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Omicron: 'Let it rip' not the solution, experts say – CTV News

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Dr. Kieran Quinn says he’s noticed a shift in attitude among his friends, colleagues and community members during the Omicron wave of COVID-19, as preventive vigilance has eroded into resignation that infection seems inevitable.

The clinician-scientist at Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital says he can sympathize with this sense of pandemic fatigue as the Omicron variant rages across Canada, ushering in another round of public health restrictions and backlogged demand for tests and COVID-19 vaccines.

As Omicron gains a reputation as a “mild” virus variant, Quinn says he sees why some people might feel tempted to “let it rip” in hopes of moving on from the pandemic’s latest and in some cases most overwhelming wave.

But Quinn and other doctors say Canadians can’t afford to be so cavalier about Omicron, because while the risks of infection seem lower to some individuals, abetting the variant’s supercharged spread would have devastating consequences across society.

“We need to look beyond ourselves and protect those around us who are most vulnerable,” said Quinn. “Omicron is not going to spare those people if we throw caution to the wind and ‘let it rip.”‘

Emerging evidence suggests Omicron is less likely to cause severe illness than previous COVID-19 strains, but Quinn said those relative differences still translate into absolute numbers that make the new variant’s impact on the health system anything but mild.

Britain’s public health agency released preliminary data last month that found people with the Omicron variant were between 50 to 70 per cent less likely to require hospitalization than those with the Delta strain.

But research also indicates that Omicron is several times more transmissible than its predecessors, Quinn said, adding that even if a smaller proportion of infected people need medical attention, the sheer volume of cases would overwhelm hospitals.

Dr. Katharine Smart, president of the Canadian Medical Association, said the Omicron surge has already put Canada’s health-care system under critical pressure.

Hospitals in many regions have been forced to cancel or delay surgeries to free up beds for the influx of COVID-19 patients. At the same time, the virus’s spread among health workers exacerbates staffing shortages.

“The reality right now is with the pace at which Omicron is already spreading … there really is no wiggle room,” said Smart, a Whitehorse-based pediatrician.

“Trying to be purposely infected with Omicron and taking the risk that you may require medical care right now is a big gamble, as we’re really seeing our health resources stretched to the limit.”

She urged Canadians not to give way to “let it rip” complacency and resolve instead to flatten the curve by reducing social contacts, upgrading masks and booking booster doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.

“We can protect ourselves, our friends, our neighbours, our communities by doubling down again, doing the things that are within our control and really trying to stick together,” she said.

Quinn, who wrote a piece in Healthy Debate last week about the pitfalls of a “let it rip” approach, proposed that people consider how one Omicron case could ripple through their social sphere within six degrees of separation. Chances are it wouldn’t take too many links in the chain for the virus to reach someone susceptible to Omicron’s harms, he suggested.

That could mean infecting someone at higher risk of severe health outcomes from Omicron, such as older adults and individuals with compromised immune systems, said Quinn. Even a mere exposure could cost someone a paycheque if they’re unable to work while in self-isolation.

Quinn said this goes to show how vulnerable people will ultimately pay a catastrophic price if others decide to roll the dice on Omicron.

“We must not forget about the greater good,” he said.

Most individuals will also find that catching Omicron isn’t in their own best interest, said Quinn.

Omicron isn’t your typical winter bug, he said, and “mild” illness shouldn’t be confused with innocuous. There’s a wide spectrum of symptoms — such as a cough, fever, sore throat, fatigue and body aches — that can range in severity from imperceptible to debilitating, he said.

Then there’s the risk of developing long COVID-19. The World Health Organization reported last year that approximately one in four individuals who contracted the virus experienced post-COVID-19 symptoms for at least a month, and one in 10 saw the effects linger for more than 12 weeks.

While some people seem to believe that beating Omicron could be a welcome immunity boost, Dr. Louis Hugo Francescutti, a professor at University of Alberta’s School of Public Health, said the cost-to-benefit calculation of courting the variant tips firmly toward the negative.

 Francescutti said it’s true that overcoming Omicron likely confers some degree of natural immunity, but that benefit would wane over time, leaving people vulnerable to COVID-19 reinfection. He added that getting vaccinated is a much safer method of building protection against the virus.

He’s also skeptical of the notion that Omicron is paving the way for COVID-19 to shift into an endemic disease, meaning it would continue to circulate sporadically but with more manageable societal impacts.

It’s too early to predict the trajectory of the virus, said Francescutti, particularly as the uneven distribution of vaccines across the globe creates concerns about the emergence of new variants.

But he believes the rise in “let it rip” sentiment shows how Canada’s piecemeal and inconsistent COVID-19 strategy has left the public confused about the threat Omicron poses.

Francescutti said government officials seem to have thrown up their hands when they should have been redoubling their efforts to contain the highly contagious variant, neglecting to take necessary measures to shore up the health-care system, expand testing and contact tracing capacity and combat vaccine hesitancy.

If the people leading Canada’s pandemic response seem prepared to “let it rip,” Francescutti said it’s no surprise some Canadians feel the same way.

“It’s a pretty dire situation, and any politician or public health official that pretends everything’s under control is doing exactly that — they’re pretending,” he said.

“You think we’d be more vigilant, but instead we’re looking the other way … and going, ‘Que sera, sera.’ And now’s not the time to be singing that song.”

— with files from The Associated Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 16, 2022.

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

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September 13, 2024

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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

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15 mins ago

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September 13, 2024

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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

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September 13, 2024

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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.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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