COVID Financial News

The number of babies born in Canada dropped to a 17-year-low last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic and a declining fertility rate, data shows.

Eating disorders requiring hospital care increased “significantly” among children and teenagers in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new research.

As autumn rolls in, health experts are giving the green light for Canadians to double up on their vaccinations, as getting both the flu and COVID-19 shots at the same time can provide an added layer of defence against respiratory illnesses.

influenza vaccines will be available on Oct. 16 with the new Moderna vaccine formulated to target the XBB.1.5 variant likely to be available at around the same time.

A Quebec Superior Court judge is being asked to authorize a class-action lawsuit on behalf of all residents of public long-term care homes that experienced COVID-19 outbreaks during the pandemic’s first two waves.Montreal lawyer Patrick Martin-Menard said Monday in court that Quebec’s early response to COVID-19 in long-term care homes was marked by improvisation and that a pre-existing pandemic plan was ignored until it was too late.The lawsuit would also include family members of residents who died between March 2020 and March 2021.Martin-Menard says that outbreaks at care homes would have been prevented had the existing plan been put into action.He says long-term care centres were ill-prepared to receive patients from hospitals, and couldn’t properly care for residents after the government banned visits from family caregivers.Lawyers for the Quebec government are scheduled to argue against the lawsuit later this week.

Influenza vaccines will be available in Alberta pharmacies on Oct. 16, with the new Moderna XBB vaccine likely to be accessible around the same time.Health Canada approved the highly anticipated booster shot on Tuesday for all Canadians six months and older.

COVID-19 booster shot in hopes of bolstering the nation’s defence against the virus as the fall season approaches.The health regulator on Tuesday approved the updated vaccine made by Moderna for all Canadians aged six months and older. Approval for the updated Pfizer and Novavax vaccine under review has not been announced.The updated mRNA vaccine is tailored to the XBB.1.5 Omicron subvariant that is circulating in the country.

Long-Term Care needs to put in place clear rules for in-person inspections to prepare for a future pandemic and immediately act when residents are at risk of ongoing serious harm.Paul Dube’s report today on the inspection regime for long-term care homes during the COVID-19 outbreak says that there were no inspections for the first seven weeks of the pandemic and no inspection reports issued for the first two months.Dube says inspections stopped because the ministry had no plan to ensure inspectors’ safety, with no personal protective equipment available for them and a lack of training in infection prevention and control.His 76 recommendations include urging the ministry to ensure it always has staff available for in-person inspections.Dube also says his investigation found many instances in which inspectors were deployed to “support” homes rather than enforce compliance with legislation and sometimes gave homes reduced penalties, so he recommends stronger enforcement.The ministry told Dube it has already fully or partially implemented more than half of his recommendations.

With the arrival of the latest COVID-19 variants within the country and the looming flu season on the horizon, many Canadians may be wondering if they should get their booster shot immediately or wait until the newest vaccine formulations arrive.

COVID-19 has been detected for the first time in Canada, British Columbia health officials said on Tuesday.The variant, dubbed BA.2.86, was confirmed in the Fraser Health region, and involves a person who had not travelled outside the province, according to a joint statement from provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix.“So far, there does not seem to be increased severity with this strain of COVID and the individual is not hospitalized,” the statement reads.The new variant was first detected in Denmark in July, and has since been confirmed in several countries including the United States.The World Health Organization has classified BA.2.86 as a “variant under monitoring” due to the presence of a large number of mutations.The agency described variants under monitoring as those that show early signs of a “growth advantage” compared to more dominant circulating variants, and which require further evidence of their possible impact.“It was not unexpected for BA.2.86 to show up in Canada and the province.

COVID-19 cases increasing according to infectious disease expert Dr. Gerald Evans“Those are going to result in a lot more gathering together of people which is a little bit more opportunity for the virus to transmit around.”According to the Limestone District School Board they won’t be bringing back the heavy-handed precautions but will follow public health guidelines which include regularly cleaning high touch surfaces, encouraging frequent handwashing, daily monitoring for symptoms, staying home when sick and covering mouths when coughing.For parents like Ryan McCarthy it’s a similar philosophy.

COVID-19 pandemic.In the spring of 2021, Alberta Health Services said it received hundreds of complaints about the Whistle Stop Café in Mirror, Alta., with people telling the health authority it had not been complying with pandemic health restrictions.When health officials closed owner Christopher Scott’s diner, an anti-lockdown rally was held in support of the business owner, attracting hundreds of people.On Tuesday, Scott’s lawyer, Chad Williamson, told Global News that his client was acquitted of all charges.The acquittal came less than four weeks after a Court of King’s Bench of Alberta ruling found that provincial cabinet and government committees making final decisions about orders during the COVID-19 pandemic, instead of the chief medical officer of health herself, violated the Public Health Act.

As Canadians continue to enjoy the last bit of summer’s sun-soaked days, doctors say they are bracing for a potential “tripledemic” of influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and COVID-19, signalling the imminent arrival of respiratory flu season.

COVID-19 cases across countries in the Northern Hemisphere is causing concern for global health authorities, given that these regions usually witness a peak in respiratory illnesses during the winter months.The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday urged countries to strengthen their surveillance and reporting of COVID-19 amid the spike in hospitalizations in the last month, primarily in European nations.“The virus right now is reinfecting a large number of individuals — millions of people — each week,” warned Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s technical lead on the COVID-19 response.

COVID-19, but how bad it will be is unknown, some health experts say.The turn comes after months of low transmission of the virus, which continues to mutate and has recently spawned two variants — EG.5, a subvariant of Omicron, and BA.2.86 — that have captured the attention of scientists.“We’re starting to see an uptick in cases after a pretty long decline. We saw really an impressive drop in the number of infections that started right at the end of 2022 and continued to all the way to the middle of this summer,” Dr.

COVID-19 vaccine booster this fall, the province’s Health Ministry said Wednesday.The latest advice comes on the heels of a recommendation from both Quebec’s immunization committee and Dr. Luc Boileau, the director of public health.Who is considered vulnerable or at risk for the disease? The Health Ministry says this includes older adults, individuals in private residences or long-term care homes, people who are chronically ill and immunocompromised, pregnant people and health-care workers.

The Public Health Agency of Canada is tracking a new, highly mutated variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 which has been detected in at least four countries, Health Canada says, but no cases have been detected in Canada so far.

COVID-19 outbreak in the restorative care unit at Northumberland Hills Hospital in Cobourg, Ont.The hospital on Monday said eight patients in the unit have tested positive for COVID-19. As a result, the Haliburton, Kawartha Pine Ridge District Health Unit has declared an outbreak on the unit.As a result, regular visiting to the unit has been paused.

COVID-19 has left a profound impact on millions worldwide, leading some to require hospitalization, others needing extended bed rest and a significant number who lost their lives. However, there exists a group of individuals who contracted the contagious virus but didn’t experience a single symptom.Researchers may have unraveled the reason behind this phenomenon: the human leukocyte antigen (HLA), a molecule that assists the immune system during early infections.A mutated HLA gene could explain why some people never develop symptoms from SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, even if they were infected.A study published Wednesday in Nature found that people with the mutated gene, HLA-B*15:01, are more than twice as likely to not get sick from the virus.

COVID-19 infection was just “average.” She recovered in a matter of days and went back to work.Several weeks later she was incapacitated.“I woke up completely disabled, profoundly ill (and) completely changed from my previous self,” the Toronto emergency room doctor said.The avid runner was now bedbound. She had difficulties focusing – barely able to remember her address.“I wasn’t able to parent my child.

The OBR has warned that the UK’s national debt could hit 300% of GDP by the 2070s.