It’s a phenomenon that doctors and officials have known about for months, but haven’t been all that forthcoming about.
It’s what’s known as incidental hospitalizations — people who are included in the Ontario government’s daily count of people in hospital with COVID-19, but who aren’t actually in hospital for the virus.
Instead, they’ve gone to hospital for something completely different and just happen to test positive for the virus upon arrival but aren’t at all suffering from it.
Ontario’s provincial election is rapidly approaching and while campaigning has already gotten well underway, the process itself comes with several unknowns.
The issues facing Ontario voters on June 2, 2022, will be similar to other elections before it. The state of the economy, handling climate change, and tackling housing affordability are all issues expected to get a lot of airtime. But like all things in the world these days, the COVID-19 pandemic and recovering from it is destined to overshadow many issues. And potentially, it may affect how the campaigns themselves function.
No one normal is talking about climate change.
Natalie Philippe, a public health nurse for Public Health Sudbury and Districts, says that a school outbreak does not always involve transmission within the school. Instead, it is declared when two cases are reported in a single classroom. Often, she says, “outbreaks that occur in schools are actually from contact that occurred outside of school.” Her region has been a hotspot since the end of October — and the city’s schools have not been spared. “We know that with Omicron, we are going to be dealing with something even stronger,” Philippe says.
Speaking at a news conference late Friday afternoon to announce new COVID-19 restrictions to help curb the rapidly spreading Omicron variant, Ford spoke directly to parents and said he understands that they are concerned and waiting for news.
I noticed the difference – the logical easing of draconian restrictions – as soon as I crossed the border into the United States a month ago and started driving south. In most places where I stopped – from West Virginia to Charlotte, North Carolina to Savannah, Georgia – masks were not a must unless we took an Uber.
There was also widespread concern expressed about gathering with unvaccinated individuals. Only about 25 per cent of respondents said that they would be comfortable doing so.
A few weeks ago, Canada implemented travel restrictions on African countries “out of an abundance of caution” in order to curb the spread of the Omicron variant. Earlier this week, these travel restrictions were lifted – they weren’t needed and were ineffective.
This week, governments across the country are implementing additional COVID restrictions – again – “out of an abundance of caution.”
There are calls for Ontario to be plunged into yet another dark winter.
But before we go down that road, here are a couple of points that Ontarians who have suffered so much already should consider.
The head of the Ontario Hospital Association says hospitals in the province are moving to urgently reactivate mass vaccination programs as the Omicron variant – the most contagious COVID-19 variant discovered so far – quickly moves to become the dominant variant in the province.
“This is historical. This is unprecedented. This week Omicron will become the dominant variant in the province… People cannot imagine the sheer scale of what we are talking about here. It is really challenging,” Dr. Peter Jüni, the head of the province’s Science Advisory Table.
Cases of COVID-19 are on the rise across Canada’s most populous province of Ontario, thanks to the Delta variant, while Omicron “will hit us hard and fast” next year, an expert panel said on Tuesday.
Ontario New Democratic Party MPP Laura Mae Lindo proposed a bill on Thursday to embed “anti-racist strategies” in the province’s education system.
“Students, parents and education workers should never experience racism in Ontario’s public schools and post-secondary institutions,” said Lindo. “Yet every month we learn about new incidents of racism that leave students, families and their communities reeling.”
A Peel parents group told attendees at a Zoom workshop Wednesday evening that one key way to tackle “anti-black racism” in their schools is to remove all negative comments from their kids’ student records.
Today, Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health and Dr. Kieran Moore, Chief Medical Officer of Health issued the following statement:
“Today, the province of Ontario has confirmed two cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in Ottawa, both of which were reported in individuals with recent travel from Nigeria. Ottawa Public Health is conducting case and contact management and the patients are in isolation.
The best defence against the Omicron variant is stopping it at our border. In addition to the measures recently announced, we continue to urge the federal government to take the necessary steps to mandate point-of-arrival testing for all travellers irrespective of where they’re coming from to further protect against the spread of this new variant.
86 stillbirths in 6 months in fully vaccinated mothers in Waterloo, Ontario
13 stillbirths in 24 hours in B.C.
Dr. Daniel Nagase exposes an emerging public health disaster being ignored and suppressed by govts, public health & the mainstream media. pic.twitter.com/IUhdS3H8t0
— Bright Light News (@BLNewsMedia) November 23, 2021
