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How Canada will cope with community transmission of the coronavirus – CBC.ca

Published

5 years ago

March 5, 2020

In Canada, all cases of COVID-19 have so far been traced back to countries where an outbreak has occurred. But in a news conference on Wednesday, federal Health Minister Patty Hadju warned that “eventually this is likely something that we’ll see in one of our communities.”

Here’s what community transmission would mean for the country:

What does ‘community transmission’ of COVID-19 mean?

Simply put, community transmission will be underway when tracing a case of COVID-19 to a single source outside the community becomes impossible.

“People get sick who haven’t travelled to an infected place or knowingly met with a person from one of those places,” said Tom Koch, an adjunct geography professor at the University of British Columbia who specializes in factors that promote or inhibit the spread of disease. “Nor have they knowingly interacted with someone who was [infected] or has become infected.”

Why is that significant?

When the virus can’t be traced, then practical containment is at an end and the virus is now “running free,” as Koch puts it. That often leads to an explosion of cases, as has been the case in other regions of the world.

“You go from one case detected and then, before you know it, you have hundreds of cases,” said Stephen Hoption Cann, a professor at the University of B.C.’s School of Population & Public Health.

“It is highly contagious. You can go from one case churning up to hundreds or thousands of cases in a very short period of time.”

Would community transmission automatically lead to an outbreak across Canada?

Not necessarily, said Koch.

“We can localize this in Canada where we have a lot of regions that are geographically very separate. An outbreak in Vancouver, for example, would not necessarily mean an outbreak was imminent in Regina or even in Prince George.”

What will be the response?

For the first few cases of community transmission, officials would continue to do contact tracing, investigating where the patient has been during their period of contagiousness, contacting those people they were in contact with and, if necessary, asking them to quarantine themselves.

Health Minister Patty Hajdu and Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam say they are working with local and provincial health officials to ensure they are prepared for the possibility of a community outbreak of COVID-19. 2:28

“That will probably go on for a period of time until there’s just so many cases that it is just not practical for health departments to contact all the contacts of the cases,” said Colin Lee, a specialist in public health and infectious disease.

What about measures to help stop the spread?

Public health officials will likely ramp up efforts to implement strategies known as social distancing.

“So at some point in time, we may say to people, ‘Hey, we just really discourage … mass gatherings,'” said Lee. “The whole idea is that we don’t want people to gather because we don’t know who has the infection anymore, because it’s in the community.”

Social distancing strategies, some of which are already being implemented, can be as broad and significant as community quarantines, cancellation of public transit or clamping down on public gatherings.

In France, for example, officials have announced a ban on gatherings of more than 5,000 people indoors. In the worst-hit area, north of Paris, all public gatherings have been banned, the BBC reported.

People sit a recommended distance apart from each other during the presentation of the new FIAT 500 electric in Milan, Italy. Countries are taking increasingly visible measures to curb the coronavirus. (Antonio Calanni/Associated Press)

Italy is considering closing places where there are large gatherings of people, meaning the closure of colleges, universities and cinemas, said Hoption Cann.

“I wouldn’t be surprised to see a lot of events cancelled [here],” said Hoption Cann “[Already] you hear about some sporting events and concerts and things like that being cancelled or delayed due to the virus.”

Businesses may encourage employees to work from home, and school closures could become a reality.

What’s unlikely to happen in Canada?

Hoption Cann said he doubts there will be cancellation of mass public transit in Canada.

“I think probably an alternative approach would be anybody that has any cold or flu symptoms to self-quarantine rather than using transport to get around.”

Although it has occurred in other countries, it’s unlikely that Canada would quarantine a complete community, Lee said.

“I say unlikely, because it’s just very difficult. It infringes on many people’s personal civil liberties,” he said.

The only scenario in which it could happen is if there are a lot of cases in a very small, isolated Canadian community, he said.

“For argument’s sake, for some reason we see cases in the community of 10,000 people, 3,000 people, that is in a more rural area.

“I think there has to be some discussion on whether or not we unfortunately sacrifice their civil liberties for a period of days in order to prevent spread into the larger population.”

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Whitehead becomes 1st CHL player to verbally commit to playing NCAA hockey

Published

27 mins ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

Braxton Whitehead said Friday he has verbally committed to Arizona State, making him the first member of a Canadian Hockey League team to attempt to play the sport at the Division I U.S. college level since a lawsuit was filed challenging the NCAA’s longstanding ban on players it deems to be professionals.

Whitehead posted on social media he plans to play for the Sun Devils beginning in the 2025-26 season.

An Arizona State spokesperson said the school could not comment on verbal commitments, citing NCAA rules. A message left with the CHL was not immediately returned.

A class-action lawsuit filed Aug. 13 in U.S. District Court in Buffalo, New York, could change the landscape for players from the CHL’s Western Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. NCAA bylaws consider them professional leagues and bar players from there from the college ranks.

Online court records show the NCAA has not made any response to the lawsuit since it was filed.

“We’re pleased that Arizona State has made this decision, and we’re hopeful that our case will result in many other Division I programs following suit and the NCAA eliminating its ban on CHL players,” Stephen Lagos, one of the lawyers who launched the lawsuit, told The Associated Press in an email.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Riley Masterson, of Fort Erie, Ontario, who lost his college eligibility two years ago when, at 16, he appeared in two exhibition games for the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires. And it lists 10 Division 1 hockey programs, which were selected to show they follow the NCAA’s bylaws in barring current or former CHL players.

CHL players receive a stipend of no more than $600 per month for living expenses, which is not considered as income for tax purposes. College players receive scholarships and now can earn money through endorsements and other use of their name, image and likeness (NIL).

The implications of the lawsuit could be far-reaching. If successful, the case could increase competition for college-age talent between North America’s two top producers of NHL draft-eligible players.

“I think that everyone involved in our coaches association is aware of some of the transformational changes that are occurring in collegiate athletics,” Forrest Karr, executive director of American Hockey Coaches Association and Minnesota-Duluth athletic director said last month. “And we are trying to be proactive and trying to learn what we can about those changes.

Karr was not immediately available for comment on Friday.

Earlier this year, Karr established two committees — one each overseeing men’s and women’s hockey — to respond to various questions on eligibility submitted to the group by the NCAA. The men’s committee was scheduled to go over its responses two weeks ago.

Former Minnesota coach and Central Collegiate Hockey Association commissioner Don Lucia said at the time that the lawsuit provides the opportunity for stakeholders to look at the situation.

“I don’t know if it would be necessarily settled through the courts or changes at the NCAA level, but I think the time is certainly fast approaching where some decisions will be made in the near future of what the eligibility will look like for a player that plays in the CHL and NCAA,” Lucia said.

Whitehead, a 20-year-old forward from Alaska who has developed into a point-a-game player, said he plans to play again this season with the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League.

“The WHL has given me an incredible opportunity to develop as a player, and I couldn’t be more excited,” Whitehead posted on Instagram.

His addition is the latest boon for Arizona State hockey, a program that has blossomed in the desert far from traditional places like Massachusetts, Minnesota and Michigan since entering Division I in 2015. It has already produced NHL talent, including Seattle goaltender Joey Daccord and Josh Doan, the son of longtime Coyotes captain Shane Doan, who now plays for Utah after that team moved from the Phoenix area to Salt Lake City.

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Calgary Flames sign forward Jakob Pelletier to one-year contract

Published

36 mins ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

CALGARY – The Calgary Flames signed winger Jakob Pelletier to a one-year, two-way contract on Friday.

The contract has an average annual value of US$800,000.

Pelletier, a 23-year-old from Quebec City, split last season with the Flames and American Hockey League’s Calgary Wranglers.

He produced one goal and two assists in 13 games with the Flames.

Calgary drafted the five-foot-nine, 170-pound forward in the first round, 26th overall, of the 2019 NHL draft.

Pelletier has four goals and six assists in 37 career NHL games.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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Kingston mayor’s call to close care hub after fatal assault ‘misguided’: legal clinic

Published

38 mins ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

A community legal clinic in Kingston, Ont., is denouncing the mayor’s calls to clear an encampment and close a supervised consumption site in the city following a series of alleged assaults that left two people dead and one seriously injured.

Kingston police said they were called to an encampment near a safe injection site on Thursday morning, where they allege a 47-year-old male suspect wielded an edged or blunt weapon and attacked three people. Police said he was arrested after officers negotiated with him for several hours.

The suspect is now facing two counts of second-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.

In a social media post, Kingston Mayor Bryan Paterson said he was “absolutely horrified” by the situation.

“We need to clear the encampment, close this safe injection site and the (Integrated Care Hub) until we can find a better way to support our most vulnerable residents,” he wrote.

The Kingston Community Legal Clinic called Paterson’s comments “premature and misguided” on Friday, arguing that such moves could lead to a rise in overdoses, fewer shelter beds and more homelessness.

In a phone interview, Paterson said the encampment was built around the Integrated Care Hub and safe injection site about three years ago. He said the encampment has created a “dangerous situation” in the area and has frequently been the site of fires, assaults and other public safety concerns.

“We have to find a way to be able to provide the services that people need, being empathetic and compassionate to those struggling with homelessness and mental health and addictions issues,” said Paterson, noting that the safe injection site and Integrated Care Hub are not operated by the city.

“But we cannot turn a blind eye to the very real public safety issues.”

When asked how encampment residents and people who use the services would be supported if the sites were closed, Paterson said the city would work with community partners to “find the best way forward” and introduce short-term and long-term changes.

Keeping the status quo “would be a terrible failure,” he argued.

John Done, executive director of the Kingston Community Legal Clinic, criticized the mayor’s comments and said many of the people residing in the encampment may be particularly vulnerable to overdoses and death. The safe injection site and Integrated Care Hub saves lives, he said.

Taking away those services, he said, would be “irresponsible.”

Done said the legal clinic represented several residents of the encampment when the City of Kingston made a court application last summer to clear the encampment. The court found such an injunction would be unconstitutional, he said.

Done added there’s “no reason” to attach blame while the investigation into Thursday’s attacks is ongoing. The two people who died have been identified as 38-year-old Taylor Wilkinson and 41-year-old John Hood.

“There isn’t going to be a quick, easy solution for the fact of homelessness, drug addictions in Kingston,” Done said. “So I would ask the mayor to do what he’s trained to do, which is to simply pause until we have more information.”

The concern surrounding the safe injection site in Kingston follows a recent shift in Ontario’s approach to the overdose crisis.

Last month, the province announced that it would close 10 supervised consumption sites because they’re too close to schools and daycares, and prohibit any new ones from opening as it moves to an abstinence-based treatment model.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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