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As patients stream into Mississippi hospitals one after another, doctors and nurses have become all too accustomed to the rampant denial and misinformation about COVID-19 in the least-vaccinated state in the U.S.
People in denial about the severity of their own illness or the virus itself, with visitors frequently trying to enter hospitals without masks. The painful look of recognition on patients’ faces when they realize they made a mistake not getting vaccinated. The constant misinformation about the coronavirus that they discuss with medical staff.
“There’s no point in being judgmental in that situation. There’s no point in telling them, ‘You should have gotten the vaccine or you wouldn’t be here,”‘ said Dr. Risa Moriarity, executive vice-chair of the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s (UMMC) emergency department. “We don’t do that. We try not to preach and lecture them. Some of them are so sick they can barely even speak to us.”
Mississippi’s low vaccination rate, with about 38 per cent of the state’s three million people fully inoculated against COVID-19, is driving a surge in cases and hospitalizations that is overwhelming medical workers. The workers are angry and exhausted over both the workload and refusal by residents to embrace the vaccine.
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Physicians at UMMC, the only Level 1 trauma centre in all of Mississippi, are caring for the sickest patients in the state.
The emergency room and intensive care unit are beyond capacity, almost all with COVID-19 patients. Moriarity said it’s like a “logjam” with beds in hallways and patients being treated in triage rooms. Paramedics are delayed in responding to new calls because they have to wait with patients who need care.
Moriarity said it’s hard to put into words the fatigue she and her colleagues feel. Going into work each day has become taxing and heartbreaking, she said.
“Most of us still have enough emotional reserve to be compassionate, but you leave work at the end of the day just exhausted by the effort it takes to drug that compassion up for people who are not taking care of themselves and the people around them,” she said.
As the virus surges, hospital officials are begging residents to get vaccinated. UMMC announced in July that it will mandate its 10,000 employees and 3,000 students to be vaccinated or wear a N95 mask on campus. By the end of August, leaders revised that policy, and vaccination is the only option.
Anne Sinclair, a pediatric emergency room nurse at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, in seen in Jackson, Miss., on Aug. 25. (Rogelio V. Solis/The Associated Press)
“I’ve seen children die in my unit of COVID, complications of COVID, and that’s just not something you can ever forget,” she said.
“It’s very sobering,” continued Sinclair, who is the parent of a two-year-old and a five-year-old and worries for their safety. “I just wish people could look past the politics and think about their families and their children.”
What’s happening across Canada
A sign for a COVID-19 vaccination site is seen in Montreal on Sunday. (Jean-Claude Taliana/Radio-Canada)
Metepenagiag Mi’kmaq Nation outbreak in N.B. rises to 4, chief says.
N.L. health officials advise residents of 3 potential exposures in St. John’s.
Classrooms shut down after 2 Yukon elementary school students test positive.
What’s happening around the world
As of Sunday, more than 220.4 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University. The reported global death toll stood at more than 4.5 million.
In Africa, 42 of the continent’s 54 nations may not reach the World Health Organization’s (WHO) goal of countries vaccinating 10 per cent of their population by September due to “vaccine hoarding,” according to Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, regional director of WHO Africa Region. Moeti noted that “just two per cent of the over five billion doses given globally” have gone to Africa.
Vaccine hoarding has held Africa back & we urgently need more vaccines. But as more doses arrive, African countries must zero in & drive forward precise plans to rapidly vaccinate the millions of people that still face a grave threat from <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID19?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#COVID19</a>. <a href=”https://t.co/Fn5szriWVq”>https://t.co/Fn5szriWVq</a>
In Europe, Germany’s disease control agency says that more than four million people have contracted the coronavirus since the outbreak of the pandemic. Meanwhile, Russia says the country’s confirmed coronavirus cases tally has surpassed seven million.
In Asia-Pacific, Australia reported 1,684 new cases as authorities race ahead with vaccinations in a bid to end lockdowns on the populous southeast coast. More than 15 million people in Victoria state, neighbouring New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory have been under stay-at-home orders.
In the Americas, the Caribbean has been hit by a new wave of coronavirus infections that is causing lockdowns and flight cancellations and overwhelming hospitals. Countries including Jamaica, Martinique, the Bahamas, Barbados, St. Lucia and Dominica have seen a rise in cases fuelled by the delta variant and a relaxation of earlier restrictions.
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LONGUEUIL, Que. – People in a part of Longueuil, Que., were being asked to stay indoors with their doors and windows closed on Thursday morning after a train derailed, spilling an unknown quantity of hydrogen peroxide.
Police from the city just east of Montreal said it didn’t appear anyone was hurt, although a CN rail official told a news conference that three employees had been taken to hospital as a precautionary measure.
The derailment happened at around 9 a.m. in the LeMoyne area, near the intersection of St-Louis and St-Georges streets. Mathieu Gaudreault, a spokesman for CN rail, said about eight cars derailed at the Southwark rail facility, including four that toppled over.
“As of this morning, the information we have is it’s hydrogen peroxide that was in the rail car and created the fumes we saw,” he said, adding that there was no risk of fire.
François Boucher, a spokesman for the Longueuil police department, said police were asking people in the area, including students at nearby schools, to stay indoors while experts ensure the air is safe to breathe.
“It is as a preventive measure that we encourage people to really avoid exposing themselves unnecessarily,” he told reporters near the scene.
Police and fire officials were on site, as well as CN railworkers, and a large security perimeter was erected.
Officers were asking people to avoid the sector, and the normally busy Highway 116 was closed in the area. The confinement notice includes everyone within 800 metres of the derailment, officials said, who added that it would be lifted once a team with expertise in dangerous materials has given the green light.
In addition to closing doors and windows, people in the area covered by the notice are asked to close heating, ventilation and air exchange systems, and to stay as far from windows as possible.
Gaudreault said it wasn’t yet clear what caused the derailment. The possibilities include a problem with the track, a problem with a manoeuvre, or a mechanical issue, he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2024.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia’s Liberal party is promising to improve cellphone service and invest in major highways if the party is elected to govern on Nov. 26.
Party leader Zach Churchill says a Liberal government would spend $60 million on building 87 new cellphone towers, which would be in addition to the $66 million the previous Progressive Conservative government committed to similar projects last year.
As well, Churchill confirmed the Liberals want to improve the province’s controlled access highways by adding exits along Highway 104 across the top of the mainland, and building a bypass along Highway 101 near Digby.
Churchill says the Liberals would add $40 million to the province’s $500 million capital budget for highways.
Meanwhile, the leaders of the three major political parties were expected to spend much of today preparing for a televised debate that will be broadcast tonight at 6 p.m. local time.
Churchill will face off against Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Houston and NDP Leader Claudia Chender during a 90-minute debate that will be carried live on CBC TV and streamed online.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2024.
TORONTO – A group of hotel service workers in Toronto is set to hold a rally today outside the Fairmont Royal York to demand salary increases as hotel costs in the city skyrocket during Taylor Swift’s concerts.
Unite Here Local 75, the union representing 8,000 hospitality workers in the Greater Toronto Area, says Royal York employees have not seen a salary increase since 2021, and have been negotiating a new contract with the hotel since 2022.
The rally comes as the megastar begins her series of six sold-out concerts in Toronto, with the last show scheduled for Nov. 23.
During show weekends, some hotel rooms and short-term rentals in Toronto are priced up to 10 times more than other weekends, with some advertised for as much as $2,000 per night.
The union says hotel workers who will be serving Swifties during her Toronto stops are bargaining for raises to keep up with the rising cost of living.
The union represents hospitality workers including food service employees, room attendants and bell persons.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2024.
