Panthers.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.
KING CITY, Ont. – Oman scored 10 runs in the final over to edge Nepal by one wicket with just one ball remaining in ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 play Wednesday.
Kaleemullah, the No. 11 batsman who goes by one name, hit a four with the penultimate ball as Oman finished at 223 for nine. Nepal had scored 220 for nine in its 50 overs.
Kaleemullah and No. 9 batsman Shakeel Ahmed each scored five in the final over off Sompal Kami. They finished with six and 17 runs, respectively.
Opener Latinder Singh led Oman with 41 runs.
Nepal’s Gulsan Jha was named man of the match after scoring 53 runs and recording a career-best five-wicket haul. The 18-year-old slammed five sixes and three-fours in his 35-ball knock, scoring 23 runs in the 46th over alone when he hit six, six, four, two, four and one off Aqib Ilyas.
Captain Rohit Paudel led Nepal with 60 runs.
The 19th-ranked Canadians, who opened the triangular series Monday with a 103-run win over No. 17 Nepal, face No. 16 Oman on Friday, Nepal on Sunday and Oman again on Sept. 26. All the games are at the Maple Leaf Cricket Ground.
The eight World League 2 teams each play 36 one-day internationals spread across nine triangular series through December 2026. The top four sides will go through to a World Cup qualifier that will decide the last four berths in the expanded 14-team Cricket World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
Canada (5-4) stands second in the World League 2 table. The 14th-ranked Dutch top the table at 6-2.
Oman (2-2 with one no-result) stands sixth, ahead of Nepal (1-5).
Canada won all four matches in its opening tri-series in February-March, sweeping No. 11 Scotland and the 20th-ranked host Emirates. But the Canadians lost four in a row to the 18th-ranked U.S. and host Netherlands in August.
Canada which debuted in the T20 World Cup this summer in the U.S. and West Indies, is looking to get back to the showcase 50-over Cricket World Cup for the first time since 2011 after failing to qualify for the last three editions. The Canadian men also played in the 1979, 2003 and 2007 tournaments, exiting after the group stage in all four tournament appearances.
The Canadian men regained their one-day international status for the first time in almost a decade by finishing in the top four of the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier Playoff in April 2023 in Bermuda.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024
PENTICTON, B.C. – Rick Tocchet has already warned his Vancouver Canucks players — the looming NHL season won’t be easy.
The team made strides last year, the head coach said Wednesday ahead of training camp. The bar has been raised for this year’s campaign.
“To get to the next plateau, there are higher expectations and it’s going to be hard. We know that,” Tocchet said in Penticton, B.C., where the team will open its camp on Thursday.
“So that’s the next level. It starts day one (on Thursday). My thing is don’t waste a rep out there.”
The Canucks finished atop the Pacific Division with a 50-23-9 record last season, then ousted the Nashville Predators from the playoffs in a gritty, six-game first-round series. Vancouver then fell to the Edmonton Oilers in a seven-game second-round set.
Last fall, Jim Rutherford, the Canucks president of hockey operations, said everything would have to go right for the team to make a playoff push. That doesn’t change this season, he said, despite last year’s success.
“The challenges will be greater, certainly. But I believe the team that we started with last year, we have just as good a team to start the season this year and probably better,” he said.
“As long as the team builds off what they did last year, stick to what the coaches tell them, stick to the system, stick together in good times and bad times, this team has a chance to do pretty well.”
Some key players will be missing as Vancouver’s training camp begins, however.
Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin announced Wednesday that star goalie Thatcher Demko will not be on the ice when the team begins it’s pre-season preparation.
Allvin did not disclose the reason for Demko’s absence, but said the 28-year-old American has been making progress.
“He’s been in working extremely hard and he seems to be in a great mindset,” the GM said.
Demko missed several weeks of the regular season and much of Vancouver’s playoff run last spring with a knee injury.
The six-foot-four, 192-pound goalie has a career 213-116-81 regular-season record with a .912 save percentage, a 2.79 goals-against average and eight shutouts across seven seasons with the Canucks.
Allvin also announced that veteran centre Teddy Blueger and defensive prospect Cole McWard will also miss the start of training camp after each had “minor lower-body surgery.”
Vancouver previously announced winger Dakota Joshua won’t be present for the start of camp as he recovers from surgery for testicular cancer.
Tocchet said he’ll have no problem filling the holes, and plans to switch his lines up a lot in Penticton.
“Nothing’s set in stone,” he said. “I think it’s important that you have different puzzles at different times.”
The coach added that he expects standout centre Elias Pettersson to begin on a line with Canucks newcomer Jake DeBrusk.
Vancouver inked DeBrusk, a former Boston Bruins forward, to a seven-year, US$38.5 million deal when the NHL’s free agent market opened on July 1.
The glare on Pettersson is expected to be bright once again as he enters the first year of a new eight-year, $92.8 million contract. The 25-year-old Swede struggled at times last season and put 89 points (34 goals, 55 assists) in 82 games.
Rutherford said he was impressed with how Pettersson looked when he returned to Vancouver ahead of camp.
“He seems to be a guy that’s more relaxed and more comfortable. And for obvious reasons,” said the president of hockey ops. “This is a guy that I believe has worked really hard this summer. He’s done everything he can to play as a top-line player. … The expectation for him is to be one of the top players on our team.”
A number of Canucks hit milestones last season, including Quinn Hughes, who led all NHL defencemen in scoring with 92 points and won the Norris Trophy as the league’s top blue liner.
Several players could once again have career-best years for Vancouver, Tocchet said, but they’ll need to be consistent and not allow frustration to creep in when things go wrong.
“You’ve just got to drive yourself every day when you have a great year,” the coach said. “You’ve got to keep creating that environment where they can achieve those goals, whatever they are. And the main goal is winning. That’s really what it comes down to.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.
