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2020-08-20
This article further describes the small anti-mask protesters in St. John's who demonstrated in response to the enforced restrictions.
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2020
An infographic of how and why contact tracing is done.
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2020-11-22
This article shares about a recent anti-mask rally in Steinbach, Manitoba.
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2020-12-02
This article discusses one family seeking COVID-19 exposure to improve their immunity to the virus.
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2020-12-13
A Map showing all the active health facilities in Nunavut
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2020-11-26
This article provides tips on how to best celebrate Christmas holidays and encourages Canadians to stay home.
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2020-10-20
University of Calgary offers tips for a safe Halloween during COVID-19 — and what to do if trick-or-treating is cancelled
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2020-11-29
This article includes a video on how a birthday became a COVID-19 superspreader event.
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2020-12-07
This article examine how funeral homes are using high pressure sales tactics during the pandemic.
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2020-12-08
Despite showing symptoms or not, residents between the ages of 20 to 29 were asked to get tested in Charlottetown, P.E.I.. Responding to the provinces demands many showed up to drive-thru testing clinics causing long lines and wait times. During this time, P.E.I tested 2,000 people. All results were negative.
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2020-10-16
This release provides an update on the procedures for funerals during the pandemic.
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2020-03-29
New Ontario guidelines for handling bodies with COVID-19.
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2020-06-11
This article suggests some ideas on how to host a micro wedding.
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2020-12-13
Local Halloween decoration humorously depicts how it feels to be tested with a nasal swab. This test is uncomfortable as the swab is inserted through your nasal cavity and brushed against the back of your throat. The irritating sensation causes your eyes to water but it should not feel painful.
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2020-05-19
Pictured is a couple situated next to a record player. This venue offers specialty pricing for micro weddings.
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2020-09-15
Three University of Western Ontario students test positive for COVID-19. Sadly, their movement around the city, visiting downtown bars and restaurants, and with students in neighbouring housing units, has led to a large outbreak.
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2020-04-15
This article defines what a micro wedding is: 50 people or less.
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2020-06-06
An article from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation about stress and overwork in healthcare workers who have been redeployed into long-term care homes
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2020-11-23
A statement from MacLeod Cares, a company that manages long term care homes in Atlantic Canada, detailing the measures they have taken to keep their facilities safe during the pandemic
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2020-09-10
An article from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation about the use of wastewater monitoring systems to detect outbreaks of COVID-19
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2020-06-18
An article from the Canadian Journal of Public Health that discusses the risk of substance abuse problems becoming worse across Canada due to the trauma and stress of the pandemic.
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2020-03-23
A document describing the official position of the CFNU on reasonable precautions that should be put into place to prevent nurses and other healthcare workers getting Covid-19
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2020-12-05
Being around the countryside has been a relief from the paranoia of the world. The cattle have no clue that the world around them is any different.
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2020-12-13
Chengdu has been to test every members in Pidu community to make sure there were no more members that were infected with COVID-19. The local government plans to test 34 thousands people within 24 hours.
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2020-11-13
In China, every confirmed patient needs to report their family name, their activities in last three days and what places they’re been to so that the close contact persons would also be easily to followed. This method is meant to use as a clue for the public to know if they have been in close contact with the confirmed patient so they could self-report to the community that they are in high-risks. However, many have used these information as a clue to dig up the personal information of the confirmed patient and cyberbully him or her. This time for Chengdu’s outbreak, many people were furious that the patient had been to a dozen places in a night even she did not know that she was confirmed. Keyboard warriors started to find her personal information, and many girls were mistakenly recognized as the patient, they all suffered cyberbully and their personal information, pictures were posted online and the public demanded them to apologize. This has been a huge fight in Chinese social media these days, many supported the victim and the question of privacy has been brought up. Many believe that personal privacy should be valued, however, in the time of internet, the scope of privacy is getting narrowed.
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2020-08-31
This photo shows protesters, one holding a pride flag, and police.
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2020-10-20
This photo shows women, some wearing masks, holding up signs and protesting.
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2020-10-24
This photo includes two girls, one holding a sign which states "I stand with Mi'kmaq" while the other's says "Respect the Treaties."
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2020-08-30
A man holds a sign which states "Black Lives Matter" and "Treat Racism like Covid-19."
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2020-05-05
Life was hard for me for the last two years. As 2020 comes close to an end, I am almost wrapped up with my first year in college, though barely. Last year, due to some family issue, my grade was failing in high school, so I could not enter the college I was applied to, while in this year, the transition to college was still extremely tough due to the COVID pandemic. I had little to no social interactions with others, lives in complete isolation, while had to deal with college workloads. It was tough as I felt that my life was not in my control, and became increasingly frustrated. I had an extremely respiratory system as well, coughing and wheezing constantly, so I had to be careful at managing myself to not contain COVID. I felt like I was a burden on my family, who supports me financially right now, as well as a burden on the society. However, as I took a long walk across the city street during the night, I realized that this was out of my control. It was not my fault that the pandemic happened, and I am doing my part to prevent further spread of the disease. I am no burden of the society - no more than people who are not properly quarantining themselves, at least.
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2020-04-06
In response to the restrictions put in place by the government, the CSEP believes its important for Canadians to adhere to healthy guidelines in order to maintain a healthy immune system and build a strong defence.
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2020
Table created by the Public Health Agency of Canada, for determining the difference between self-monitoring, self-isolation, isolation
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2020-05-26
In response to Premier Doug Ford's disappointment about the number of tests being done in Ontario, the County of Renfrew Paramedic Service is mobilizing to offer drive-thru clinics for anybody in the county who wants to be tested for COVID-19 in order to keep up with the provinces' testing demands.
Dr. Theresa Tam and chief public health officer of Canada says, "This is a wonderful example of the health-care system coming together to ensure that no one is left behind and it highlights the important role paramedics play in linking communities to health-care settings".
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2020-11-19
The Qikiqtani Inuit Association says that it will distribute $1.8 million in federal funding to support the work of the Ilisaqsivik Society, the YWCA Agvik, the Uqutaq Society, the Tukisigiarvik Society, Qikiqtani hamlet recreation departments and the previously announced Qikiqtani Family Support Initiative. (Image courtesy of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association)
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2020-04-03
Tips from the Edmonton Canadian Mental Health Association on how to manage our mental wellness at this time of uncertainty.
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2020
The Québec organization Coalition des Poids is dedicated to creating environments that facilitate healthy life choices. Aware of the potential negative impacts the government lockdown would have on our health, this company produced graphics to inform and help the public maintain their health during the pandemic. The illustrations encourage Canadians to take care of their physical health through proper nourishment, physical activity, and sleep.
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2020
The demands of the pandemic are having a serious impact on the emotional, psychological and physical wellbeing of healthcare workers across the country. The Canadian Medical Association wishes to support frontline workers by providing them with access to a Wellness Support Line to ensure they have high-quality and tailored mental health services for all their needs.
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2020-12
This Report, “COVID-19 and Indigenous Health and Wellness: Our Strength is in our Stories” is written as a collection of stories. Indigenous scholars, practitioners and learners, offer this writing to support an improved understanding about how COVID-19 is impacting the health and wellness of Indigenous peoples.
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2020
Recommendations from Dr. Linda Li, Senior Scientist at Arthritis Research Canada sharing the best way to exercise in new environment.
The importance of exercising during COVID.
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2020
Public health PhD Carl-Etienne Juneau speaks about difficulties of contact tracing in Quebec.
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2020-07-04
In anticipation of a second wave of COVID-19, Canadian scientists are currently working to set up a detection system based on organic waste that ends up in sewers.
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2020
The coronavirus pandemic has affected Canada’s pharmaceutical and retail pharmacy industry across four main areas: product sourcing and procurement, product launch and distribution, acquisition and access, and treatment and care management. Based on challenges in these areas, this report offers a perspective on potential solutions and considerations.
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2020-06
Established by the President of the Royal Society of Canada in April 2020, the RSC Task Force on COVID-19 was mandated to provide evidence-informed perspectives on major societal challenges in response to and recovery from COVID-19.
The report begins by reviewing the research context and policy environment in Canada’s long-term care sector before the arrival of COVID-19. It summarizes the existing knowledge base for far-sighted and integrated solutions to challenges in the long-term care sector. The report then outlines profound, long-standing deficiencies in the long-term care sector that contributed to the magnitude of the COVID-19 crisis.
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2020
The Government of Canada created the COVID Alert App to breaking the cycle of infection. This app can let app users know of possible exposures to the virus before any symptoms can appear. Thanks to this app, we can reduce the spread of infection, take care of ourselves and protect our communities.
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2020-05-01
Alberta's chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw provided an update on the most recent numbers of COVID-19 cases in the province Friday and the government's ongoing response to the pandemic. She also announced the launch of a mobile contact-tracing app for the province, called ABTraceTogether, to help fight the spread of COVID-19.
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2020
A group of Indigenous women adapted the Medicine Wheel to promoted healthy strategies to cope with the pandemic to the public. This rendition is a holistic approach, inspired by the sacred teaching of their ancestors and the Seven Fire Prophecies, designed to enhance the wellness of the body, spirit, heart, and mind.
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2020-12-12
This is a regional breakdown of COVID-19 cases across Quebec.
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2020-12-31T23:59:59+14:00
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2020-12-11
Interviewee: Jean Kechely
Interviewer: Kelly Lindemann
Date of interview: 12/11/2020
List of acronyms: JK = Jean Kechely, IN = interviewer
Background: Jean Kechely is my grandmother, an avid tennis player who spends the winter months in La Quinta, California. The purpose of this interview was to gain insight into how the retired population has responded to COVID-19, and to get her personal perspective on how COVID has affected her life.
IN: Hello Grandma! Thank you so much for participating in this interview about your experience during COVID-19. I appreciate your time, and look forward to hearing your thoughts on the pandemic. Before we get started, could you tell me about where you’re living now, and maybe a bit about what your life there was like before the pandemic started?
JK: I’m staying in La Quinta, at my home that I spend winter months in. When I came down this season, of course we were in the thick of it. It actually started last season when I was here. January and February were kind of normal, and then we had one large event - I think about 20 or 25 thousand people come to it annually- called the La Quinta Arts Festival. I do volunteer work there, and it was a lot of fun, but that was the very last event where there were large numbers of people.
The following day - [the festival] was March 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th- they made an announcement that the big tennis tournament, called the BNP, was going to be cancelled. That meant all the world class players, like Roger Federer and all of the big ones, would not be coming. That was totally unexpected, and they felt they had no choice, that they would be endangering their health, if they came. A lot of people were inconvenienced tremendously because they had come from all over the country, and had hotel or Airbnb reservations made ahead of time and had spent a lot of money just buying their tickets.
And of course the community in this area of the desert really loses out on a major event. That event, over a period of two weeks, generates a crowd of 450-500,000 people, which is a huge economic impact to a relatively small geographic area. So that was pretty amazing, but you had to take it in stride. However, things went on, but there were no big get togethers. I live in a community that likes to have social activities -there are two hundred and eighty eight home in my area- and we have a wine party every months, the ladies get together for ladie’s luncheons once a month, and those events were all cancelled at the beginning of the year and are still cancelled. We don’t have any idea when they are going to be resumed.
IN: It sounds like being surrounded by people who have similar interests and social circles is a really valuable source of contact. I’d like to hear a bit more about what it’s been like to have those circles somewhat shut off from you- how have you perceived the change, and what has the pandemic meant for you and your friends as far as how you can socialize? How have you adapted to social life during the pandemic?
JK: Well actually, I would have to tell you that I feel very minimally impacted due to being a retired person and in excellent help, which enables me to engage in the normal activities that I enjoy, which I would describe as healthful recreation. I still play tennis three times a week, and my tennis club had to make a couple of changes. They require all of us members to wear a mask when we enter the property, but once we’re on the court and actually playing then we can remove our masks. Another big change was that we could not invite any guests to the club; that was something that we all enjoyed doing, but they felt that they couldn’t allow that. So, that’s how it still is right now.
IN: As far as your companions in the club, are you all fairly like minded in your reactions, or are there differences in people’s opinion on how to respond to the virus?
JK: Oh, there are many, many differences. Some people feel that they just don’t know what to believe about it. They don’t know what advice to follow, so anything that is actually mandated by the government, then we have to follow that to be good citizens. Several of the women with whom I play would have an adult child tell them “Well Mom, I don’t think you should be playing any longer because you have no control over where those people are going, or with whom they’re associating”. So, I’ve had a couple of players that I know stop playing, though now they’re back.
There are a lot of people from Canada who are members of my tennis club. As soon as this started happening, I’d say around February, they left quickly to return to Canada because they were afraid that the borders would be closed down. This year almose none of them have come back, and the composition of our membership is greatly reduced and very changed. There is one Canadian couple who did fly down, quarantined for two weeks and had their car shipped down, which they’d never done before.
Around here, a lot of the women are middle aged, fifty or older, and I am considerably older. Some of them didn’t even feel comfortable visiting each other’s homes, but some were so bored and needed socialization since they couldn’t do their regular activities that they were willing to go to somebody else’s house here in the neighborhood. I have a couple of friends who come over once a week to play Rummikub or Scrabble.
One of my good friends has been volunteering for eleven years as an usher for the McCallum Theatre. They get top entertainment for very short runs, maybe only a weekend or an evening, but they have top entertainers like Rhonda Fleming, for example. She is dreadfully missing the wonderful entertainment that she got to see, and misses the people with whom she used to work as an usher. There’s still no idea of when they will be able to resume, since entertainment contracts like those are created at least a year ahead of time. That’s been a big loss for her to not have that. She’s someone who comes over and plays Rummikub or Scrabble with me.
IN: It seems quite valuable to have a close circle of friends that you can get together with. Our social lives are very important and have a significant impact on our mental health.
JK: And especially as you get older, they say that socialization is very important to help maintain your psychological health. I feel very fortunate that I can do this, and am very happy that there are some women in the area willing to go out and go to somebody else’s house. But I know there are a few who still don’t feel comfortable leaving their own homes, and it must be very difficult to them.
IN: I’m interested in your perspective on the relative levels of safety and comfort that people have around protecting themselves from the virus. From what I’ve heard, the virus is more dangerous to people who are immunocompromised or older. I’ve seen a few submissions to the Journal of the Plague Year that center around older people who have a lot of apprehension of the virus, and many of them have taken drastic measures to protect themselves. As someone who is older, do you consider yourself to be vulnerable to COVID, and what is your attitude towards the virus?
JK: Well age-wise of course I am vulnerable, but fortunately I do not have any underlying immune problems and am grateful for having such good health. I realize how difficult this pandemic has been for so many American families- parents are trying to keep an income stream, many of them have school-aged children at home and have to supervise their schoolwork, and try to keep the family engaged in outdoor activities. It’s almost too much to expect of a great many families, especially when it’s gone on since February or March and accompanied by harsh lockdown measures.
A lot of people that I talk to are not certain that the advice they were given at the beginning [of the pandemic] has been accurate. They feel that a lot of the advice handed down by government bodies has been inaccurate. But you can’t blame them, since this is the first time such a thing has happened in our lifetimes, and everybody is having to go carefully and listen to what is advised. If you are a responsible person you listen to the advice, since these are the people who are in the NHI and the CDC and we should listen to what they think is best. A lot of people say, “We’ve been misled and don’t know what to believe”.
I think with the mask thing there’s been a lot of resistance, and of course when you have your president so often appearing in public without his mask, that sends a poor message. I think that wearing a mask is a very small thing to ask of a person, whether it’s going to help other people or yourself- it’s such an easy thing and we should all be willing to do it.
IN: I think so too, and on that note would like to bring up how the virus has been politicized, especially as it’s occurred during an election year, and how our governmental bodies have taken strategic stances on it. If you recall, back in March there were conflicting news articles about the subject of wearing a mask- some of then claimed that wearing one would increase your chances of getting it, or make it harder for medical workers to get the masks they needed. There was so much conflicting advice in the news, and I think that really impacted people’s perception of the virus and made it much harder to for them to know how to respond.
Living in a community where people are from different areas and backgrounds must have given you an interesting view into the different ways that people perceive the virus.
JK: I do hope that we can have this vaccine soon, but even with that there are many people who say that they won’t get the vaccine until its proven to be safe and effective. And I do understand that, but am glad that it will be made available first to healthcare workers and elderly people in nursing homes.
IN: On that topic, some of the stories coming from nursing homes are heartbreaking, especially since they’ve had to be strict about limiting visitors. Living in isolation is hard for anyone, but living in a community away from your friends and family must make it a level of magnitude more difficult.
JK: Oh yes. I have one of my friends whose husband is- was- in an Alzheimer’s care facility, and she would visit him every Tuesday and Thursday for over a year. When COVID-19 hit, the facility would not allow any visitors, even family. That was very hard for her, but they were able to arrange telephone and Zoom visits so she could actually see him. He passed away before I was abel to come down for the season, and I was very, very saddened for her.
IN: The amount of suffering that people have had to endure is astonishing, and I hope that having a record of people’s experiences during the pandemic can help us to remember what people went through and maybe help us do better in the future. I sincerely appreciate that you’ve participated in this interview to share with the Journal of the Plague Year, and thank you so much for having this conversation with me.
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2020-12-12
In January of 2020, life was normal. No masks, no constant hand sanitizer and no social distancing. Everyone had regular schedules. Mine consisted of school, soccer and seeing friends on the weekends. It was not until I was on a family vacation that I found out about the virus. It didn't really sink in until the day our school announced a two week quarantine. I expected it to be a short two week break and then life would go back to our normal routines. As quarantine kept getting extended, I knew that Covid was not going anywhere for a while.
