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Our essential workers are burning out. Advocates say a lack of basic job protections is to blame

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Our essential workers are burning out. Advocates say a lack of basic job protections is to blame

Oct 5, 2021 , , , , by shlf

Stephanie Walker returned to work in early childhood education in March, not long before the COVID-19 pandemic forced her child-care centre to temporarily close.

She had taken several months off from the industry to recover from burnout — time off she doesn’t think she would have needed if she’d had better wages and access to supports like paid sick days.

“It would have made a world of a difference,” she says.

She’s not alone. Long before the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the precarity of care work in Canada, the child-care sector was seeing high rates of turnover. Many early childhood educators and child-care workers don’t have paid vacation or sick days and earn just above minimum wage, says Walker, adding that pay and benefits are often slightly better at not-for-profit child-care centres.

Walker, 24, of Richmond Hill, feels the work she does is systematically undervalued, evidenced by the instability of jobs in child care — the majority of which are filled by women.

“Just because we choose a role in a care industry like early childhood doesn’t mean that we don’t deserve to be paid appropriately,” she says.

Early childhood educator Kim Bradley agrees.

She sees her field of work continuously misunderstood, often dismissed as “child-minding” or “babysitting.” The pandemic is increasing rates of burnout in an industry that already sees high turnover, she says.

“We’re done. We’re exhausted.”

What is precarious work?

Experts and advocates agree, more or less, that precarious work means having no control over hours or wages, resulting in unpredictable earnings. It also involves a lack of basic worker protections such as paid sick leave and health benefits.

The precarity of work is shaped by the relationship between a person’s employment status, form of employment and social location, such as their gender, race or immigration status, says Leah Vosko, a York University political scientist and co-author of the 2020 book “Closing the Enforcement Gap: Improving Employment Standards Protection for People in Precarious Jobs.”

Though precarious work can occur in any industry, it’s most common in accommodation and food service, retail, agriculture and care work, Vosko says. It’s also much more common among workers between 15 and 24.

And precarious workers are more likely to be women, people of colour, or recent immigrants, she says.

Alana Powell, executive co-ordinator for the Association of Early Childhood Educators of Ontario, defines precarious work based on precisely what the workers she represents don’t have: competitive wages, full-time and stable employment, benefits and pensions.

“They feel like their work is invisible,” Powell says.

Workers’ Action Centre executive director Deena Ladd says the pandemic has shone a spotlight on “essential work,” from child care to cleaning to workers on the front lines in grocery stores. And yet not much has changed about these jobs since the pandemic began, she says.

“These are all superheroes, they’re on the front lines, but unfortunately that hasn’t translated into systemic changes.”

Vosko says COVID-19 has shown deficiencies in many workers’ access to paid sick leave and caregiving leave, as well as the fact that anyone considered self-employed is more likely to have limited access to benefits and supports.

“Because so many social benefits and entitlements flow from the presence of an employment relationship between the worker and employer, that means that people who are engaged as self-employed often … lack social benefits and statutory entitlements,” Vosko says.

Armine Yalnizyan, an economist and the Atkinson Fellow on the Future of Workers, says COVID-19 has specifically highlighted the precariousness of care work, such as in long-term care.

“Personal care, particularly for the elderly, is an industry that is marked by the most inhumane human-resource standards, because it is so dominated by for-profit considerations,” she says.

If someone can’t afford to miss a day of work, they’re less likely to stay home when COVID-19 symptoms appear, she says. “People are dying because of this.”

Some provinces have addressed this better than others, says Katherine Scott, senior researcher with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. For example, British Columbia prevented workers from working in multiple homes early in the pandemic, but also temporarily guaranteed full-time hours to workers and boosted wages, something the provincial NDP pledged to continue if re-elected.

‘This isn’t liberation’

Gig workers, freelancers and the self-employed are often subject to precarious work, and usually don’t qualify for the same government supports as traditional employees.

Over the past several years, there has been a growth in the gig economy, through apps such as Uber or DoorDash, and websites including Fiverr or TaskRabbit.

As the country emerges from the recession caused by the pandemic, reliance on these workers will only rise, Yalnizyan says.

After every recession, there is a spike in on-demand, task-based labour with employers wanting to save money, and more people looking for work or extra cash, she says. This time, that spike in demand will be met with labour over apps and websites, she said.

Jim Stanford, director of the Centre for Future Work, says the gig economy is just the latest version of what’s been happening for centuries: on-demand labour hired through an intermediary who takes some of the profit.

This “triangular relationship” allows companies to classify workers as “independent contractors” instead of employees relieving them of the responsibility to provide benefits and stability, Stanford says.

People will turn to this kind of work when they have no choice, he says.

“This isn’t liberation. This isn’t flexibility. This is desperation.

“And I’m worried because of this big shock that we’ve experienced in our labour market … especially among marginalized communities, that level of desperation is going to get worse.”

What needs to change?

Experts and advocates say existing safety nets such as Employment Insurance need to be permanently broadened to include precarious workers, and that the definition of a worker, or an employee, needs to change.

The EI system — currently bolstered by a suite of temporary supports for those who wouldn’t otherwise qualify — was created based on a now-outdated idea of what most jobs look like, says Scott.

“The fact that we had to roll out emergency programs is testament to that fact,” she says.

Workers need better safety nets, such as health-care coverage, so they’re not reliant on jobs that treat them poorly, Yalnizyan says. She wants to see a program that would help people with the costs of moving for work, as well as tighter regulations for gig economy companies such as defining gig workers as employees.

New immigrants to Canada should be able to get residency status much faster so they don’t have to rely on low-paid, unstable work and become vulnerable to labour-law abuses, Ladd says.

Vosko agrees.

“When people are engaged doing jobs that are essential for a long period of time, it’s a shame that they don’t have access to pathways to permanency,” says Vosko. Improving overall working conditions such as raising the minimum wage, broadening access to income supports and expanding the definition of a worker, would benefit recent immigrant workers as well, she adds.

The national child-care strategy recently promised by the federal government needs to make care work a “viable career choice” so that workers remain in the field longer, says Powell.

This will benefit not just the workers, but the children as well, agrees Bradley.

Right now, she said, “The field is losing valuable early educators … the children are losing that support.”

This is part three of an ongoing series looking at the pandemic’s devastating effect on women in the workforce.

Rosa Saba is a Calgary-based business reporter for the Star. Follow her on Twitter:

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Heather Mallick: Lives are on the line. What’s so hard about wearing a mask — and properly?

Oct 4, 2021 , , , , , by shlf

The young man is sitting on a Line 2 TTC subway car. He is not wearing a mask, nor is one hanging from his ear or in his lap or within reach. Masked people move to the ends of the car to avoid him.

The woman is wandering around Shoppers Drug Mart as she waits for a prescription. Her mask is pulled down so that it only covers her mouth. No one on staff asks her to pull it up over her nose.

The owner of a hair salon walks freely on every floor without a mask, talking on the phone, on a day when only one customer is booked at a time. The customer is masked. The stylist is double-masked.

Repairmen working hard outdoors cluster on a sidewalk, unmasked, without distancing from people passing by. Pedestrians edge away.

This is just an average day in Toronto in September 2020, seven months after COVID-19 fear became widespread. It is still impossible to go out without encountering people who have consciously decided not to mask. Why has no level of government made mask-wearing mandatory?

The best strategy for anyone worried about illness and death is to never take the TTC — passengers report on social media that they frequently see people, including staff, without masks — only order goods online for home delivery, give up on their hair, and walk out into a street shared with cars.

Some of these decisions are not affordable for some. Others are unsafe. They impose medical risk even on people who have not entered a restaurant or a mall since March. What astonishes me is that wearing a mask is cheap and easy. It is the minimum asked of anyone who leaves their home, and yet some people will not do it — passive aggression at its most manifest.

Others won’t do it even when asked. This doesn’t happen at the LCBO, at least not when I go in to pick up an online order, or even at the much more casual Wine Rack. The nature of the business means that staffers are accustomed to telling drunk or badly behaved customers to leave. “I have developed a backbone,” the brisk young male cashier explains to me when I thank him. “I just tell them they have to wear a mask or they won’t be served.” And they obey, he says.

It would be pleasant to conclude that Canadian courtesy means that generally, people are reluctant to ask others to mask. I don’t ask because it’s physically dangerous for a woman to make a polite request, though not necessarily more dangerous than being in a closed space with an unmasked person.

What a slap to perfect strangers who have done you no harm. It is rude to put people in a position where they have to ask you to do the easiest thing you could possibly do as COVID-19 cases rise steeply in this gentle, rational, consensus-building nation.

Even Mayor John Tory, who invariably sees us at our best, has successfully begged Premier Doug Ford to , given that one drink makes most people imperturbable. (Last call is now 11 p.m. Strip clubs, which apparently still exist, have been closed completely.) Tory quotes his father, who used to say, “Nothing good ever happens after midnight.”

I have thought about this at length for days. Tory’s dad might just have been doing some teenage goading, unless his son was already 42 at the time, but he was right.

Generally speaking, risky decisions have already been made before midnight; everything else is just follow-through. People who were jerks before midnight will work on their jerkdom with passionate intensity in the small hours of the morning. But I’m talking about sober, blinding-light-of-day Toronto, when we knuckle down and get really polite.

Provincially speaking — and I do mean that — Canada is not even at the point of making it mandatory for people to download the official COVID Alert tracking app, partly because some people don’t own cellphones, or carry them everywhere, or have a cellphone that accepts the app. It’s excusable. But a face mask?

Children wear masks in kindergarten. They don’t like it, but they do it. It’s a basic.

Life’s basics are few. They range widely but begin with the specific and obvious. First comes the morning shower, eating with utensils, keeping a minimal distance in crowds (unmeasured but learned) and saying, “Fine, thanks, how are you?” Up next are laundry particulars, showing up on time, and offering elders your seat. It ends with household dusting standards and car insurance.

Wearing a face mask in public during a pandemic comes before all these stages. It is a lowest common denominator. It is food and shelter, given that shelter means protection from the elements. That means the rougher elements and that means you.

Just put it on. Up a bit. There you are. Was that so hard?

Heather Mallick is a Toronto-based columnist covering current affairs for the Star. Follow her on Twitter:

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Garage destroyed by early morning fire in Collingwood

Oct 4, 2021 , , , , by shlf

A garage was destroyed in an early morning fire in Collingwood on Monday.

Fire crews responded to a home on Ninth Street at about 2:30 a.m., according to Deputy Fire Chief Dan Thurman.

He said nobody was injured and the fire did not cause any damage to nearby houses.

Thurman said the cause is believed to be “an extension cord that was used for lighting.”

The Collingwood Fire Department was also first on scene to a blaze on Sixth Street but was overseen by the Clearview Fire Department.

Chief Roree Payment said crews responded around 7:40 p.m., on Sunday evening.

He said the fire started in the fireplace and worked its way up into the chimeny and eventually the attic.

A family of four was in the home at the time and managed to evacuate. Payment said the fire caused about $10,000 in damage.

“Crews did a good job, they were able to keep the damage to a minimum,” he said.

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Ontario won’t extend Christmas break for schools despite COVID-19 surge

Oct 4, 2021 , , , , by shlf

A day after for Ontario’s schools because of COVID-19, Education Minister Stephen Lecce says the government doesn’t see the need for such a move.

The decision follows consultations with chief medical officer Dr. David Williams and the province’s table of experts on public health measures, Lecce said Wednesday.

He noted 84 per cent of schools have no cases of the virus despite rising levels of COVID-19 across Ontario, which prompted Premier Doug Ford to repeat a warning that lockdowns could be coming to the hot spots of Toronto, Peel and York.

“An extended winter holiday is not necessary at this time, given Ontario’s strong safety protocols, low levels of transmission and safety within our schools,” Lecce said in a statement.

“Our schools have been remarkably successful at minimizing outbreaks to ensure that our kids stay safe and learning in their classrooms.”

A pediatric infectious disease specialist at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario in Ottawa said Lecce made the right call but warned high levels of community spread remain a threat.

“Most of the transmission events are outside of the school setting so shutting down schools wouldn’t address those areas of concern,” Dr. Nisha Thampi told the Star, crediting the screening process for students and teachers for keeping case levels down.

Schools only need to be closed if they are experiencing “uncontrolled transmission,” Thampi added. “It really depends on the dynamics of the community.”

Lecce’s announcement came, however, as it was revealed that a child and youth worker at the Toronto Catholic District School Board’s St. Frances de Sales school in North York died from COVID-19.

New Democrat MPP Marit Stiles (Davenport) said families feel whipsawed by the mixed messages from the government in the space of 24 hours.

“What changed from yesterday to today?” the education critic asked. “This is exhausting for parents.”

Stiles added there remains a risk to schools as new infections of COVID-19 increase by more than 1,000 a day, increasing the odds infections will infiltrate deeper into schools.

“We have cases in this province skyrocketing,” she said, calling for a cap of 15 students per class and less crowding on school buses.

Shortly after Lecce floated the idea of a longer Christmas break on Tuesday, Ford poured cold water on it, saying, “I don’t want to jump the gun here … it may not happen.”

Stiles said that raises the question of whether Ford is overriding scientific advice from Williams.

The premier denied that.

“What’s changed? He (Lecce) put his plan in front of the health (advisory) table. Dr. Williams said no,” Ford told his daily news conference Wednesday.

“The safest place … is in the schools,” he added, crediting the government’s system of cohorting students and requiring masks is keeping infections at bay.

“So far, knock wood, it’s working fairly well.”

Lecce said officials will keep close watch on cases in schools, which reported 109 new infections in students and staff, and cases now in 670 of 4,828 schools. Three were closed because of outbreaks, an increase of two from the previous day.

To date, there have been 3,626 cases in students and staff in schools.

Rob Ferguson is a Toronto-based reporter covering Ontario politics for the Star. Follow him on Twitter:

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Shelley Deeks, the Public Health Ontario whistleblower on colour-coded COVID restrictions, is leaving for a job in Nova Scotia

Oct 4, 2021 , , , , by shlf

Dr. Shelley Deeks, the whistleblower who revealed the province when establishing its colour-coded COVID-19 plan, is leaving her job with Public Health Ontario, the agency announced Wednesday.

PHO was created in 2007 as an independent public health agency to address failures during SARS. Deeks is currently its chief health protection officer in charge of leading PHO’s pandemic response and serves on the province’s public health measures table, a key expert group that advises on restrictions and lockdown measures.

Deeks, who has worked with PHO since 2009, is moving to Nova Scotia to pursue “an exciting career opportunity” as that province’s new medical officer of health for surveillance, PHO spokesperson Janet Wong said in an email.

Her last day with PHO will be Jan. 8.

“She’s a great person and a great leader. I think this is a huge loss for Ontario and a huge gain for Nova Scotia,” said Dr. Andrew Morris, an infectious disease specialist with the Sinai Health System.

“When you lose one of your main scientific minds on public health — who has a prominent role at the (health measures) table — that is a really big deal.”

Deeks made headlines last month by revealing to the Star that the province’s thresholds for implementing COVID restrictions were two to four times higher than what its own public health agency had recommended.

Deeks further revealed that she only learned of the province’s final colour-coded framework when it was unveiled to the public — contradicting statements from provincial officials that its plan had been designed after full consultation with experts like the health measures table, of which Deeks is a member.

The revelations sparked a public outcry and accusations from opposition leaders that provincial officials had “lied” to Ontarians. Scientists who had been critical of the province’s colour-coded framework praised Deeks as a “hero” for speaking out against a plan that many experts considered dangerously lax.

In the wake of the Star’s story, Health Minister Christine Elliott initially said the province had no plans to change its framework and Premier Doug Ford dismissed PHO’s recommendations of lower thresholds as “one doctor’s perspective” — even though they represented the public health agency’s advice, which it had provided at the health ministry’s request.

Two days after Deeks’s comments were published, and on the heels of alarming new modelling projections, Ford the province was lowering its thresholds to levels more in line with PHO’s initial recommendations.

published on PHO’s website Wednesday, Deeks said she is excited for the next stage of her career.

“Leaving PHO, I take with me very rewarding and enriching professional experiences as well as lifelong friendships,” she said. “Public Health is a small world and I look forward to continuing to collaborate with my colleagues in Ontario.”

She will be replaced at PHO by Dr. Jessica Hopkins, who Deeks described as a “respected and dynamic public health professional and leader” who will be an “extraordinary leader” in the agency’s COVID-19 response. Hopkins currently serves as the agency’s deputy chief of health protection.

Jennifer Yang is a Toronto-based health reporter for the Star. Follow her on Twitter:

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‘It hurts’: Barrie councillors take first step to demolish ‘special’ W.A. Fisher auditorium

Oct 4, 2021 , , , , by shlf

W.A. Fisher auditorium has decades of sentimental value. But that may not be enough to save it from the wrecking ball. 

At a general committee meeting Dec. 7, Barrie councillors put the brakes on plans to convert the W.A. Fisher auditorium into a large theatre and event centre. Instead, they passed a motion to suspend the project for at least a year, and have agreed to demolish the existing building. They’ve also asked staff to “reimagine” the proposal — possibly by separating the project into detached theatre and conference-centre sites.

The decisions need to be ratified at an upcoming meeting. But, under the plan, the project will be held up until market conditions improve as part of a potential COVID-19 pandemic recovery. 

“It’s become clear from this report we’re putting a square peg in a round hole,” deputy mayor Barry Ward said. “Even if we were to renovate it, it would be unrecognizable. We’ve got to face facts: It’s not the Orillia Opera House, it’s not the most attractive building. I know it has special meaning for many generations of residents. But we can find a way to honour those memories in a new building. We owe it to future generations to build a facility that meets their needs.”

In June, city economic and creative development director Stephannie Schlichter said the given the implications of the pandemic.

The city has wanted for years to build a 650-seat theatre and event centre on the property, which was once connected to the now-demolished Barrie Central Collegiate building. However, the anticipated cost for reconstruction swelled from $25.6 million to more than $50 million, Schlichter said. 

“The current vision for a state-of-the-art theatre and conference centre cannot be delivered within the current scope and capital budget,” she said.

A “theatre-only” option would cost $30 million to construct and about $750,000 per year to operate, the city says.

“At some point, the industry will recover and people will return to enjoying live performances and in-person conferences, but it is impossible to predict when the sector can expect to make a full recovery and if there will be any long standing implications,” Schlichter said. 

Coun. Keenan Aylwin said the legacy of the building can be honoured through other methods than physical preservation.

“I went to Barrie Central; I was in the concert band and was a drama kid,” he said. “I lived in that auditorium for a large part of high school. (But) it wasn’t really about the building. It was about the people and the ability to gather and create art. To keep the building is a waste of money.”

Mayor Jeff Lehman agreed. “I would have laid down in front of the bulldozers four years ago,” he said. “You can’t make these decisions based on nostalgia or emotion. Is there enough value in the retention of the building to outweigh the cost of starting afresh? It’s fairly clear what the message is from our staff. It’s painful. We don’t have to like it (but) that’s the right decision.”

Downtown permanent market ‘precinct’ being planned

In a separate recommendation, the committee also granted approval for staff to develop a business case for a permanent market to be constructed at the site of the downtown bus terminal and start work on a precinct plan for the area. Staff intend to report back in the spring.

“Barrie’s downtown is evolving,” development services director Michelle Banfield said. “New mixed-use and residential projects are bringing new residents to the downtown, while planned and recently completed city-led investments are creating a network of vibrant and attractive public spaces.”

The precinct would run from the north side of Dunlop Street to south of Simcoe Street, between Bayfield and Bradford streets.

“This corner of the downtown has the potential to be the strongest part of our tourism economy and a major attraction,” Mayor Jeff Lehman said.

Banfield compared the initiative to St. Lawrence Market in Toronto and ByWard Market in Ottawa, “successful examples” of precincts that are built around a centrally-located, permanent market building.

“The study area is positioned as a hub for creative, cultural and community enterprises that can offer a vibrant sense of place and an area for collaboration as the city’s downtown continues to evolve through intensification,” she said.

This project would create a more complete community, encourage tourism and repurpose an underutilized city building, Banfield said.

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Today’s coronavirus news: Ontario reports yet another daily record for COVID-19 cases; Toronto Catholic board cancels classes at two more schools

Oct 4, 2021 , , , , by shlf

This file is no longer being updated. Follow the latest developments .

5:41 p.m. There have been 358,144 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Canada, according to The Canadian Press, including 11,883 deaths, and 285,194 that have been resolved.

This breaks fown as follows (NOTE: The Star does its own count for cases in Ontario; see elsewhere this file.):

  • Quebec: 138,163 confirmed (including 6,984 deaths, 119,727 resolved)
  • Ontario: 111,216 confirmed (including 3,595 deaths, 94,366 resolved)
  • Alberta: 53,105 confirmed (including 519 deaths, 38,369 resolved)
  • British Columbia: 29,973 confirmed (including 384 deaths, 19,998 resolved)
  • Manitoba: 15,632 confirmed (including 280 deaths, 6,487 resolved)
  • Saskatchewan: 7,691 confirmed (including 44 deaths, 4,384 resolved)
  • Nova Scotia: 1,257 confirmed (including 65 deaths, 1,078 resolved)
  • New Brunswick: 477 confirmed (including seven deaths, 356 resolved)
  • Newfoundland and Labrador: 331 confirmed (including four deaths, 296 resolved)
  • Nunavut: 159 confirmed (including eight resolved)
  • Prince Edward Island: 70 confirmed (including 68 resolved)
  • Yukon: 42 confirmed (including one death, 29 resolved)
  • Northwest Territories: 15 confirmed, all of which have been resolved
  • Repatriated Canadians account for 13 confirmed cases, all of which have been resolved.

2:54 p.m.: Saskatchewan is reporting four more people have died from COVID-19 and says there are 329 new infections in the province.

Health officials say those who died were 70 and older.

The Ministry of Health reports the seven-day average of daily cases sits at 268.

There are 111 people in hospital and 16 receiving intensive care.

As of Friday, no team sports are allowed in the province and capacity at public venues like churches, movie theatres and casinos is limited to 30 people.

The measures are part of the latest round of restrictions Premier Scott Moe announced earlier in the week to stem the virus’s spread while avoiding a second shutdown of non-essential businesses.

2:40 p.m.: Premier Doug Ford spent much of Friday’s briefing looking forward to the day when an anti-COVID vaccine might be available. Former chief of national defence staff Gen. Rick Hillier will oversee a distribution task force, Ford said, as he called on the federal government to provide details as soon as possible about the doses the province can expect.

“We need a clear line of sight into the timelines of the shipments,” Ford said.

Several hospitals have now experienced outbreaks, including a major facility in London, Ont. Grand River Hospital in Kitchener, Ont., became the latest hit after three patients and two staff tested positive.

The facility said it had closed its clinical teaching unit to new patient admissions and was pondering whether to close one of its eight operating rooms. It also said it was suspending in-person visits in favour of virtual connections.

2:26 p.m.: Public health officials say the COVID-19 outbreak linked to Nipissing University’s athletic community has grown to 16 cases.

The outbreak was first declared on Tuesday when six people tested positive for COVID-19.

North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit did not say how many were students or staff.

The health unit says the growth in cases is expected as high-risk contacts are tested.

It says close contact tracing has been completed for positive cases.

The health unit had said that the individuals interacted with other people at the university’s gym and at social gatherings in the community.

2 p.m.: New Brunswick is reporting 12 new cases of COVID-19 on the day it formally pulls out of the Atlantic bubble.

Health officials said today the province has 114 active cases of the disease linked to the novel coronavirus.

Seven of the new cases are in the Saint John area, three are in the Moncton region and two are in the Fredericton area.

Officials say the cases in Saint John involve three people in their 20s and four people in their 30s, while the three cases in Moncton involve two people in their 50s and one person in their 60s. Fredericton’s cases involve two people in their 60s.

All three affected health regions are under the heightened “orange’’ pandemic-alert level and Dr. Jennifer Russell, chief medical officer of health, says there shouldn’t be any non-essential travel in and out of these zones.

New Brunswick announced Thursday it would withdraw from the so-called Atlantic bubble, which allowed the region’s residents to cross into the four Atlantic provinces without having to isolate for 14 days.

1:57 p.m.: Nova Scotia is reporting nine new cases of COVID-19, all in the central health zone, which includes Halifax.

The province now has 119 active cases of novel coronavirus.

Health officials say one new case identified today is at Bedford South School, which is a pre-primary to Grade 4 school in the central zone.

Starting today, ongoing voluntary testing is being introduced to monitor, reduce and prevent the spread of COVID-19 in long-term care.

1:10 p.m.: The Manitoba government plans to provide a wage top-up to people who work in group homes, homeless shelters and personal care homes as the spread of COVID-19 continues.

Families Minister Heather Stefanson said the $35-million wage support program is to provide an extra $5 an hour to about 20,000 front-line workers for two months.

“We need them now more than ever,” she said Friday.

Only workers making less than $25 an hour can apply.

There’s been a surge of COVID-19 cases in Manitoba over the last few months and the province has brought in significant restrictions, including mandated masks in indoor public spaces and the closure of restaurants and bars.

Stefanson said widespread community transmission has meant that COVID-19 is now making it’s way into vulnerable populations. There has been an increase of infections in homeless shelters, group homes and other services, she said, and it is putting stress on front-line staff.

“Our homeless shelters are also experiencing staff shortages due to positive cases and we are seeing the virus spread into our child and family services group care homes,” Stefanson said.

She did not provide numbers of infections in these facilities or populations, but said that as of Thursday there were infections among workers and participants in 16 disability service agencies.

Employees who are unable to work due to a COVID-19 infection or are waiting for test results will not receive the money. Stefanson said she does not believe it will incentivize people to work while sick.

Half the cost of the program comes from federal COVID-19 funding.

1:02 p.m.: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pushed back against critics of his government’s COVID-19 vaccination plan with assurances most Canadians .

He also acknowledged the public’s eagerness to know when those efforts might begin, but said what matters most is the “finish line.”

Trudeau said most citizens are expected to be vaccinated by September 2021, and it was important to make sure this was done as safely as possible.

Deputy chief public health officer Dr. Howard Njoo has suggested he hoped to see most Canadians vaccinatedby the end of next year, but this is the most specific the Liberal government has been.

Njoo later said the Prime Minister’s prediction is “in the same ballpark” as previous rollout plans, and said September was a good target to work towards.

12:51 p.m.: Newfoundland and Labrador is reporting four new positive cases of COVID-19, for a total of 31 active cases across the province.

One of the individuals is a man in his 60s in the eastern region of the province whose infection is related to another identified case.

A man and a woman in their 50s in the eastern region and a woman in her 40s in the western region have also tested positive.

The source of those three infections is under investigation.

12:48 p.m.: New Brunswick is reporting 12 new cases of COVID-19, bringing its number of active cases to 114.

Public Health says seven cases are in the Saint John area, three are in the Moncton region and two are in the Fredericton area.

All three health regions are under the province’s heightened “orange’’ pandemic alert level.

Dr. Jennifer Russell, the province’s chief medical officer of health, says there should be no non-essential travel in and out of these zones.

12:45 p.m.: The Calgary Zoo says two giant pandas are on their way home to China today.

The zoo said in May that it would be sending the pair back early because the COVID-19 pandemic was making it difficult to source bamboo.

The plant makes up 99 per cent of the animals’ diet and the zoo has said it was an expensive and all-consuming effort to cobble together supplies from across North America.

The zoo says on Twitter it was a difficult decision to send the pandas home three years earlier than planned.

It says it took months of hard work to secure international permits to get the pandas home.

The zoo posted photos of reams of paperwork needed for the journey, the crates that were to carry the pandas and the Lufthansa Cargo plane that was to take them to China.

The two adults, Er Shun and Da Mao, were on loan from China to Canadian zoos as part of a 10-year deal signed in 2012. They were to stay in Calgary until 2023.

Two cubs, Jia Panpan and Jia Yueyue, were born in Toronto in 2015. They were sent to China as planned in January.

The price tag to have the pandas in Calgary was around $30 million, including $14.4 million for the Panda Passage exhibit itself. Expanded parking lots, washrooms and restaurants were also required to accommodate an expected influx of visitors.

12:40 p.m.: A government-funded health institute says its latest projections indicate dedicated COVID-19 hospital capacity in the Montreal area should not be surpassed in the next four weeks.

But today’s projections, based on data collected between Nov. 16 and Nov. 22, also indicate that in some regions, the situation is more fragile as patients with COVID-19 occupied almost half of the dedicated COVID-19 beds.

The Institut national d’excellence en sante et en services sociaux also says hospitalizations are increasing across the province because infections are on the rise among people aged 70 years old and older.

Quebec is reporting 1,269 new COVID-19 infections and 38 more deaths linked to the novel coronavirus, including nine that occurred in the past 24 hours.

Health officials said today hospitalizations decreased by six, to 669, and 90 people were in intensive care, the same number as the day prior.

The province says 1,236 more people recovered from COVID-19, for a total of 119,727 recoveries.

Quebec has reported 138,163 COVID-19 cases and 6,984 deaths linked to the virus since the beginning of the pandemic.

12:10 p.m.: Nunavut’s chief public health officer says four members of the Canadian Red Cross touched down in Arviat today to assist with a COVID-19 outbreak.

Dr. Michael Patterson says the team will help with isolation and contact tracing in the community of around 2,800 people.

The Government of Nunavut has also announced it will give $1 million to municipalities for community food programs as the territory heads into its second week of a lockdown.

Nunavut is currently under a territory-wide, 14-day lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19.

12:02 p.m. Two more Catholic schools won’t be holding classes Friday because of cases, for a total of three North York elementary schools who dismissed students and staff this week.

The Toronto Catholic District School Board said classes won’t be held “temporarily” at St. John the Evangelist and St. Robert, based on Toronto Public Health advice.

, as of Friday at 10:30 a.m., there are three active cases among students at St. John the Evangelist, near Lawrence Avenue West and Weston Road. Seven cases are listed as resolved.

At St. Robert, near Bathurst Street and Sheppard Avenue West, three students and one staff member have active cases.

12:01 p.m. Six cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed at the Richmond Hill Costco Wholesale location, York Region Public Health said Thursday.

to the health unit about rumours that have swirled around the community about an outbreak at the wholesale store at 35 John Birchall Rd.

Regional spokesperson Patrick Casey confirmed in an email response that there are six cases at the store — four of the people with confirmed cases are residents of York Region and two are residents of Toronto.

Public health authorities are currently conducting their usual case management, contact tracing and workplace investigation processes, Casey said.

It is unclear when the infections were detected at the moment.

11:40 a.m.: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Major-General Dany has been tapped to lead the Canadian military’s role in coordinating logistics for distributing a COVID-19 vaccine across the country.

Fortin most recently served as the chief of staff for the Canadian Joint Operations Command.

He was also commander of the NATO military training mission in Iraq from November 2018 until last fall.

The announcement follows days of criticism over the Trudeau government’s vaccination strategy and uncertainty about when Canadians might have access to an eventual vaccine.

11:30 a.m. The raging coronavirus pandemic kept crowds thin at malls and stores across the U.S. on Black Friday, but a surge in online shopping offered a small beacon of hope for struggling retailers after months of slumping sales and businesses toppling into bankruptcy.

In normal times, Black Friday is the busiest shopping day of the year in America, drawing millions of shoppers eager to get started on their holiday spending.

But these are not normal times: A spike in coronavirus cases is threatening the economy’s fitful recovery from the sudden plunge in the spring. Crowds at stores were dramatically diminished as shoppers do more of their purchases online.

Many retailers closed their doors on Thanksgiving Day but beefed up their safety protocols to reassure wary customers about coming in on Black Friday. Stores have also moved their doorbuster deals online and ramped up curbside pickup options as a last grasp at sales before the year ends and they head into the dark days of winter with the pandemic still raging.

“Black Friday is still critical,” said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail. “No retailer wants it to be tarnished. It’s still vital to get their consumers spending and get consumers into the holiday mood.”

11:10 a.m. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro says he won’t take any working COVID-19 vaccine himself and calls the use of masks to limit the spread of the disease “the last taboo to fall.”

Bolsonaro’s comments, broadcast on his social media channels Thursday night, alarmed health experts who said they could undermine efforts to achieve vaccination levels essential to halting the pandemic and might scare off vaccine makers negotiating with local authorities.

Bolsonaro also said, however, that any shot that is certified by Brazil’s health agency will be available for free to the public.

The Brazilian president, who contracted the virus in July, has long resisted the advice of most scientists and health experts to restrict social and economic activity, arguing that damage from a lockdown would be worse than the pandemic.

He also repeatedly promoted an anti-malarial drug as the cure for the disease despite scientific studies finding it ineffective and possibly dangerous, and criticized state governors testing a Chinese shot at home.

“I tell you; I will not take (any vaccine). It is my right and I am sure that Congress will not create difficulties for whoever doesn’t want to take a vaccine,” he said.

“If it is effective, lasting, reliable, whoever doesn’t take it will be doing harm only to himself, and who takes the vaccine will not be infected. There’s nothing to worry about,” Bolsonaro said.

11:04 a.m. The federal Liberals are being warned that they need to provide a detailed plan on navigating the health and economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic in a key spending document next week.

Business and labour groups say the government must outline concrete proposals to manage COVID-19 in the short term, but also outline more long-term steps for recovery.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is to table the fall economic statement on Monday, giving a full accounting of pandemic spending so far and possibly laying out new programs and plans.

The update will also provide a view of the depth of this year’s deficit, which in July was forecast at a historic $343.2 billion.

A report this morning from RBC forecasts the update will show a deficit of close to $370 billion, plus economic stimulus plans that take next year’s deficit to at least $90 billion.

Should the Liberals make some aid permanent, the cost to finance it could lead to tax increases that a report from the C.D. Howe Institute today suggests could include a two-point increase in the GST.

10 a.m. (will be updated) Ontario has smashed through previous records on daily cases, reporting 1,855 new infections a day after computer modelling experts warned the province is in a “precarious” state.

The previous highs never topped 1,600 and the latest results came on a new record of more than than 58,000 tests processed in labs.

While there had been signs this week the number of new cases was flattening or had hit a plateau, Dr. Adalsteinn Brown of the Dalla Lana School of Public Health said “it’s difficult to determine right now whether we are seeing a turnaround.”

The GTA remains the hotbed of infections.

9:40 a.m. Air Canada pilots have ratified changes to their contract that the airline says will help it grow its cargo business.

The Montreal-based airline has seen its business plunge this year as travellers stopped flying due to the pandemic, however the airline has been looking to grow in other ways including cargo flights.

Air Canada says it operates up to 100 international, all-cargo flights a week.

It says the contract changes will help it competitively operate dedicated cargo aircraft and that it is working to covert several of its Boeing 767-300ER aircraft recently retired from passenger service to all-frieghter aircraft.

Air Canada also announced the appointment of Jason Berry as vice-president, cargo, effective Jan. 1.

Berry joins Air Canada from Alaska Airlines’ wholly owned subsidiary McGee Air Services, where he was president. He led Alaska Airlines’ cargo business from 2012 until June 2019.

8:41 a.m. Thousands of Iraqis — most of them not wearing protective masks — took to the streets in Baghdad on Friday in a show of support for a radical cleric ahead of elections next year, stirring fears of a spike in coronavirus cases.

Supporters congregated in the capital’s Tahrir Square, once the epicenter of mass anti-government protests, to show their support for Moqtada al-Sadr, who leads a powerful political bloc, ahead of federal elections slated for next June.

Most of al-Sadr’s followers stood unmasked in the square, chanting: “Yes, yes for our leader,” in support of the firebrand cleric as Iraq remains a high-risk country for coronavirus infection. The crowd then stood side-by-side for Friday prayers at noon.

More than 12,000 people have died of the virus in Iraq amid 544,000 confirmed cases, according to Health Ministry figures. Daily infection rates average 2,400 cases per day, but health workers say the number may be higher as many Iraqis with symptoms choose to stay home and avoid hospitals to get tested.

8:17 a.m. It appears the day is coming when Canadians will have access to a COVID-19 vaccine.

But before Canadians are offered that choice, a team of scientists will go through thousands of pages of information on each proposed vaccine, studying how it was made and what happened when it was given to volunteers in trials around the world. Any vaccine that is rolled out must be approved by Health Canada first — work that has already begun.

The pandemic has sparked many questions about how vaccines made and evaluated. We took some of the questions we’ve received from readers, added a few of our own, and put them to one of the top experts at Health Canada.

7 a.m. Hulking gray boxes are rolling off the production line at a factory in the southern town of Tuttlingen, ready to be shipped to the front in the next phase of Germany’s battle against the coronavirus as it became the latest country to hit the milestone of 1 million confirmed cases Friday.

Man-sized freezers such as those manufactured by family-owned firm Binder GmbH could become a key part of the vast immunization program the German government is preparing to roll out when the first vaccines become available next month.

That’s because one of the front-runners in the race for a vaccine is BioNTech, a German company that together with U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has developed a shot it says is up to 96% effective in trials but comes with a small hitch: it needs to be cooled to minus 70 degrees Celsius (minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit) for shipping and storage.

Ensuring such temperatures, colder even than an Antarctic winter, is just one of the many challenges that countries face in trying to get their populations immunized.

The effort has been compared to a military operation. Indeed some countries, including Germany, are relying on military and civilian expertise to ensure the precious doses are safely transported from manufacturing plants to secret storage facilities, before being distributed.

Germany has benefited from the market power that comes with being a member of the European Union. The 27-nation bloc’s executive Commission — led by former German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen — has spearheaded negotiations with vaccine makers, ordering more than a billion doses so far.

6:50 a.m. Thailand on Friday signed a deal to procure 26 million doses of the trial coronavirus vaccine developed by pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca in collaboration with Oxford University. It is expected to be delivered in mid-2021.

The doses would cover 13 million people in a population of about 69 million.

Government spokesperson Anucha Burapachaisri said officials are still considering how to prioritize vaccine recipients. “Those who work closely with COVID-19 patients, for example, doctors and nurses, should be among the first people. But this needs further discussion,” he said.

6:45 a.m. Toronto businesses are confused about what’s considered an “essential” business under the latest lockdown, and frustrated that many big-box stores are remaining open during the most important shopping season of the year.

Ryan Mallough, director of provincial affairs for Ontario for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), said the classification for “essential” businesses under the “grey” lockdown stage isn’t the same as the first lockdown, and this is causing confusion among business owners. For example, he said pet retailers don’t seem to be included this time as essential, but pet groomers are — the opposite of the last lockdown.

Often, small business owners are getting conflicting information from government websites or the business hotline, he added.

6:33 a.m. The investigation into the alleged embezzlement of $11 million of pandemic relief funds is being expanded to include past information technology projects at Queen’s Park, the Star has learned.

A Toronto couple and their two adult sons, who all worked as Ontario government computer specialists, are alleged to have been involved in the theft of millions of dollars in provincial COVID-19 aid.

Documents filed with the Ontario Superior Court say “some or all of” Sanjay Madan, Shalini Madan, their sons Chinmaya Madan and Ujjawal Madan, and their associate Vidhan Singh allegedly perpetrated “a massive fraud” to funnel cash to hundreds of bank accounts.

In a statement of claim, which has not been proven in court, the government alleges “damages for fraud, theft, conversion, and conspiracy in an amount estimated to be at least $11 million.”

5:52 a.m. More Missouri counties in the region around St. Louis are imposing mandates requiring the use of face masks as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations surge.

The move comes amid an unsuccessful campaign by health officials in that area to get Gov. Mike Parson to require masks statewide.

Jefferson County, just south of St. Louis, is the latest to adopt a mask mandate. Neighboring Franklin County passed a mask order last week, and Boone County adopted a similar requirement earlier this week. Also this week, St. Charles County officials ordered an 11 p.m. closing time for bars and restaurants.

On Thursday, state officials reported 4,471 new confirmed cases, bringing the total to 287,263. Since the pandemic started, 3,808 people have died of COVID-19.

5:45 a.m. Germany hit another grim milestone in the coronavirus pandemic on Friday, ticking above 1 million confirmed cases of COVID-19.

The Robert Koch Institute, the country’s disease control centre, said that Germany’s 16 states reported 22,806 cases overnight for a total since the start of the outbreak of 1,006,394.

Despite the high number of infections, Germany has seen fewer deaths than many other European countries, with 15,586 — compared with more than 50,000 in Britain, Italy and France, for example.

A rapid response to the initial outbreak, massive testing and a robust hospital system have been credited with helping keep the fatalities down. A total of 696,100 people have recovered from the virus, according to the Robert Koch Institute’s figures.

The country is almost a month in to a so-called “wave-breaker” shutdown instituted Nov. 2 after an alarming rise in daily figures to new record highs. Friday’s total was slightly less than that reported a week ago and officials say the new measures have succeeded in halting the surge.

But Chancellor Angela Merkel and state governors decided earlier this week to extend the shutdown well into December and add more restrictions to try to now bring the numbers down to below 50 per 100,000 inhabitants each week. It’s only at that level or below that officials say they can effectively trace outbreaks to implement quarantines when necessary.

5:30 a.m. Premier Doug Ford used the same term five times on Tuesday to describe the rapid tests the province is rolling out across Ontario: “game changer.”

The health experts tasked with advising government on their use, however, describe these tests very differently: “inferior,” “anything but game changers,” and — in private discussions, by one of the province’s top testing experts — “sh-y.”

These experts say the rapid tests could be useful in specific circumstances. But so far there is patchy evidence on how best to deploy them, and the tests come with serious potential harms, including high volumes of false results compared to the gold-standard laboratory tests — a particularly risky feature in vulnerable settings like nursing homes.

Friday 4 a.m. Group sports are suspended in Saskatchewan starting Friday and no more than 30 people are allowed to gather inside public venues as the province tries to contain its spread of COVID-19.

The cap applies to bingo halls, worship services, casinos, and receptions for weddings and funerals.

The Saskatchewan Party government announced added health measures on Wednesday after weeks of rising cases that have driven up hospitalizations.

Although formal competition is prohibited, athletes and dancers who are 18 years old and younger can still practise in groups of eight if they stay far enough apart and wear masks — now required in all indoor fitness facilities.

No more than four people can sit together at a bar or restaurant and tables must be three metres apart if they are not separated by a barrier.

Large retail stores have to cut their capacity by half.

The measures are to be in place until Dec. 17.

On Thursday, 299 new cases of COVID-19 were reported. Some 108 people were in hospital including 18 receiving intensive care.

Premier Scott Moe has acknowledged that public health steps taken to date haven’t been enough to slow the COVID-19 virus from moving through communities and into workplaces and schools.

He has said the latest measures will have a considerable impact on people’s lives and no decision has been made on whether to provide financial support to businesses curtailed by the restrictions.

Moe is trying to avoid a second shutdown of non-essential businesses because he fears job losses and the toll on people’s well-being.

The Opposition NDP along with hundreds of doctors and a nurses union have expressed concern that Moe hasn’t moved quickly enough to bring in restrictions to stem the surge of COVID-19.

Wednesday 10 p.m.: A fire broke out early Friday in a privately-run hospital treating coronavirus patients in western India, killing at least five of them and injuring 28 others.

Police officer K.N. Bhukan said fire engines restricted the blaze to one floor of the hospital and extinguished it within 30 minutes.

The cause of the fire is being investigated.

The Press Trust of India news agency said the fire started in the intensive care unit of Uday Shivanand Hospital that was treating 33 coronavirus patients.

Some of the patients with fire burns were evacuated to another hospital in Rajkot, a city in western Gujarat state, nearly 1,100 kilometres ( 685 miles) southwest of New Delhi.

In August, a fire killed eight coronavirus patients in a hospital in Ahmedabad, another key city in Gujarat state.

Poor maintenance and lack of proper firefighting equipment often causes deaths in India.

Wednesday 9:59 p.m.: On Thursday evening the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) identified a positive COVID-19 case in an individual at Ecole St. Mary High School in Prince Albert.

In a news release by the Prince Albert Catholic School Division on Sunday evening the division explained that communication has been shared with the specific classroom/cohorts, as well as the school community.

These cases were acquired outside of the school setting, the division said.

The SHA is proceeding with their assessment of the situation, and all individuals deemed to be close contacts are being notified.

ultfixpt

Rapid tests are a game changer, Doug Ford says. Public Health Ontario’s head of microbiology has a very different view

Oct 3, 2021 , , , , by shlf

Premier Doug Ford used the same term five times on Tuesday to describe the rapid tests the province is rolling out across Ontario: “game changer.”

The health experts tasked with advising government on their use, however, describe these tests very differently: “inferior,” “anything but game changers,” and — in private discussions, by one of the province’s top testing experts — “sh—y.”

These experts say the rapid tests could be useful in specific circumstances. But so far there is patchy evidence on how best to deploy them, and the tests come with serious potential harms, including high volumes of false results compared to the gold-standard laboratory tests — a particularly risky feature in vulnerable settings like nursing homes.

“There is no evident place where they are really helpful,” says Dr. Allison McGeer, an infectious disease specialist at Sinai Health System who consulted on the rapid-test plan. “There are a bunch of places where they may well be helpful, but they have a significant number of disadvantages, and a significant number of logistical challenges.”

Ford and Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott announced Tuesday that the province had received 1.2 million “Panbio” rapid antigen tests and 98,000 “ID Now” tests manufactured by U.S.-based Abbott and purchased by the federal government. Rapid antigen tests like Panbio have been particularly hyped in recent months: they work like a pregnancy test and can generate results in under 15 minutes.

“We’ve been getting these tests as quickly as we can to the front lines of our health-care system,” Ford said Tuesday. “These tests right here, folks, are a game changer.”

In discussions with other experts and officials recently, Dr. Vanessa Allen, Public Health Ontario’s chief of microbiology and laboratory science, described the Panbio test as “sh—y,” the Star has learned.

Asked Thursday why she used that word, Allen said “my experience was that there is an incredible enthusiasm about the use of these tests.”

“Those were private conversations,” she added. “But I think really the message that I wanted to relay is that they do not perform the same as lab-based tests, and … we don’t have a lot of real data about their actual benefit. I think it’s incumbent on us to rapidly learn how they might be useful. But I think there are some risks.”

The two rapid tests use different technology, and the province is deploying them in different settings.

ID Now is a molecular test that detects the virus’s genetic material. The device works like a small, portable lab, generating results from nasal, nasopharyngeal or throat swabs in 15 minutes. The province said Tuesday that ID Now tests would be sent to hospitals and assessment centres in rural and remote areas, and used in “early outbreak investigations in hotspot regions.”

Panbio is an antigen test that detects viral proteins. It works like a pregnancy test, generates results in 15 minutes, and can only be used with nasopharyngeal swabs. Panbio tests have been rolled out for screening in nursing homes and other workplaces, including TD Bank, Air Canada, two gold mines, and three film and TV productions. Six long-term-care operators are receiving the rapid tests to “help inform future deployment across the sector,” according to the health ministry.

A spokesperson for Abbott cited evaluations showing that both tests are more than 95 per cent and up to 99.8 per cent accurate in accurately identifying or excluding infections in people within seven days of symptom onset.

“Both Panbio and ID NOW have both been studied extensively and have demonstrated strong performance,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “They are proving to be valuable tools in slowing the spread of the virus.”

Experts, however, cautioned that the real-world accuracy of rapid tests often differs from the settings in which they are evaluated.

“The history of rapid tests is that they perform much better in the controlled circumstances of a laboratory than they do when you take them out into the field. That’s a chronic problem,” said McGeer, a trained microbiologist.

Both McGeer and Allen cited preliminary data collected by Toronto researchers that found rapid antigen tests missed more than half of cases in a long-term-care-home outbreak. That study was small and needs to be expanded, Allen says. But the preliminary data, along with studies in other jurisdictions that showed rapid antigen tests missing between 15 and 30 per cent of infections, gave Ontario experts pause about recommending Panbio in similar contexts.

“I think we owe and have a responsibility to offer the highest standard of care — or testing, in this case — to long-term care,” Allen said. “It’s not to say antigen testing couldn’t have an adjunctive role, but we need to make sure that’s an adjunctive role.”

Researchers believe that the speed of rapid antigen tests can make up for their lower accuracy, because higher volumes of people can be tested more frequently. These devices are also most accurate when people are most infectious — the critical period to identify and isolate cases. Proponents have argued that if deployed on a wide enough scale, rapid antigen testing would be more effective than slower, more accurate lab-based PCR testing, and some modelling studies back that up.

Ontario’s deployment of rapid antigen tests reflects that thinking, putting Panbio in the hands of employers and LTC operators for regular screening, rather than outbreak management. They may be useful in that role, the experts who advised the province said — but they need to be closely evaluated, and the potential harms carefully mitigated.

False negatives — missing a positive case — could have obviously devastating consequences in long-term care, where residents are acutely vulnerable to severe disease and where almost two-thirds of Ontario’s COVID deaths have occurred. But false positives — inaccurately flagging a positive case — can also have dire consequences, says Dr. Samir Sinha, another expert who provided advice.

With one positive, “you lock down an entire unit. You’re affecting 32 people where 70 per cent of them have dementia, for example, and you’re completely disrupting their care, their routine. That actually increases the entire staff burden.” And in already understaffed homes, Sinha added, needlessly quarantining staff who aren’t actually positive, even for just a few days while waiting for a lab-test confirmation, can have profound impacts.

ID Now, the portable molecular tests, have the most potential in remote settings where getting results back from the lab can take days — in these contexts, some information is better than no information, experts said. But still, Health Canada mandates that both tests are performed by regulated health professionals — a workforce already stretched thin in many places — and requires training, oversight and evaluation. Each device can only process three to four swabs an hour, so they have volume limits, too.

Ontario’s rapid tests “are anything but game changers,” said Sinha, director of geriatrics at Sinai Health and the University Health Network.

“I think these things have been so politicized,” he added. “People are just so desperate to find quick and easy fixes here.”

Kate Allen is a Toronto-based reporter covering science and technology for the Star. Follow her on Twitter:

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A study’s surprising revelation about which students are faring better under the pandemic

Oct 1, 2021 , , , , by shlf

A new study out of the University of Toronto revealed surprising results, researchers say, on how students’ mental health has fared during COVID-19 and under the pandemic-mandated campus shutdown earlier this year.

The study, published in early September in the journal Canadian Psychology, revealed that U of T students with mental health concerns are faring similarly, or better, under the than they were a year ago.

But students who have no history of mental health issues reporting a higher level of depressive symptoms during the pandemic than they had previously.

Chloe Hamza, assistant professor in the Department of Applied Psychology and lead author , said the findings went against her expectation.

“We expected that students with pre-existing mental health concerns would be the ones who are most vulnerable to the psychological impacts of COVID-19,” Hamza said.

Instead, she said it was students who were faring well academically and socially that suffered more when the pandemic hit.

Students who were already struggling, Hamza added, said they were dealing with feelings of loneliness and isolation before the pandemic began. As a result, those students with pre-existing mental health conditions reported lower levels of academic alienation and friendship problems under lockdown.

They also reported slightly decreased perceived stress and feelings of being a burden.

Hamza said this is likely due to the reduction in academic, work or other time commitments under lockdown, which may have made life a little bit more manageable for those who were already having a hard time.

But students without pre-existing mental health conditions reported higher rates of alcohol consumption and depressive symptoms compared to last year as a result of the pandemic, prompting Hamza’s study to conclude there was a link between social isolation and worsening mental health among university students — the study states that “increasing social mistreatment” led to greater psychological distress among students.

Researchers surveyed round 730 second-year University of Toronto students in May. Those students were already surveyed about their mental health a year prior in 2019, and researchers compared the recent findings to those from last year to identify how students’ levels of stress and anxiety have changed overtime.

The University of Toronto, like the majority of universities and colleges across Canada, cancelled in-class sessions since March 13, and students are still learning virtually. Most big social events like Fall Orientation or Thanksgiving dinners have been cancelled and are being held online, redefining what once were pivotal aspects of university and college social life.

Little is still known through research about how students are handling this sudden shift to their daily reality. But Hamza’s study is one of the first looks at how students’ mental health in Canada is changing in light of the pandemic — a young cohort in an age group that has also as major cities in Canada experience a second wave.

Julia Pereira, president of the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance, which represents around 150,000 students in the province, said university students have felt immense pressure since the pandemic began. Academically, Pereira said they’re worried about excelling in this new online learning environment. As for their social life, she said many students profoundly miss the physical campus community.

“Students are used to coming back, starting school and being surrounded by their friends and their peers and meeting with their professors one on one,” Pereira said. “I think that they’re missing that social interaction.”

Pereira, who also serves as vice-president at Wilfrid Laurier University’s student union, said many student leaders and universities across the province have tried to replicate some of these social experiences online.

But “unfortunately,” she added, “these online experiences aren’t going to completely substitute that social aspect of university that students really value.”

Hamza said her study’s findings underscore how important socialization is to post-secondary students, and that they’re a cohort that needs to be further supported by their community. She added the rise in COVID-19 cases among youth could be driven by the need of this young cohort to build connections and hang out with peers.

“Emerging adulthood is this period where there is an increased need for affiliation,” Hamza said. “So how do we find ways to support young adults in their affiliated needs, while also adhering to public health recommendations? I think that’s something we need to think about.”

But she said it’s important to also realize students are more vulnerable to spread of the virus because they also often live in shared housing, and may not have the luxury to safely isolate should they fall ill.

While Hamza’s study offers a glimpse of how students were feeling in May, a few months after lockdown, Marija Padjen, director of the Centre for Innovation in Campus Mental Health, said students are likely still feeling the impact of COVID-19 on their mental health and will be for months to come as the pandemic continues to rage.

It is why she emphasized a message of hope and taking care of oneself as daily life continues to be disrupted: “How do we make sure we’re exercising, we’re getting sleep, that we are reaching out to supports that have been put into place, both within our campuses, but also within our country?” Padjen asked.

Padjen added students who are struggling should reach out to mental health resources like , a 24/7 helpline for post-secondary students in Ontario or Nova Scotia, or , a free online program that is designed to help youth manage a low mood, mild to moderate depression and anxiety, as well as stress or worry.

Even “within the social distancing realm,” Padjen said, “there is still the capability and the capacity for us to reach out and connect to each other.”

Nadine Yousif is a Toronto-based reporter for the Star covering mental health. Her reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative. Follow her on Twitter:

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Swish, gargle, spit: Behold the new, kid-friendly COVID-19 test

Oct 1, 2021 , , , , by shlf

HALIFAX—We all inherently know it: Swish-gargle-spit is much better than a stick up the nose.

If you’re a kid, and you need to get tested for in Halifax, at least you’ll have that option now.

If you’re an adult … well, for the time being, it looks like you get the shaft.

The IWK Health Centre in Halifax, one of the country’s major pediatric hospitals, began Wednesday to roll out a pilot project in which the nasal swab test for COVID-19 is replaced with one called — in technical terms — the Gargle-Swish test.

The patient swishes five millilitres of saline in their mouth for five seconds, then tilts their head back and gargles for five more. They repeat that process two more times, then spit it all out into a cup.

Done. Thirty seconds all told, and no stick up the nose. No fuss, no mess — unless you lack an aptitude for gargling. The cup goes off to the lab, and the results come back in 72 hours.

The new test is reportedly 98 per cent sensitive for COVID-19, which puts it on par with the nasal swab test.

Unfortunately, for the foreseeable future, the test is only available to children ages four to 18. Only two of these pilot projects exist — the first at the BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver, the second in Halifax at the IWK — so resources are limited and are being prioritized for children.

“We started this morning, and it’s been resoundingly positive, both from the staff and from the patients as well,” said Joanne Gallant, clinical leader of the primary assessment clinic at the IWK. “We had a patient who had previously had the nasal swab, and had come in for the gargle. And he left with a big smile on his face and said it was great.”

Gallant said research has shown that every health-care interaction a child has early on has an impact on their future health interactions.

In this case, Gallant believes, there will be shorter-term benefits, too. With schools back in session and health guidelines suggesting a coronavirus test if children display symptoms of fever or cold, the numbers of children who need to be tested has increased.

“We’re also hoping that it’s going to increase the rates at which people are willing to come in, because all of these (coronavirus) tests are based on self-reporting.

“So if somebody had the swish-and-gargle test, and it went very well — which is what we’re seeing — they were hoping that, you know, in a couple of months, if they have another cold, they wouldn’t hesitate in filling out that form and coming back for another test.”

For Sara Laffin, that seems plausible.

Laffin, a nurse at the IWK who administers some of the swish-and-gargle tests, also has two children of her own, a seven-year-old girl, Penny, and a five-year-old boy, Mickey.

She said although children are more resilient than adults think, there’s still a measure of apprehension about the nasal swab test.

“I think it’s quite vulnerable having another human putting a swab up your nose. It can be quite scary for kids and cause a lot of anxiety in some children just thinking about it. Not necessarily the procedure itself, but leading up to the procedure can be quite scary,” she said.

But she’s tried the new swish-and-gargle test on her own children, with positive results.

“They both thought it was fun and easy, were the two words they used to describe it, and, ‘It wasn’t that bad,’ was what Penny had said.”

Steve McKinley is a Halifax-based reporter for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: