Ontario public health units will be able to access rapid antigen test kits from the province to help prevent outbreaks at schools or child-care centres, the province’s chief medical officer of health said Tuesday.
The province foresees rapid antigen screening being used only for unvaccinated asymptomatic students and children who are not high-risk contacts. Symptomatic or high-risk contacts should continue to access lab-based PCR testing at assessment centres, said Dr. Kieran Moore.
“This is an extra tool in our tool chest to keep schools open,” said Moore, who added that public health units will have to assess their local case ratios to determine whether the tests should be utilized.
Public health experts say rapid tests can help break potential chains of transmission as they fare well at detecting persons with high viral loads, while reducing the strain on labs that perform PCR tests. Parents say the tests can help prevent their own work disruptions, as they are not pulling out their asymptomatic and COVID-negative children out of class for several days of remote learning in the face of one or two positive cases at their schools.
The announcement comes after groups of parents had organized surveillance testing for their schools using the rapid test kits, but the government told agencies to stop distributing them to anyone but businesses.
Moore, who in recent weeks has focused on the false positives that some brands of antigen tests produce, said the highly transmissible delta variant led to an evolution in approach. He also described it as unfortunate when children have to quarantine for up to two weeks at a time, as occurred in the last school year.
But, he said, widespread regular testing was not practical given that there are about two million students in Ontario elementary and secondary schools.
Ontario on Tuesday reported three additional deaths from COVID-19 and 429 new cases, with the seven-day average of new daily cases falling to 576.
WATCH | Hopes for vaccine approval as COVID-19 transmission rises among kids:
COVID-19 transmission among kids, hopes for the vaccine
2 days ago
Ian Hanomansing speaks with pediatric infectious disease specialist Dr. Fatima Kakkar about the rise in COVID-19 transmission among kids, and when children aged five to 11 can expect to get vaccinated. 1:19
What’s happening with vaccines
Johnson & Johnson says it has submitted data to the FDA for emergency use authorization of a booster shot of its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine in people aged 18 years and older.
J&J on Tuesday said its submission includes data from a late-stage study that found a booster of its vaccine given 56 days after the primary dose provided 94 per cent protection against symptomatic COVID-19 in the United States and 100 per cent protection against severe disease, at least 14 days after the booster shot.
The FDA has already authorized a booster dose of the vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc. and partner BioNTech for 65-year olds and older, people at high risk of severe disease and others who are regularly exposed to the virus. Moderna submitted its application seeking authorization for a booster shot of its two-dose vaccine last month.
J&J said it plans to submit the data to other regulators, the World Health Organization and National Immunization Technical Advisory Groups to inform decision-making on local vaccine administration strategies, as needed.
Meanwhile, AstraZeneca has requested emergency use authorization from U.S. regulators for its new treatment to prevent COVID-19 for people who respond poorly to vaccines because of a weakened immune system.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker said it included data in its filing with the Food and Drug Administration from a late-stage trial that showed its antibody therapy called AZD7442 reduced the risk of people developing any COVID-19 symptoms by 77 per cent.
While vaccines rely on an intact immune system to develop targeted antibodies and infection-fighting cells, AZD7442 contains lab-made antibodies designed to linger in the body for months to contain the virus in case of an infection.
A U.S. authorization for AZD7442 — based on two antibodies discovered by Vanderbilt University Medical Center in the United States — could be a major win for AstraZeneca, whose widely used COVID-19 vaccine has yet to be approved by U.S. authorities. Trial results on the AZD7442 therapy, first published in August, were taken three months after injection, but the company hopes it can tout the shot as a year-long shield as trial investigators will follow up with participants as far out as 15 months.
What’s happening across Canada
WATCH | Stories from Alberta’s ICUs during COVID’s 4th wave:
Stories from Alberta’s ICUs during the COVID-19 fourth wave
17 hours ago
Alberta’s ICUs have 257 COVID-19 patients. That’s more than any other province. But the number alone doesn’t explain the impact. In a place where small details and moments matter, struggling ICUs mean struggling patients. This is the situation they see. 11:32
What’s happening around the world
As of early Tuesday, more than 235.4 million cases of COVID-19 had been reported worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus-tracking tool. The reported global death toll stood at more than 4.8 million.
In Asia, China reported no new local COVID-19 cases for the first time in more than three weeks.
In Europe, the Kremlin has implored people to get vaccinated, as Russian authorities mulled reintroducing health restrictions to cope with daily cases rising to their highest levels since January.
In the Americas, New York State’s largest health-care provider has fired 1,400 employees who refused to get vaccinations.
Have questions about this story? We’re answering as many as we can in the comments.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers placed All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey on injured reserve because of his lingering calf and Achilles tendon injuries.
The move made Saturday means McCaffrey will miss at least four more games after already sitting out the season opener. He is eligible to return for a Thursday night game in Seattle on Oct. 10.
McCaffrey got hurt early in training camp and missed four weeks of practice before returning to the field on a limited basis last week. He was a late scratch for the opener on Monday night against the Jets and now is sidelined again after experiencing pain following practice on Thursday.
McCaffrey led the NFL last season with 2,023 yards from scrimmage and was tied for the league lead with 21 touchdowns, winning AP Offensive Player of the Year.
The Niners made up for McCaffrey’s absence thanks to a strong performance from backup Jordan Mason, who had 28 carries for 147 yards and a touchdown in San Francisco’s 32-19 victory over the New York Jets. Mason is set to start again Sunday at Minnesota.
After missing 23 games because of injuries in his final two full seasons with Carolina, McCaffrey had been healthy the past two seasons.
He missed only one game combined in 2022-23 — a meaningless Week 18 game last season for San Francisco when he had a sore calf. His 798 combined touches from scrimmage in the regular season and playoffs were the third most for any player in a two-year span in the past 10 years.
Now San Francisco will likely rely heavily on Mason, a former undrafted free agent out of Georgia Tech who had 83 carries his first two seasons. He had at least 10 touches just twice before the season opener, when his 28 carries were the most by a 49ers player in a regular-season game since Frank Gore had 31 against Seattle on Oct. 30, 2011.
The Niners also have fourth-round rookie Isaac Guerendo and Patrick Taylor Jr. on the active roster. Guerendo played three offensive snaps with no touches in the opener. Taylor had 65 carries for Green Bay from 2021-23.
San Francisco also elevated safety Tracy Walker III from the practice squad for Sunday’s game against Minnesota.
BRUSSELS – Canada walked away with some hardware at the Diamond League track and field competition Saturday.
Alysha Newman finished third in women’s pole vault, while Marco Arop did the same in the men’s 800-metre race.
Newman won a bronze medal in her event at the recent Paris Olympics. Arop grabbed silver at the same distance in France last month.
Australia’s Nina Kennedy, who captured gold at the Summer Games, again finished atop the podium. Sandi Morris of the United States was second.
Newman set a national record when she secured Canada’s first-ever pole vault medal with a bronze at the Olympics with a height of 4.85 metres. The 30-year-old from London, Ont., cleared 4.80 metres in her second attempt Saturday, but was unable conquer 4.88 metres on three attempts.
Arop, a 25-year-old from Edmonton, finished the men’s 800 metres with a time of one minute 43.25 seconds. Olympic gold medallist Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya was first with a time of 1:42.70.
Djamel Sedjati, edged out by Arop for silver in Paris last month, was second 1:42.87
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2024.
MILAN (AP) — Bologna’s preparations for its Champions League debut are not going well though it managed to spoil Como’s first Serie A home match in 21 years on Saturday.
Bologna came from two goals down to salvage a 2-2 draw to gather three points from its opening four matches.
Bologna hosts Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday. Its only other appearance in Europe’s top competition was in 1964 in the preliminary round of the old European Cup.
AC Milan is also winless as it prepares for a Tuesday Champions League match against Liverpool. The Rossoneri hosted promoted Venezia later. Juventus drew at Empoli 0-0.
Como made a great start in the fifth minute when Patrick Cutrone attempted to roll the ball across the six-yard box but it took a huge deflection off Bologna defender Nicolò Casale for an own goal.
Bologna thought it was gifted a way back into the match on the stroke of halftime when referee Marco Piccinini signalled for a penalty following an Alberto Moreno handball, but he revoked his decision and instead gave a free kick because the handball was just outside the area.
Bologna improved after the break but found itself further behind when Cutrone raced onto a through ball and cut inside past a defender and fired into the far bottom corner.
Tommaso Pobega hit the post for Bologna, which finally pulled one back in the 76th through substitute Santiago Castro.
Another substitute helped the visitors snatch a point when Samuel Iling-Junior curled a fine strike into the top left corner in stoppage time.
Unbeaten sides
Juventus, and more surprisingly Empoli, are among six unbeaten sides.
Empoli held Monza and Bologna to draws either side of a shock 2-1 win at Roma. Juventus’ perfect start to the season was ruined by Roma in a goalless draw before the international break.
On Saturday, there were few clearcut chances in Empoli although home goalkeeper Devis Vásquez made spectacular saves to fingertip out a Federico Gatti header and deny Dusan Vlahovic in a one on one with the Juventus forward.
Empoli had a good opportunity in the 73rd minute following an Alberto Grassi one-two with Pietro Pellegri but the finish was straight at Mattia Perin.
The host could have won it right at the death but Gatti flew in with a great sliding block to keep out Emanuel Gyasi’s close-range effort.
Juventus hosts PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Tuesday.
