As the news first spread that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 had entered Canada, Ottawa resident Saad Khan calculated his personal risk tolerance for a very important event — and he decided it was worth it.
“On Dec. 16, I took the risk — by seeing the new Spiderman movie,” he said.
Khan said he wore two masks and refrained from eating popcorn or buying any sweet treats. The movie, he said, was “amazing.”
Across the country, Canadians have been grappling with ever-changing restrictions as COVID-19 — and our ability to treat, prevent and fight it — changed, too.
From staying home to dining indoors with distancing, from wearing three-layer cloth masks to wearing N95 masks, public health advice has been shifting as the science evolves, and Canadians like Khan have been doing their best to keep up.
Still, Khan says it’s been “pretty confusing.”
3:04 COVID-19: Elliott outlines Ontario’s phased reopening plan, to see most measures lifted by mid-March
COVID-19: Elliott outlines Ontario’s phased reopening plan, to see most measures lifted by mid-March
He’s not alone. As restrictions come and go, many Canadians are starting to live by their own rules — even if those rules are more or less stringent than what public health officials advise.
Susan Murphy said in a message to Global News that she feels safest when she’s “staying at home” in Ottawa.
“I will meet friends outdoors and distanced, which is more challenging in the winter!” Murphy said.
Another Twitter user said in a reply to Global News that they are “way past the point of freaking out anymore.”
“We’ll all contract this thing someday like we do with the flu anyhow.”
What do doctors advise?
The risk calculation is about to shift once again for Canadians living in Ontario. As of Jan. 31, they’ll have the option of dining indoors again as restaurants and bars reopen with a 50 per cent capacity limit.
Medical experts say everyone will have their personal risk tolerance levels when that day comes — but there are also some firm facts to consider as you decide whether to go out.
“If you go to a restaurant now, (it’s) pretty much guaranteed someone there is infected and probably infectious. The numbers are just pointing in that direction,” said Raywat Deonandan, epidemiologist and associate professor at the University of Ottawa.
“But if there is good quality mask-wearing, if there’s high-quality ventilation, people are keeping their distance and are minimizing the time they spend there, you reduce the risk appreciably — not to zero, obviously.”
But determining the level of risk, he said, “is complicated.”
“At the individual level, it comes down to how much you can tolerate infection in your life — because it’s going to get into your life,” Deonandan said.
For example, Deonandan has a child under five who can’t get vaccinated. He said people in his position are “going to be a lot more concerned.”
“So I’m not taking any of these risks, because I don’t want to run the risk of exposing my child to possible infection,” he said.
The other half of the equation, Deonandan added, is “thinking about the population risk.”
“Our hospitals are being challenged,” he said.
“Is it ethical to be exposing yourself to infection, even if your individual probability of having a bad reaction is low?”
Hospital capacity is also a part of the individual risk calculation, according to Dr. Matthew Miller, who is an associate professor of infectious diseases and immunology at McMaster University.
4:21 Healthcare workers feeling the strain of COVID-19 related hospitalizations
Healthcare workers feeling the strain of COVID-19 related hospitalizations
While the risk of being hospitalized after receiving three doses of a vaccine is “extraordinarily low,” Miller said, you might want to consider whether the hospitals will have the capacity to help you if that does happen.
“I feel good knowing that if I were to get really sick, I know I’m going to get excellent care and probably be fine,” Miller said.
“(But) if our hospital system is stretched to the limit, that may not necessarily be the case.”
Still, Miller added that Canadians “don’t need to live our lives in fear of Omicron.”
“However, I also don’t think we want to go and put ourselves in situations where the risk of contracting even what might be a mild infection is extremely high,” he said.
“I have had three vaccines (Moderna) and COVID twice. There’s no escaping this thing,” they wrote.
“So we need to keep on living.”
This feeling of pandemic fatigue has been one of the ongoing struggles for health officials, Miller said. Part of the issue, he explained, is that effective public health messaging is “simple” because you “don’t want there to be confusion.”
“Unfortunately, reality is not simple, and there is a lot of nuance,” Miller said.
“And the more you add nuance to guidance that was once simple, the more people are confused, and so I really sympathize with the public who are feeling fatigued and confused.”
But Deonandan had a word of hope for those feeling tired and overwhelmed as the pandemic inches closer to its two-year anniversary.
“One of the positive aspects of Omicron is that it’ll be over faster, so we’re not asking people to bear down for months on end. It’s weeks, and this wave will be done, probably, before spring. Well before spring,” Deonandan said.
“We’ll see what the receding tide holds for us. Hopefully, it’s the gift of immunity. So this is probably the last great battle of COVID before we settle into some new kind of normal.”
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A linebacker at Division II West Virginia State was fatally shot during what the university said Thursday is being investigated by police as a home invasion.
The body of Jyilek Zyiare Harrington, 21, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was found inside an apartment Wednesday night in Charleston, police Lt. Tony Hazelett said in a statement.
Hazelett said several gunshots were fired during a disturbance in a hallway and inside the apartment. The statement said Harrington had multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they had no information on a possible suspect.
West Virginia State said counselors were available to students and faculty on campus.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Jyilek’s family as they mourn the loss of this incredible young man,” West Virginia State President Ericke S. Cage said in a letter to students and faculty.
Harrington, a senior, had eight total tackles, including a sack, in a 27-24 win at Barton College last week.
“Jyilek truly embodied what it means to be a student-athlete and was a leader not only on campus but in the community,” West Virginia State Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Nate Burton said. “Jyilek was a young man that, during Christmas, would create a GoFundMe to help less fortunate families.”
Burton said donations to a fund established by the athletic department in Harrington’s memory will be distributed to an organization in Charlotte to continue his charity work.
West Virginia State’s home opener against Carson-Newman, originally scheduled for Thursday night, has been rescheduled to Friday, and a private vigil involving both teams was set for Thursday night. Harrington previously attended Carson-Newman, where he made seven tackles in six games last season. He began his college career at Division II Erskine College.
“Carson-Newman joins West Virginia State in mourning the untimely passing of former student-athlete Jyilek Harrington,” Carson-Newman Vice President of Athletics Matt Pope said in a statement. “The Harrington family and the Yellow Jackets’ campus community is in our prayers. News like this is sad to hear anytime, but today it feels worse with two teams who knew him coming together to play.”
DETROIT (AP) — Joe Schmidt, the Hall of Fame linebacker who helped the Detroit Lions win NFL championships in 1953 and 1957 and later coached the team, has died. He was 92.
The Lions said family informed the team Schmidt died Wednesday. A cause of death was not provided.
One of pro football’s first great middle linebackers, Schmidt played his entire NFL career with the Lions from 1953-65. An eight-time All-Pro, he was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973 and the college football version in 2000.
“Joe likes to say that at one point in his career, he was 6-3, but he had tackled so many fullbacks that it drove his neck into his shoulders and now he is 6-foot,” said the late Lions owner William Clay Ford, Schmidt’s presenter at his Hall of Fame induction in 1973. “At any rate, he was listed at 6-feet and as I say was marginal for that position. There are, however, qualities that certainly scouts or anybody who is drafting a ballplayer cannot measure.”
Born in Pittsburgh, Schmidt played college football in his hometown at Pitt, beginning his stint there as a fullback and guard before coach Len Casanova switched him to linebacker.
“Pitt provided me with the opportunity to do what I’ve wanted to do, and further myself through my athletic abilities,” Schmidt said. “Everything I have stemmed from that opportunity.”
Schmidt dealt with injuries throughout his college career and was drafted by the Lions in the seventh round in 1953. As defenses evolved in that era, Schmidt’s speed, savvy and tackling ability made him a valuable part of some of the franchise’s greatest teams.
Schmidt was elected to the Pro Bowl 10 straight years from 1955-64, and after his arrival, the Lions won the last two of their three NFL titles in the 1950s.
In a 1957 playoff game at San Francisco, the Lions trailed 27-7 in the third quarter before rallying to win 31-27. That was the NFL’s largest comeback in postseason history until Buffalo rallied from a 32-point deficit to beat Houston in 1993.
“We just decided to go after them, blitz them almost every down,” Schmidt recalled. “We had nothing to lose. When you’re up against it, you let both barrels fly.”
Schmidt became an assistant coach after wrapping up his career as a player. He was Detroit’s head coach from 1967-72, going 43-35-7.
Schmidt was part of the NFL’s All-Time Team revealed in 2019 to celebrate the league’s centennial season. Of course, he’d gone into the Hall of Fame 46 years earlier.
Not bad for an undersized seventh-round draft pick.
“It was a dream of mine to play football,” Schmidt told the Detroit Free Press in 2017. “I had so many people tell me that I was too small. That I couldn’t play. I had so many negative people say negative things about me … that it makes you feel good inside. I said, ‘OK, I’ll prove it to you.’”
VICTORIA – British Columbia’s Environment Assessment Office has fined Coastal GasLink Pipeline Ltd. $590,000 for “deficiencies” in the construction of its pipeline crossing the province.
The office says in a statement that 10 administrative penalties have been levied against the company for non-compliance with requirements of its environmental assessment certificate.
It says the fines come after problems with erosion and sediment control measures were identified by enforcement officers along the pipeline route across northern B.C. in April and May 2023.
The office says that the latest financial penalties reflect its escalation of enforcement due to repeated non-compliance of its requirements.
Four previous penalties have been issued for failing to control erosion and sediment valued at almost $800,000, while a fifth fine of $6,000 was handed out for providing false or misleading information.
The office says it prioritized its inspections along the 670-kilometre route by air and ground as a result of the continued concerns, leading to 59 warnings and 13 stop-work orders along the pipeline that has now been completed.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
