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COVID-19: No plans to ease hot zone restrictions, Ford says; Canada has record one-day total of cases – The Sudbury Star

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4 years ago

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What you need to know, at a glance

  • Premier Doug Ford says there are no plans to ease ‘hot zone’ restrictions, despite economic disruptions
  • ‘We won’t even have an economy if this continues to spread’
  • Ontario reported 826 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, including 88 in Ottawa
  • The new numbers push Ontario’s total number of infections to 68,353
  • There were nine new deaths, bringing the total to 3,080
  • There are 276 people in hospital with 78 of those in ICU care and 47 on ventilators
  • Ottawa Public Health reported 88 new cases and five new deaths over the previous 24 hours
  • One new outbreak was declared among health care and congregate living facilities, while two more outbreaks were declared in child care and schools
  • Five new cases have been confirmed in sports related outbreaks, for a total of 30
  • A resident of the city-run Centre d’accueil Champlain long-term care home has died in hospital of COVID-19
  • A second staff member at the Garry J. Armstrong long-term care home has tested positive for COVID-19.
  • Eastern Ontario’s medical officer of health expected to announce more restrictions on gyms, bars and restaurants
  • Quebec reported 905 infections, bringing the total number of confirmed cases since to 98,226 since the pandemic began.
  • Twelve new deaths were reported – four over the past 24 hours, six between Oct. 16 and 21, and another two on unknown dates
  • The Outaouais region reported 25 new cases and one new death since the last report.
  • Canada recorded a record 2,788 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, the largest increase in infections since the pandemic began
  • “We have to get these numbers down,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said
  • The federal government spending $214 million towards the development of COVID-19 vaccines
  • But PM warns that he doesn’t anticipate a vaccine will be ready this year or in early 2021
  • Nationally, the number of COVID-19 infections topped 209,000 with more than 23,000 active cases
  • The virus has killed 9,862 Canadians.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Health Minister Christine Elliott say they have no plans to ease restrictions in the province’s four COVID-19 hot zones of Ottawa, Toronto, Peel and York even as some business owners push back against the economic disruption the measures have caused.

“We won’t even have an economy if this continues to spread and gets up over 1,000 cases (a day),” Ford said Friday at a media briefing in Prince Edward County.

Ford added that he will meet with the province’s medical officer of health, Dr. David Williams, and his health team over the weekend to decide if Halton region, west of Toronto, will also be added to the hot zone list.

“I’ll have that answer on Monday,” the premier said. “It’s concerning right now. We’re seeing the numbers go up again.”

Ontario reported 826 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, including 292 in Toronto, 186 in Peel, and 72 in York.

“We’ve been advised by Dr. Williams and his team that these are measures we have to take to stop the spread of COVID-19,” Elliott said.

“The evidence says that if we take these steps now it prevents us from going into a longer period of lockdown with more economic shutdown. While we recognize that this is very difficult for many business owners, this is the advice we’ve received from the public health professionals.”

Friday marks two weeks since the Ontario imposed the modified Stage 2 restrictions in Ottawa, Toronto and Peel and the halfway point in the order’s initial 28-day duration.

The latest numbers represent a slight decline for the province, which reported 841 new cases on Thursday.

Ontario has now had 68,353 confirmed cases since the pandemic was declared. Some 3,080 people have died in the province from COVID-19.

There are 276 people in hospital with 78 of those in intensive care and 47 on ventilators.

The province completed more than 40,000 tests on Thursday, Elliott said. Another 733 cases have now been resolved.

Seventy-seven long-term care homes are battling novel coronavirus outbreaks in Ontario, down three from the day before.

Local

Ottawa Public Health reported 88 new cases and five new death over the previous 24 hours.

It was the highest daily death count since May.

There have been 6,384 total cases, with 676 active. The death toll is at 314.

One new outbreak was declared among health care and congregate living facilities, for a total of 50 outbreaks. Two new outbreaks were reported in child care and schools for a total of 19.

Five new cases have been reported in sports-related outbreaks, for a total of 30.

The city announced Thursday that a resident of the city-run Centre d’accueil Champlain long-term care home has died in hospital of COVID-19. The resident was admitted to hospital on Oct. 13, Donna Gray, general manager of Community and Social Services announced in a memo to members of council.

Gray also informed councillors that a second staff member at the Garry J. Armstrong long-term care home has tested positive for COVID-19.

A group of restaurateurs and other Ottawa business people are planning to protest the provincial ‘hot zone’ restrictions on Saturday with a march from Ottawa city hall to Parliament hill. Unlike most protests, organizers are trying to limit their numbers by capping the number of people who can attend from each business.

“We are not anti-maskers or those looking to counter public health measures, but the contrary,” they say.

Meanwhile, Eastern Ontario’s medical officer of health was expected to announce Friday more restrictions under a local Class Section 22 order. The restrictions, which are milder than the modified Stage 2 restrictions in place in neighbouring Ottawa, won’t come into effect until next week, said Dr. Paul Roumeliotis of the Eastern Ontario Health Unit.

The restrictions limit restaurants to a maximum capacity of 100 with no more than six people per table. Gyms can have no more than 50 people inside at a time and fitness classes are limited to 10 people. Banquet halls and other meeting or event facilities would be capped at 50 people.

The EOHU measures are similar to those enacted by Ottawa Public Health on Sept. 22, two weeks before the province imposed the stricter, more easily enforced restrictions of the modified Stage 2 order. EOHU covers Cornwall, Prescott Russell and the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry.

Roumeliotis was to hold a briefing of his own late Friday afternoon.

Quebec

The number of new cases dipped below 1,000 today, with hospitalizations and ICU admissions dropping.

Quebec reported 905 infections, bringing the total number of confirmed cases since to 98,226 since the pandemic began.

Twelve new deaths were reported – four over the past 24 hours, six between Oct. 16 and 21, and another two on unknown dates.

Among those in hospital, 99 are in intensive care, a drop of two.

The Outaouais region reported 25 new cases and one new death since the last report.

National

Canada recorded a record 2,788 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, the largest increase in infections since the pandemic began.

“We have to get these numbers down. This is serious and everyone must do their part,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. “Your loved ones with pre-existing conditions, your parents your grandparents, they’re counting on you.

“People’s lives are at stake. We can’t afford to be careless or expect that this virus will just go away on its own.”

Nationally, the number of COVID-19 infections topped 209,000 with more than 23,000 active cases, according to figures released Thursday night. Quebec and Ontario account for two-thirds of all active cases. The virus has killed 9,862 Canadians.

The prime minister said that the government is spending $214 million towards the development of COVID-19 vaccines, signing deals with Quebec firm Medicago and British Columbia’s Precision NanoSystems.

Trudeau says the Medicago contract includes the rights to buy 76 million doses of its vaccine, should it meet health and safety standards, as well as funding for a production facility in Quebec City.

Two more American vaccine makers, Moderna and Pfizer, have asked Health Canada to review their products as they undergo clinical trials.

However, Trudeau warns that he doesn’t anticipate a vaccine will be ready to inoculate Canadians against the COVID-19 virus this year or in early 2021.

The prime minister says Canada has also acquired “hundreds of thousands” of rapid test kits from medical company Abbott to be distributed across the provinces and territories.

Two more vaccine makers have asked Health Canada to study their product before it has completed clinical trials.

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-With files from Postmedia and The Canadian Press

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Canada to donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to combat mpox outbreaks in Africa

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2 days ago

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September 13, 2024

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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.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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How many Nova Scotians are on the doctor wait-list? Number hit 160,000 in June

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3 days ago

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September 11, 2024

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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.

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Newfoundland and Labrador monitoring rise in whooping cough cases: medical officer

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4 days ago

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September 10, 2024

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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.

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