A temporary planned power outage will take place on Wednesday, Oct. 25 at St. Mary's Memorial Hospital in Sherbrooke. The outage is necessary to perform required maintenance. It will begin at 8 a.m. on Wednesday and will last until 4 p.m.
To accommodate the outage, the hospital's emergency department will be closed from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesday. Sherbrooke residents requiring emergency services should call 911. For non-urgent care, they should contact their family doctor/primary care provider or call 811 to speak to a registered nurse. The provincial Mental Health and Addictions Crisis Line can also be reached 24/7 by calling 1-888-429-8167.
Outpatient appointments scheduled for lab (blood collection), diagnostic imaging (x-ray), rehab services, primary care and clinics like foot care, diabetes, etc. are cancelled for Wednesday and are being rescheduled.
During the outage, inpatient services will not be affected by the loss of power. Staff will still provide care and medication to patients. There will also be no impact to the phone system during this time.
A team will be onsite during the shutdown to address any concerns.
Measures for respiratory viruses including wearing a non-medical mask, good hand hygiene, etc. will also be in place.
Nova Scotia Health appreciates your patience and cooperation while the outage is underway.
A Toronto Public Health nurse draws a Pfizer dose into a syringe, at a Toronto vaccination clinic on Feb. 3, 2022.Fred Lum/the Globe and Mail
Inadequate messaging about the importance of getting an updated COVID-19 vaccine could lead to more severe outcomes this fall and winter, particularly among those who are elderly, pregnant or who have other vulnerabilities, some experts say as cases and hospitalizations creep up.
Sabina Vohra-Miller, founder of Unambiguous Science, an online platform that aims to provide important information about COVID and other health issues said she receives around 100 messages a day from people looking for information on the updated vaccine that offers protection against the subvariants that are currently dominant.
“There is a lot of confusion with the vaccine rollout this year,” said Ms. Vohra-Miller, who is also a doctoral student at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health. “Going into our third vaccine season, we should have been better prepared for all these scenarios and we’re not.”
Many of her followers have young children, and it’s been particularly challenging for them to find information or vaccine appointments because of low uptake in kids, which has led some pharmacies or doctors offices to no longer offer it: “They are eager to get the vaccine, but they don’t know where to get it.”
COVID surveillance has decreased across the country since the peak of the pandemic. But data that are collected show that, in recent weeks, there has been an increase in cases and hospitalizations. In Ontario, for instance, there were 167 new COVID hospital admissions in the week ending Oct. 14, along with 27 new deaths.
Part of the problem, according to Ms. Vohra-Miller, is the disconnect in the messaging. Health officials rarely speak about COVID now and it’s often dismissed as a minor health issue, leading some to tune out messages when new vaccines are offered, she said.
Health Canada has approved two mRNA vaccines that target the XBB.1.5 subvariant, which was dominant earlier this year. However, evidence shows the vaccine also provides strong protection against strains currently in circulation, such as EG.5. Novavax has also submitted its protein-based vaccine, which also targets XBB.1.5, to Health Canada for approval.
According to the federal department, 9.3 million doses of the Pfizer and Moderna XBB.1.5 shots have arrived in Canada, and 8.7 million of those have been delivered to provinces and territories.
Several provinces and municipal health offices declined interview requests, saying it’s too early in the season to provide a perspective on how the rollout is going.
Alex Summers, medical officer of health for the Middlesex-London Health Unit in southwestern Ontario, said in a statement that there has been “steady demand” for the XBB.1.5 shot at a number of mass vaccination clinics run there. As of last week, the health unit had administered more than 3,000 doses at its vaccine clinics, with about 85 per cent of participants opting for a flu shot at the same time, he wrote.
Dawn Bowdish, Canada Research Chair in aging and immunity at McMaster University in Hamilton, said lack of outreach from overworked family doctors or underfunded public health units means that people who are overdue for an updated shot may not even realize it, inadvertently putting them at risk this season.
“There’s a whole group of people who aren’t vaccine hesitant. It’s just no one told them they should get an update,” Dr. Bowdish said.
She highlighted the exceptional rollout of the vaccine to people living in long-term care and other high-risk groups. But noted that in order to better protect the most vulnerable, it would be ideal to keep COVID levels in the community low.
For some, actually booking an appointment has proven difficult. Dr. Bowdish recounted the story of how she and her husband tried to help some elderly family members who live in the Niagara region book their XBB.1.5 shot. According to the region’s social media pages, appointments were available, but the online booking site showed no spots. Dr. Bowdish and her husband ended up driving to the public-health office to figure out how to get their vulnerable relatives their vaccinations.
But she doesn’t blame the health unit, knowing that they are doing the best with the limited resources the province has given: “Somebody’s got to keep those websites up-to-date, and somebody’s got to answer those phones and in the funding situation they’re in, that’s just not possible.”
There have been some reports in Canada of people getting an older COVID vaccine in recent weeks, despite wanting the updated XBB shot. In the U.S., earlier versions of the COVID vaccine have been deauthorized, meaning they can no longer be given. Health Canada spokesperson Nicholas Janveau said in an e-mail that it would be up to the manufacturer to withdraw its vaccine in the market in Canada.
P.E.I. is one of just two provinces in Canada that allow people 40 and older to self refer for breast cancer screening, but health officials are having a hard time getting people to come back after their first mammogram.
That's despite the fact that Health P.E.I. sends reminders in the mail when it's time to get checked again.
Gailyne MacPherson, the provincial director of diagnostic imaging for Health P.E.I., said it's a trend they started seeing only in the last year or two.
"We send out three reminders for you to book your mammogram, and then after three, we don't send them out anymore if there's been no contact," she said.
She's wondering if the problem involves changing habits with regard to the postal system.
"I used to check my mailbox every day. Now I hardly check my mailbox. And you know, lots of people, the younger they are, the less they check their mailboxes."
A mammogram is an X-ray picture of the breast that is used to screen for cancer. (CBC News)
Health P.E.I. is considering sending screening mammogram reminders by email or phone to see if that will bring better results, MacPherson said.
The province's screening frequency guidelines for breast cancer go into detail about how often people should report for mammograms, depending on their age as well as their personal and family cancer history.
The U.S.-based Breast Cancer Research Foundation estimates that one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime, as well as one in 833 men.
October 23, 2023 - The Thunder Bay District Health Unit (TBDHU) and St. Joseph’s Care Group, located at 35 Algoma St. N, confirm that a respiratory outbreak (COVID-19), has been declared at St. Joseph’s Hospital – 5 North - Geriatric Assessment & Rehabilitative Care, as of October 22, 2023.
There are restrictions on admissions, transfers, discharges, social activities and visitation in the affected area of the facility until further notice. Please call the facility for more information.
TBDHU recommends the public refrain from visiting hospitals, long-term care facilities and other high risk settings when feeling unwell to avoid spreading infections to those most vulnerable and at higher risk of severe outcomes.
The Health Unit reminds the public that they can prevent getting and spreading infections by:
Staying at home when sick.
Wearing a well-fitted mask in indoor spaces, especially when around vulnerable people or when recovering from illness.
Keeping up-to-date with influenza and COVID-19 vaccinations.
Washing hands often, for at least 20 seconds with soap and warm water, or by using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
Covering coughs/sneezes with the upper sleeve if no tissue is available.
Being familiar with the Ontario screening tool, to self-assess and know what to do next.
Respiratory Outbreak Declared: St. Joseph’s Hospital – 5 North - Geriatric Assessment & Rehabilitative Care - Thunder Bay District Health Unit Read More
An outbreak of avian flu has been reported on a Chilliwack poultry farm.
It’s the first confirmation of the presence of highly pathogenic avian influenza in B.C. this fall, according to a Oct. 21 order of a primary control zone declared by Canadian Federal Inspection Agency (CFIA).
The outbreak is on a commercial egg farm in Chilliwack, where 8,000 layers were producing free-range eggs, said Amanda Brittain, information officer with the B.C. Poultry Association.
“We’ve been expecting this,” Brittain said. “We know that avian influenza moves with the fall migration of wild birds.”
Humane euthanization of the infected chickens took place in Chilliwack on Oct. 22.
Poultry producers are moving to “red-level biosecurity regulations,” in response.
“That means all farmers are taking extra precautions to keep their flocks safe,” she said.
The Ottawa Hospital says it is restricting tap water in two units at its General Campus following the discovery of two cases of legionellosis.
A statement from the Ottawa Hospital says the 5 East and 5 West units are affected.
"We are working with care teams to ensure alternative water sources are available during this time, to minimize the impact on patient care," the statement says.
"We are also working closely with public health and environmental experts to determine next steps to remediate the issue as soon as possible."
According to Ottawa Public Health, legionellosis is an infection of the lungs caused by the Legionella bacteria. It can cause two types of infections: Legionnaires' disease, which is a severe type of pneumonia, and Pontiac fever, which is a milder, flu-like illness.
"Legionella is not spread from person to person; it lives in water and may infect people who inhale water droplets from a contaminated water supply," the Ottawa Hospital says. "For people with healthy immune systems the risk is low, but for those that have a suppressed immune system there is a greater risk of infection."
It's unclear when the restriction on tap water will be lifted at the hospital, but staff say they will continue to update patients and families as information becomes available.
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