OTTAWA —
Trick-or-treating is not recommended in Ottawa this year, but the mayor says no one will get a ticket if they do go out.
Ottawa’s medical officer of health, Dr. Vera Etches, told City Council on Wednesday that she does not recommend residents take their kids out trick-or-treating this Hallowe’en.
“I recommend that people stay with the members of their household, that you look at ways to have candy for kids in your household in a different way,” she said, in response to questions from Coun. Jenna Sudds.
Dr. Etches said she knows Hallowe’en is fun, even admitting to enjoying dressing up in costumes herself, but said that there are safe ways to enjoy the season in the grips of COVID-19 pandemic.
“Dress up, share costumes with pictures, do these things more virtually,” she said. “There’s lots of fun to be had. People need to have fun right now and dressing up is one of those things. We all need that. I really encourage people to go wild… with members of your household.”
She also recommends carving pumpkins outdoors, as long as physical distancing is kept, but gatherings should not exceed provincial limits.
The risks of trick-or-treating are the same as other events where people are gathering in groups, Dr. Etches said, and that, despite it being something kids look forward to all year, it’s not an essential activity.
“There is more risk when people come into close contact with others. If people are moving around the neighbourhood, children in groups, it’s easy for more mixing to occur,” she said. “There is the possibility of multiple people touching different things. That can lead to transmission.”
Passing out candy could be a risky activity if someone has the virus but has no symptoms and is passing out candy. She noted it’s also harder to keep kids’ hands clean.
“We need to do all we can outside of schools to keep children from mixing,” Dr. Etches said. “[Trick-or-treating] isn’t an essential activity. Right now, the government is asking us to stay to members of household and to limit our trips to what is essential. It just doesn’t fit right now.”
Local public health recommendation trumps other advice
Dr. Etches addressed seemingly conflicting messages from other levels of government when speaking to council, Wednesday.
Canada’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Theresa Tam said Tuesday that trick-or-treating can still happen, depending on local rules.
“There’s some really interesting ideas where people are handing out treats at the end of a hockey stick or something,” Tam said. “Using a pool noodle to tell your kids how far they should be standing apart from [other people].”
Dr. Etches stressed that the local response is the final response.
“Dr. Tam said to follow the direction of your local medical officer of health. She is not contradicting my advice. She is pointing to me and saying, ‘follow her advice,'” Dr. Etches said. “My desire in saying don’t go out door-to-door is to be consistent with our other advice locally. Limit your trips outside the household to essential activities. It’s consistent for me to say trick-or-treating in that way is not essential.”
No Hallowe’en tickets: Watson
Mayor Jim Watson says bylaw officers will not hand out tickets to trick-or-treaters or their parents, if they choose to go out on Hallowe’en.
“We will not be enforcing the suggestion that people stay at home. We will not be sending out bylaw officers,” Watson told reporters on Wednesday. “Police have a greater presence on Hallowe’en because of road safety and vandalism, but there will be no ticketing for kids going door-to-door. Absolutely not.”
The mayor says he respects the advice from Dr. Etches to avoid going trick-or-treating and he encourages people to hold off on it this year.
“No one wants to be the Grinch who stole Hallowe’en, but Dr. Etches’s advice is sound,” he said. “If I had kids, I would not take them door-to-door. For my own house, I will not be handing out candy. I’d rather see our numbers go down and have a better, more exciting Hallowe’en in 2021.”
TORONTO – Health Canada has authorized Moderna’s updated COVID-19 vaccine that protects against currently circulating variants of the virus.
The mRNA vaccine, called Spikevax, has been reformulated to target the KP.2 subvariant of Omicron.
It will replace the previous version of the vaccine that was released a year ago, which targeted the XBB.1.5 subvariant of Omicron.
Health Canada recently asked provinces and territories to get rid of their older COVID-19 vaccines to ensure the most current vaccine will be used during this fall’s respiratory virus season.
Health Canada is also reviewing two other updated COVID-19 vaccines but has not yet authorized them.
They are Pfizer’s Comirnaty, which is also an mRNA vaccine, as well as Novavax’s protein-based vaccine.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
VANCOUVER – Mayors and other leaders from several British Columbia communities say the provincial and federal governments need to take “immediate action” to tackle mental health and public safety issues that have reached crisis levels.
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim says it’s become “abundantly clear” that mental health and addiction issues and public safety have caused crises that are “gripping” Vancouver, and he and other politicians, First Nations leaders and law enforcement officials are pleading for federal and provincial help.
In a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier David Eby, mayors say there are “three critical fronts” that require action including “mandatory care” for people with severe mental health and addiction issues.
The letter says senior governments also need to bring in “meaningful bail reform” for repeat offenders, and the federal government must improve policing at Metro Vancouver ports to stop illicit drugs from coming in and stolen vehicles from being exported.
Sim says the “current system” has failed British Columbians, and the number of people dealing with severe mental health and addiction issues due to lack of proper care has “reached a critical point.”
Vancouver Police Chief Adam Palmer says repeat violent offenders are too often released on bail due to a “revolving door of justice,” and a new approach is needed to deal with mentally ill people who “pose a serious and immediate danger to themselves and others.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024
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.
