“You know this has been working very well in Canada, because we have actually been able to detect cases very quickly, support those people to get better and prevent the spread of disease.”
The UN health agency defines an international emergency as an “extraordinary event” that constitutes a risk to other countries and requires a co-ordinated response.
Though many people experience only mild symptoms from the virus, China has reported more than 9,600 cases, including 213 deaths.
Hajdu stressed the need and the responsibility to remain calm.
“I think that anything that we are doing as politicians or leaders or members of the media that will create a sense of anxiety or panic is actually a dangerous road to travel down,” she said.
Dr. Theresa Tam, chief public health officer, reiterated Thursday that the chances of an outbreak in Canada remain low.
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Also this …
Canadian bats are unlikely to be the source of virus strains that can infect humans such as the one currently raising global alarms, a bat expert says.
“We’ve lived with our bats for a long time and it’s never happened,” said virologist Vikram Misra of the University of Saskatchewan.
“I really think it’s not an issue.”
Researchers are closing in on bats as the origin of the new coronavirus scare that has quarantined a Chinese city of 11 million people and infected humans in at least 18 countries.
More than 7,700 people in China have been diagnosed with the new virus and 170 of them have died. The World Health Organization on Thursday declared the outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern.”
In research released Thursday, scientists said the new virus is closely related to three coronaviruses found in bats. A separate report published in the medical journal The Lancet said data collected so far is consistent with the virus having initially been hosted by bats.
Misra, who has published a series of papers on bat viruses, said even healthy bats are normally full of them, but they are kept in check by the animal’s unique immune system.
“There are very, very few viruses that make bats sick.”
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What we are watching in the U.S. …
Republican seatmates Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski passed a piece of paper back and forth, nodded — and then sent the note on an unusual journey across the Senate aisle, into the hands of Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema.
Two hours later, Sinema posed the trial’s first bipartisan question. On behalf of the power pocket of moderates, she asked: Will President Donald Trump assure the American public that private citizens won’t conduct foreign policy unless the State Department requests it?
The query referred to the president’s private lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, pressuring Ukraine to give Trump political help. But by asking it together — with Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia — the impeachment trial wildcards showed off their combined, potential influence over the deeply polarized Senate.
The trial’s outcome is all but known: With a 53-seat Republican majority, the Senate is expected to acquit the impeached president of the abuse and obstruction charges against him. And the question of calling witnesses and Trump’s acquittal could be answered quickly. GOP Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, who is retiring, was expected to announce his decision on witnesses after the end of Thursday’s questions.
Meanwhile, both sides were keeping close tabs on where the moderates stand.
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What we are watching in the rest of the world …
Former French President Valery Giscard d’Estaing, who has spent much of his 93 years working to forge a united Europe, is remarkably blasé about Brexit.
Barely 24 hours before Britain becomes the first country to quit the European Union, Giscard d’Estaing called it a “step backward” geopolitically, but took the long view.
“We functioned without Britain during the first years of the European Union … So we will rediscover a situation that we have already known,” he told The Associated Press in an interview.
Born in Germany in the wake of World War I, Giscard d’Estaing helped liberate Paris from the Nazis in the next world war, and later laid the groundwork for the shared euro currency and helped integrate Britain into what became the EU in the 1970s.
Seeing the Britons leave, “I feel great regret,” he acknowledged, both for himself and the world order his generation built.
“We live in troubled times, with the United States taking a rather surprising direction, with this continuing situation of violence in the Middle East and disorder within the global system,” he said.
“Europe was a means to develop a stable and efficient system, respectful of political and economic rules. It was an important project,” he said, “and Brexit is the first step backwards.”
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ICYMI (In case you missed it) …
OTTAWA — Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says a national ban on many single-use plastics is on track for next year after a government report concluded there is more than enough evidence proving plastic pollution is harmful.
The federal Liberals promised last June they’d seek to ban plastic versions of number of products such as straws, take-out containers and grocery bags.
The report says that in 2016, 29,000 tonnes of plastic garbage, the equivalent of about 2.3 billion single-use plastic water bottles, ended up as litter in Canada — on beaches, in parks, in lakes, and even, says the report, in the air.
Some of the litter is easily visible: pieces bigger than 5 mm are called “macroplastics.” But much of it is plastic most of us can’t easily see, known as “microplastics” and “microfibres.” These are tiny remnants of plastic smaller than 5 mm, that come when larger pieces of plastic are broken apart. They are also shed off things like clothes made of synthetic fabric, fleece blankets, and tires.
The science looks at the impact of all types of plastics and concluded that evidence is clear macroplastics are hurting wildlife: Dead birds found with plastic in their intestines, whales that wash up on shore with stomachs filled with tonnes of plastic they ingested as they swam, including flip flops and nylon ropes.
The evidence is less clear about the harmful impacts of people or wildlife ingesting microplastics, and the scientists recommended further study be undertaken. A new fund of $2.2 million over the next two years will fund research on microplastics.
Wilkinson says the specific items that will be banned are still being worked out with scientists. A list will be released in the next few months, he said.
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Weird and wild …
LA VISTA, Neb. — Two customers at a movie theatre bar in Nebraska were treated at a hospital after they were served cleaning solution in their drinks apparently by accident.
Authorities say the women took sips and soon began to feel burning sensations in their throats and stomachs Tuesday at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in the Omaha suburb of La Vista.
They’ve been released from the hospital.
The La Vista police chief says a bottle that had contained a liqueur was being used to store the cleaning solution and had been placed near the bar.
A partner in the franchise location says employee responsible has been fired.
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Know your news …
Canadian soccer star Christine Sinclair set the overall international goals record during an Olympic soccer qualifying match this week. Sinclair scored her 185th goal against Saint Kitts and Nevis in Texas to surpass retired U.S. star Abby Wambach. Who holds the men’s record?
(Keep scrolling for the answer)
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On this day in 1996 …
Canada’s foremost prima ballerina, Karen Kain, announced she would retire as principal dancer with the National Ballet of Canada after the 1996-97 season. Her career spanned more than 25 years.
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Entertainment news …
OTTAWA — Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault is hinting that changes to Canada’s broadcasting and telecom rules could include making online streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon pay sales taxes and requiring them to invest in Canadian programming.
This week, an expert panel delivered a report recommending sweeping new powers be given to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, including oversight of foreign streaming services.
Guilbeault promises legislation to reform Canada’s broadcasting and telecom rules within a matter of months, but offered few details on what the proposed changes will be.
He suggests there were a few of the panel’s particular recommendations that he agreed with, including one saying Ottawa should immediately require streaming companies to start collecting and remitting GST/HST.
“I think that’s about fairness. Everybody is paying the GST in Canada, I don’t see why some of the richest companies in the world shouldn’t pay GST in Canada,” Guilbeault said.
He also noted that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a recent interview that a measure to tax online streaming services could be coming in the federal budget.
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Know your news answer …
Ali Daei. Daei had 109 goals in 149 international appearances.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 31, 2020.
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.
