Health
B.C.’s COVID-19 cases trending in right direction
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British Columbia’s provincial health officer and health minister say the province’s COVID-19 case count is “trending in the right direction.”
Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix say public restrictions will ease if the number of COVID-19 cases continue to drop.
The province reported 500 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, including 32 in Island Health. There are 177 active cases on the Island. The central Island region — which includes the Cowichan Valley, Oceanside, Nanaimo, and Alberni/Clayoquot — has the most, with 132 confirmed cases. There are another 22 in the south Island, and 22 in the north.
There have also been 14 new deaths, bringing to 1,104 the number of COVID-19 related fatalities since March.
None of the deaths were on Vancouver Island, but Island Health confirmed that two recent deaths are linked to the outbreak at Chartwell Malaspina Care Residence in Nanaimo.
Seven residents and one staff member have tested positive for COVID-19 at the facility. Island Health said there have been multiple rounds of follow-up testing on staff and residents, and no new cases have been identified since Jan. 6.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of each of these individuals as they grieve the loss of a cherished loved one,” said Island Health president and chief executive Kathy MacNeil.
“To the staff at Chartwell Malaspina Care Residence and Island Health staff involved, please know that the entire Island Health family is behind you and is thankful for the compassionate care you are providing during this difficult time.”
The goal in the coming days is to vaccinate all residents of long-term care within the Island Health region.
According to a statement from Henry and Dix, 98,125 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the province.
Dix told a news conference on Tuesday that the province was still on track to begin administering second doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the Cowichan Valley School District has had its fourth confirmed COVID-19 exposure since classes resumed after the holidays, this one at Alexander Elementary School.
The potential dates of exposure are Jan. 13-15. Notices went out to families on Monday night.
Chemainus Secondary School, Cowichan Secondary School and Quamichan School have also had COVID-19 exposures this month. An exposure is when a single person with a confirmed case of COVID-19 attends a school during their infectious period.
Duncan Christian School, a private school that is not part of the district, will be closed until Feb. 1 after several people in the school community tested positive for COVID-19.
Public health officials work with staff at schools to find anyone who could have been exposed to COVID-19. Those found to have the virus or to be a close contact with someone infected will be told to self-isolate.
Anyone not contacted by public health should continue attend school as long as there are no COVID-19 symptoms evident.
There have been a total of 62,412 cases of COVID-19 in B.C. since the pandemic began. There are currently 4,345 active cases.
jwbell@timescolonist.com
Source: – Times Colonist
Health
RCMP warn about benzodiazepine-laced fentanyl tied to overdose in Alberta – Edmonton Journal
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Grande Prairie RCMP issued a warning Friday after it was revealed fentanyl linked to a deadly overdose was mixed with a chemical that doesn’t respond to naloxone treatment.
The drugs were initially seized on Feb. 28 after a fatal overdose, and this week, Health Canada reported back to Mounties that the fentanyl had been mixed with Bromazolam, which is a benzodiazepine.
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Mounties say this is the first recorded instance of Bromazolam in Alberta. The drug has previously been linked to nine fatal overdoses in New Brunswick in 2022.
The pills seized in Alberta were oval-shaped and stamped with “20” and “SS,” though Mounties say it can come in other forms.
Naloxone treatment, given in many cases of opioid toxicity, is not effective in reversing the effects of Bromazalam, Mounties said, and therefore, any fentanyl mixed with the benzodiazepine “would see a reduced effectiveness of naloxone, requiring the use of additional doses and may still result in a fatality.”
From January to November of last year, there were 1,706 opioid-related deaths in Alberta, and 57 linked to benzodiazepine, up from 1,375 and 43, respectively, in 2022.
Mounties say officers responded to about 1,100 opioid-related calls for service, last year with a third of those proving fatal. RCMP officers also used naloxone 67 times while in the field, a jump of nearly a third over the previous year.
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Health
CFIA continues surveillance for HPAI in cattle, while sticking with original name for disease – RealAgriculture
The Canada Food Inspection Agency will continue to refer to highly pathogenic avian influenza in cattle as HPAI in cattle, and not refer to it as bovine influenza A virus (BIAV), as suggested by the American Association of Bovine Practitioners earlier this month.
Dr. Martin Appelt, senior director for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, in the interview below, says at this time Canada will stick with “HPAI in cattle” when referencing the disease that’s been confirmed in dairy cattle in multiple states in the U.S.
The CFIA’s naming policy is consistent with the agency’s U.S. counterparts’, as the U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has also said it will continue referring to it as HPAI or H5N1.
Appelt explains how the CFIA is learning from the U.S. experience to-date, and how it is working with veterinarians across Canada to stay vigilant for signs of the disease in dairy and beef cattle.
As of April 19, there has not been a confirmed case of HPAI in cattle in Canada. Appelt says it’s too soon to say if an eventual positive case will significantly restrict animal movement, as is the case with positive poultry cases.
This is a major concern for the cattle industry, as beef cattle especially move north and south across the U.S. border by the thousands. Appelt says that CFIA will address an infection in each species differently in conjunction with how the disease is spread and the threat to neighbouring farms or livestock.
Currently, provincial dairy organizations have advised producers to postpone any non-essential tours of dairy barns, as a precaution, in addition to other biosecurity measures to reduce the risk of cattle contracting HPAI.
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Health
Toronto reports 2 more measles cases. Use our tool to check the spread in Canada – Toronto Star
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Canada has seen a concerning rise in measles cases in the first months of 2024.
By the third week of March, the country had already recorded more than three times the number of cases as all of last year. Canada had just 12 cases of measles in 2023, up from three in 2022.
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