As parts of Canada see staggering rises in COVID-19 activity amid Omicron’s rapid spread, experts say the highly transmissible variant is training a spotlight on social inequities across the country.
Dr. Amit Arya, a palliative care physician in Mississauga, Ont., and Dr. Andrew Boozary, who leads the Social Medicine Program at Toronto’s University Health Network, both say Omicron’s rise continues to show “a tale of two pandemics,” with those who can afford to better protect themselves pitted against those who can’t.
Arya said lower-income populations often don’t have the funds to buy upgraded masks or rapid antigen tests, nor can they easily take time off work to isolate or get their booster doses.
“If you have money, you’re able to afford the protection you need to survive and be safe,” he said.
Essential workers bore the brunt of COVID-19 infections during Canada’s Delta-driven wave last spring, and Arya said low-wage employees are likely to experience some of that again.
As provinces scale back eligibility for PCR testing, he pointed out that private testing companies in Ontario, which can offer same-day results for those willing to pay $160 or more for the service, further show an income divide in how people can deal with COVID-19.
Risk profiles have also differed across economic lines throughout the pandemic, Arya said, but the more transmissible Omicron variant may exacerbate them.
“(Essential workers) by definition have to leave the house to work,” he said. “They might be taking public transit to work, they might be working around 400 people in a distribution centre … many front-line workers are racialized, they’re immigrants to Canada, they’re more likely to live in multi-generational households with elders and vulnerable children who aren’t vaccinated.”
Cynthia Carr, an epidemiologist in Winnipeg, said while that all holds true, the heightened spread of Omicron makes it harder for everyone, regardless of economic status, to avoid exposure.
The difference with lower-income groups, however, is what happens once they’re infected.
“I do think it’s shifting in terms of perhaps everyone bearing the brunt, but with sick days and isolation, that’s where the change is,” she said. “If I’m infected, I’m fortunate and fully vaccinated. I may be mildly ill, if at all, and I can continue to work because I’m at home.”
Carr said efforts to take sick days can be further affected if low-income workers can’t get a test to prove to their employer that they have COVID-19. Arya added that may have downstream effects with insurance companies if people develop long COVID symptoms and need to collect longer-term disability benefits, but don’t have a test showing they ever had the virus.
Health experts have said vaccine boosters are the best way to protect against severe disease and death with Omicron, noting that those who have had three doses are less likely to require hospitalization.
Data from Health Canada shows roughly 16.5 per cent of Canadians had an additional vaccine dose as of Jan. 1, though several provinces have significantly ramped up their immunization drives with a focus on boosters in recent weeks.
Boozary said that while many essential workers have had two doses, third-dose uptake has been slower.
“We’ve seen real disparity in access to third doses,” he said.
Ontario reported 2,594 patients in hospital with COVID-19 on Saturday, including 385 in intensive care, while Quebec reported 44 deaths attributed to the virus, its highest daily death toll in nearly a year.
Figures from Atlantic Canada, meanwhile, show continued growth in COVID-19 cases there, with hospitals reporting they are nearing or over capacity.
New Brunswick reported 80 hospitalizations on Saturday, up from 69, with 17 patients in intensive care and 11 on ventilators.
Ontario’s Saturday hospitalization numbers were up from the previous day’s count of 2,472 patients hospitalized and 338 in intensive care units.
Health Minister Christine Elliott said 248 ICU patients are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown immunization status, and 137 are fully vaccinated. There were also 31 new deaths linked to the virus.
Ontario reported 13,362 new COVID-19 cases Saturday, but Public Health Ontario says the actual case count is likely higher due to current testing policies that limit access for many residents.
Also Saturday, Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair said members of the Canadian Armed Forces had arrived in Bearskin Lake, a First Nation in northern Ontario gripped by an outbreak of COVID-19 that has seen more than half the population infected.
Blair said the soldiers are conducting an initial assessment.
Quebec recorded an 11 per cent rise in COVID-19-related hospitalizations with 2,296 patients — 163 more than the day before — including 245 people in intensive care, a rise of 16 from the previous day. There were 15,928 new infections in Quebec.
The province’s 44 deaths, up from 27 a day earlier, marks the worst tally since Jan. 27, 2021 when it logged 45.
Nova Scotia reported 1,145 new cases of COVID-19, with the province saying it is now limiting contact tracing to long-term care settings, healthcare facilities, correctional facilities, shelters and other group environments.
New Brunswick had 421 new cases and one new death.
While Omicron is thought to cause less severe disease in most people, especially those who are vaccinated, experts say characterizing the variant as “mild” can be problematic.
“You hear people say: ‘Why are you worried about Omicron? If you’re healthy and young, it’s no problem, it’s just a cold.’ And … that’s completely dismissing the reality of millions of people in this country,” Boozary said.
“It’s that complete ableist language and tone and policy that’s putting millions of people at risk.”
Arya said it’s “completely inaccurate” to call Omicron mild, saying people need to let go of the perception that the variant has transformed COVID-19 into the common cold or flu because not enough is known about the virus’s long-term consequences.
Arya said dismissing Omicron as mild has been “very harmful,” as is the notion from some that infection is inevitable because of the higher transmissibility of the variant.
“It centers our policy responses around young and healthy people who are well off and can afford protections,” he said. “That’s a big problem.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 8, 2022.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
