The easing of public health restrictions that were aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19 has lead to a surge in cases of another virus, experts say.
Since the start of April, Canada has seen a sharp increase in cases of influenza, something not typically seen in the spring. According to the Public Health Agency of Canada’s (PHAC) most recent FluWatch report, there were 1,580 laboratory-confirmed cases of the flu between May 22 and May 28.
This is down from the peak of 2,121 flu cases seen during the week of May 8 to 14, but PHAC warns that the number of flu cases “remains above the epidemic threshold.”
Last year, the period between May 23 and June 19 saw just one laboratory-confirmed flu case. Prior to the pandemic, a five-week period in May and June 2019 saw 864 laboratory-confirmed cases, an average of 172.8 cases per week.
Toronto-based emergency room physician Dr. Lisa Salamon says she’s also noticed more patients with the flu in her practice, particularly children.
“I’m really seeing influenza a lot in children. A lot of kids are coming through the emergency department with various upper respiratory tract infections, fevers and lasting quite a few days,” she told CTV’s Your Morning on Tuesday.
Influenza-like illnesses made up 1.6 per cent of hospital visits in the latest report. This flu season has seen a total of 438 influenza-associated hospitalizations, with 225 of these being children 16 years of age and younger. PHAC says influenza-associated hospitalizations among children “remains above levels typical of this time of year.”
Salamon says much of this trend can be attributed to the lifting of provincial mask mandates at schools and other indoor places that took place between February and May.
“We never have that much influenza at this time of year, but I really think that it’s lifting of mask mandates,” she said. “The fact that it’s circulating here now, isn’t that surprising. And also people are just congregating more”
Researchers have found that pandemic measures, put in place with the aim of slowing the spread of COVID-19, have helped stem cases of influenza. Last winter, normally the height of the flu season, the number of weekly laboratory-confirmed influenza cases peaked at 44, according to PHAC
Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Theresa Tam also cited the lifting of public health restrictions as the driving force of increasing flu cases, but said PHAC remains “cautiously optimistic that the warmer weather months will give us some reprieve from high transmission rates.”
“When most population public health measures like closures and capacity limits were removed, we saw COVID-19 transmission rates rebound and now we’re seeing influenza activity increasing up to the seasonal threshold, despite the opposite trend being expected at this time of year,” she told reporters during last month’s COVID-19 briefing.
According to PHAC’s annual telephone survey on flu vaccine coverage in Canada, the vaccination rate among adults aged 18 to 74 is 30 per cent for the 2021-2022 flu season and 71 per cent among seniors 65 and older. Salamon said waning immunity from the flu vaccine may be another factor driving up cases.
“For those of us who got the flu shot back in the fall, it only lasts so long,” she said.
Even though it may not be mandatory to do so, Tam said Canadians should continue to exercise “personal protective habits” such as masking in high risk settings in order to curb the spread of both COVID-19 and the flu.
“Masks continue to be an important layer of protection for ourselves while also helping to protect our loved ones,” she said.
Salamon said this also underscores the need to stay home if you’re feeling sick, something that fewer people are doing now that COVID-19 restrictions are loosening.
“We did a really good job at staying home if we’re sick for two years. And now people are forgetting those simple principles,” she said. “We always see people getting colds throughout the year. We just have to remember that if we have symptoms, regardless if it’s COVID-19 or not, we should stay home.”
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
