Health
What Canada's hardest-hit provinces can learn from those that handled COVID-19 best – CBC.ca
When epidemiologist Susan Kirkland opened a Halifax newspaper on Saturday, she was stunned.
“Three protest rallies planned,” the Chronicle Herald headline read, in part.
“Oh, no,” the head of public health and epidemiology at Dalhousie University thought to herself. “Please don’t be anti-vaxxers or anti-maskers.”
As Kirkland read further, she realized they weren’t related to the pandemic at all.
One was a rally for alleged victims of a pediatric dentist, a second to demand reparations for former residents of Africville and the third was an anti-war protest about an upcoming security conference.
“Oh,” she said with relief. “Phew.”
Critical juncture for Atlantic bubble
The situation in the Atlantic bubble has been like night and day from the rest of Canada.
The four Atlantic provinces have managed to control the spread of COVID-19 through tight border restrictions, strict isolation of travellers and comprehensive tracing of outbreaks.
But Kirkland says much of the credit also belongs at an individual level.
“I do feel like the response from the public in the Atlantic region is different than other parts of the country,” she told CBC News.
“I think there’s also a certain amount of pride that we have been able to maintain the bubble, and I don’t think that people want to see it change.”
But it has changed, put on hiatus with the news Monday that Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador were pulling out of the bubble due to rising COVID-19 cases in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
Nova Scotia reported 37 new cases of COVID-19 Tuesday, its most in a single day since April 23.
“I am worried. I think that we’re on the brink and at a very, very critical juncture,” Kirkland said. “This is the point where we either make it or break it. We’ll keep numbers low or they will, like everywhere else, just begin to escalate and skyrocket.
“The window is narrowing — but we still have the potential to get it under control.”
‘Squandered’ sacrifices in Alberta
Elsewhere in the country, people are facing a much different situation.
Alberta is seeing COVID-19 cases skyrocket at an unprecedented rate, rising to more than 1,500 per day and even outpacing provinces such as Ontario despite only having a third of the population.
“I’ve been worried for many weeks now,” said Dr. Leyla Asadi, an infectious diseases physician in Edmonton. “I don’t know what the next two weeks will bring.”
Asadi says the situation in Alberta isn’t a result of individuals not following public health guidelines necessarily, but instead reflects that the province has been a victim of its own success.
When COVID-19 cases dropped to relatively low numbers in the summer, there was a reluctance to act on the part of the provincial government.
“We had great success and maybe that resulted in our leadership questioning the models and, because crisis was averted, perhaps they thought that the models just weren’t accurate,” she said.
“We’ve squandered our sacrifices from the summer, and now we’re in a really tough place.”
Premier Jason Kenney declared a state of emergency in Alberta Tuesday and implemented new public health measures to address the rising COVID-19 case numbers across the province, but stopped short of a lockdown.
Most indoor social gatherings are prohibited, while outdoor gatherings, weddings and funerals can have a maximum of 10 people. Masks are also mandatory in all indoor work places in Calgary and Edmonton, but not provincewide.
Unlike Nova Scotia, which instituted mandatory mask mandates on July 24 — a day when it reported no new cases — Alberta has hesitated.
Asadi, who was part of a group of experts who penned a letter to provincial leaders last month calling on them to put in place stricter restrictions, said before Kenney’s announcement that masks are “low-hanging fruit.”
“Having masks mandated provincially, that’s not going to negatively impact the economy in any way,” she said.
“If we act earlier then the measures can be more targeted and can be shorter in time. But now, I can’t see anything other than a strict lockdown getting us out of trouble — and it won’t even get us out of trouble.”
Reluctance to act ‘early and hard’ reason for surge
COVID-19 is spiralling out of control in many parts of the country, with a record high 5,713 cases in a single day this week.
Ontario and Manitoba also announced all-time high numbers of new COVID-19 cases, and millions of Canadians were plunged back into strict lockdowns in different parts of the country.
In response, Canada’s chief public health officer said provinces and territories need to be more proactive — and act sooner rather than later.
It’s not only the number of cases that are worsening; it’s who is being infected.
“The other huge problem that we have now are the inequities associated with this pandemic,” said Dr. Allison McGeer, an infectious disease physician with Sinai Health System in Toronto.
“Part of the reason I think that we’re not paying as much attention as we should be to the harm is that the harm is not predominantly occurring to the people in power in our society.”
McGeer is watching the worsening outbreaks across Canada through the eyes of a microbiologist who has decades of experience in infection prevention and control.
“I’m a little bit worried about what’s going to happen in Alberta,” McGeer said. “I think we’ll be cancelling surgery again, probably in order to cope with the ICU load three or four weeks from now.”
Surgeries such as hip and knee replacements could be cancelled down the road, as it can take up to two weeks for symptoms of COVID-19 to appear.
“The reason we’re having this surge is because we kept things open longer than we should have,” she said.
“The more cases you have when you act, the longer it takes to slow down and regain control and the more trouble you’re in going forward. So if we had put in measures two weeks before we did, then we might not be cancelling surgery.”
McGeer also acknowledges that politicians in Canada can only re-introduce safety measures when their citizens are behind them.
“If politicians move and they don’t have the population with them, then it’s not going to work either.”
McGeer advocates for preventative measures such as testing, tracing and isolating individuals who test positive to keep COVID-19 case counts low.
“It’s very clear that if we had been able to start this outbreak early and hard with preventive measures, if we’d been able to do the contact tracing, if we’d been willing to put people up in hotels for quarantine, we might be where Newfoundland is now,” she said. “And that has huge rewards.”
Those tantalizing rewards could help reinvigorate Canadians outside the Atlantic provinces who face a resurgence of COVID-19 cases and the hospitalizations and deaths that could follow the holiday season.
“I get how tired people are; I’m tired of it myself. But this is not about being tired,” McGeer said. “We just need to hold on until we can get vaccines, right? And they are coming.”
Health
New technology to advance women’s cancer care at Southlake
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NEWS RELEASE
SOUTHLAKE REGIONAL HEALTH CENTRE
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This Cancer Awareness Month, Southlake is adding advanced technologies to detect and treat breast cancer and other women’s cancers thanks to generous community donor support, most recently through the HERE is Where Cancer Meets its Match campaign. New cancer care technology, including new mammography machines, the MyoSure System and the MOLLI 2® System will make a measurable impact in diagnosing and treating women’s cancers in the communities Southlake serves.
Southlake is installing three new mammography machines to expand its breast cancer screening program to 1,500 more women each year. Two of these machines have new biopsy capabilities that will reduce the number of cancelled exams due to equipment failure, ensuring timely care for women. Women ages 40 to 49 years old will be able to self-refer for publicly funded mammograms through the Ontario Breast Screening Program starting this fall.
“Early detection is critical when treating breast cancer and other women’s cancers,” said Lorrie Reynolds, Director, Regional Cancer Program at Southlake. “We treat more than 1,700 breast cancer patients at Southlake every year. By adding advanced technology, like the new mammography machines, we’re ensuring women have the best experience at Southlake.”
Southlake is also introducing the MyoSure System, an innovative technology that can help detect female reproductive cancers. Damaged tissue in a woman’s uterus such as fibroids and polyps can now be removed in a precise, minimally invasive procedure that leaves the rest of the uterus intact. This will improve the overall patient experience by supporting faster recovery, reducing the risk of infection and giving more women the option to have children. An estimated 200 women per year will benefit from the MyoSure System.
The new mammography machines and the MyoSure System build on Southlake’s recent investment in the MOLLI 2® System, a made-in-Canada wire-free breast localization technology. This technology is considerably less invasive and more accurate when compared to wire-guided localization, resulting in a better patient experience and improved cosmetic outcomes. More than 200 women each year will benefit from this innovative medical device as they are treated for breast cancer at Southlake.
“As a clinician caring for women with cancer in our community, I’m incredibly proud of the work Southlake is doing to advance women’s health and improve patient experiences,” said Sara Temple, MD, Surgical Oncologist and Chief of Surgery at Southlake. “Women who visit Southlake can be confident that they are receiving leading edge care, close to home when they need it most.”
The World Health Organization anticipates a 77 per cent increase in cancer diagnoses by 2050. Southlake serves some of the fastest growing communities in Canada and anticipates that the number of patients requiring cancer care will grow. By investing in new technology, Southlake is ensuring that women in the communities it serves have access to leading edge cancer care. All of these investments were funded with support from community donors who generously gave to Southlake to support investments into women’s health at the hospital.
“The generosity of our donor community and the impact they have made for women receiving cancer diagnosis and treatment at Southlake is something we can all take great pride in,” said Jennifer Ritter, President and CEO of Southlake Foundation. “From our Women’s Health Initiative donors supporting new mammography machines, to the Ladies in Philanthropy for Southlake funding the MOLLI 2 System, to our long-standing partners The Edge Benefits and Pheasant Run Golf Club enabling the introduction of MyoSure System through their joint annual charity golf tournament, we are incredibly lucky to share a vision of access to exceptional care for everyone who depends on Southlake when they need us most. Thank you, to every donor who contributed to these important upgrades to care for women.”
Southlake Foundation’s HERE is Where Cancer Meets its Match campaign supports the Stronach Regional Cancer Centre at Southlake. For more information or to make a donation, visit: southlake.ca/HERE.
Health
Pasteurized milk includes remnants of H5N1 bird flu, U.S. officials say
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says that samples of pasteurized milk have tested positive for remnants of the bird flu virus that has infected dairy cows.
The agency stressed that the material is inactivated and that the findings “do not represent actual virus that may be a risk to consumers.” Officials added that they’re continuing to study the issue.
“To date, we have seen nothing that would change our assessment that the commercial milk supply is safe,” the FDA said in a statement on Tuesday.
The announcement comes nearly a month after an avian influenza virus that has sickened millions of wild and commercial birds in recent years was detected in dairy cows in at least eight states. The Agriculture Department (USDA) says 33 herds have been affected to date.
FDA officials didn’t indicate how many samples they tested or where they were obtained. The agency has been evaluating milk during processing and from grocery stores, officials said. Results of additional tests are expected in “the next few days to weeks.”
WATCH | Bird flu spread in U.S. cows:
The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) lab test the FDA used would have detected viral genetic material even after live virus was killed by pasteurization, or heat treatment, said Lee-Ann Jaykus, an emeritus food microbiologist and virologist at North Carolina State University
“There is no evidence to date that this is infectious virus, and the FDA is following up on that,” Jaykus said.
Officials with the FDA and the USDA had previously said milk from affected cattle did not enter the commercial supply. Milk from sick animals is supposed to be diverted and destroyed. Federal regulations require milk that enters interstate commerce to be pasteurized.
Tests for viable virus underway, agency says
Because the detection of the bird flu virus known as Type A H5N1 in dairy cattle is new and the situation is evolving, no studies on the effects of pasteurization on the virus have been completed, FDA officials said. But past research shows that pasteurization is “very likely” to inactivate heat-sensitive viruses like H5N1, the agency added.
The agency said it has been evaluating milk from affected animals, in the processing system and on the shelves. It said it is completing a large, representative national sample to understand the extent of the findings.
Matt Herrick, a spokesperson for the International Dairy Foods Association, said that time and temperature regulations for pasteurization ensure that the commercial U.S. milk supply is safe. Remnants of the virus “have zero impact on human health,” he wrote in an email.
Scientists confirmed the H5N1 virus in dairy cows in March after weeks of reports that cows in Texas were suffering from a mysterious malady. The cows were lethargic and saw a dramatic reduction in milk production. Although the H5N1 virus is lethal to commercial poultry, most infected cattle seem to recover within two weeks, experts said.
To date, two people in the U.S. have been infected with bird flu. A Texas dairy worker who was in close contact with an infected cow recently developed a mild eye infection and has recovered. In 2022, a prison inmate in a work program caught it while killing infected birds at a Colorado poultry farm. His only symptom was fatigue, and he recovered.
Health
Remnants of bird flu virus found in pasteurized milk, FDA says
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday that samples of pasteurized milk had tested positive for remnants of the bird flu virus that has infected dairy cows.
The agency stressed that the material is inactivated and that the findings “do not represent actual virus that may be a risk to consumers.” Officials added that they’re continuing to study the issue.
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