TORONTO — Ontario’s lack of a long COVID strategy has led the health sector to cobble together “fragmented” clinics that are at risk of closure and may lead to little to no support for patients, internal Ministry of Health documents warn. Long COVID is not yet well understood, but the …
Read More »B.C. pastor, fined $2,300 for holding gathering during pandemic, loses appeal – Okanagan
A pastor in B.C.’s Interior who challenged a $2,300 violation ticket for holding a public gathering during the COVID-19 pandemic had his appeal dismissed this week. In a decision posted on April 26, a B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled that Pastor Arthur Charles Lucier of Kelowna Harvest Church had indeed …
Read More »After 3 years of COVID-19, here’s how Canada’s ‘endemic’ future may look – National
On March 11, 2020, the world came to a screeching halt when the World Health Organization declared the COVID–19 outbreak a global pandemic. Schools across the world shut down, workplaces turned remote and the fast-spreading virus revealed the fragility of many countries’ health-care systems. Since then, the virus has claimed …
Read More »Ontario public health units press province for more stable funding
TORONTO — Ontario’s public health units are calling on the government to stop using one-time funding to bridge a gap it created four years ago, and to provide them with a predictable source of money as they address a backlog of services built up over the COVID-19 pandemic. Premier Doug …
Read More »Indigenous comedy duo forms in B.C. out of community need for laughter – BC
Just a couple of “dirty old grannies,” is how Lilet and Soogah – or Bev Prince and Winnie Sam – describe their comedy duo. The grannies are from Nak’azdli Whut’en First Nation near Fort St. James, B.C. They grew up together, live two houses apart and say comedy sort of …
Read More »Kids COVID-19 vaccination ‘complex’ decision for parents, study shows
To vaccinate or not to vaccinate against COVID-19? It has been a challenging and polarizing decision for parents in Canada during the coronavirus pandemic. A study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) Tuesday sheds light on the concerns parents have and what they consider when deciding whether or …
Read More »More Canadians trusting governments as COVID pandemic fades: poll – National
An annual survey on how trusting Canadians are suggests their faith in governments is rebounding as the COVID-19 pandemic begins to fade. The 2023 CanTrust Index published by Proof Strategies surveyed 1,502 adults online between Jan. 5 and Jan. 13 but cannot be given a margin of error because internet …
Read More »Masking alone wouldn’t have eased Ontario’s respiratory virus surge in the fall: PHO document
TORONTO — Introducing a mask mandate when respiratory viruses surged in the fall may not have eased the crush on pediatric hospitals, a Public Health Ontario science brief obtained by The Canadian Press concludes. The brief — which was not proactively made public, unlike the reports done by the now-defunct …
Read More »What happened when COVID-19 skeptical legal cases made it to court in Ontario?
In October 2021, a handful of protesters loyal to the QAnon conspiracy movement gathered outside a public health building in eastern Ontario. “You are interfering with them being served,” a security guard standing in front of the Peterborough Public Health building was told by one protester in a video posted …
Read More »Top doctor says Ontario ‘must remain vigilant’ past flu peak, COVID variant advances
TORONTO — Ontario’s top doctor says even though COVID-19 and flu activity is declining, the province “must remain vigilant” as a more transmissible variant gains ground. In a statement, Dr. Kieran Moore says parts of Ontario are reporting a rise in the number of cases of the more easily spreadable …
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