Tuesday, January 17, 2023 | Kaiser Health News

Tuesday, January 17, 2023 | Kaiser Health News

Airplane Wastewater Screening Among Tools Used To Keep Up With Variants

Efforts to scan for potential new covid variants include bio surveillance for international passengers at U.S. airports — including airplane bathroom waste. Meanwhile, CIDRAP covers a relevant statistic: nearly 1 in 4 screened air passengers from China were covid positive.


NPR:
U.S. Airport Screening For COVID Variants Expanded


It’s early morning at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C.,and Ana Valdez is already hard at work at one of the international gates. “Hello everybody. Welcome,” she shouts with a big smile as arriving travelers flood through two large swinging doors. “Do you like to help the CDC to find new variants for COVID?” Valdez works for a year-old program that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently expanded to try to spot new variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, coming into the country. The most recent expansion was prompted by China’s abrupt decision to abandon its zero-COVID policy. (Stein, 1/14)


CIDRAP:
Almost A Fourth Of Air Passengers Screened From China Had COVID-19, Report Reveals 


Italian officials who screened 556 airline passengers from two Chinese provinces in late December found that almost a quarter of them tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, with one flight having 42{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} of passengers infected, according to a report yesterday in Eurosurveillance. (Wappes, 1/13)

In related news from China —


Reuters:
In China, Doctors Say They Are Discouraged From Citing COVID On Death Certificates 


During a busy shift at the height of Beijing’s COVID wave, a physician at a private hospital saw a printed notice in the emergency department: doctors should “try not to” write COVID-induced respiratory failure on death certificates. Instead, if the deceased had an underlying disease, that should be named as the main cause of death, according to the notice, a copy of which was seen by Reuters. (Pollard and Tham, 1/17)


Reuters:
In China, No Easy Way To Get Pfizer’s COVID Drug Paxlovid 


Chinese authorities have acknowledged that supplies of Paxlovid are still insufficient to meet demand, even as Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said last week that thousands of courses of the treatment were shipped to the country last year and in the past couple of weeks millions more were shipped. (Yu and Pollard, 1/15)

Maternal Death Risks Increase With Covid Infection During Pregnancy: Study

New research identifies other dangers that covid can cause for patients who are pregnant, including a greater risk of being admitted to an intensive care unit and developing pneumonia. The chances of preterm birth and other severe outcomes are also higher for newborns.


The Washington Post:
Covid During Pregnancy Increases Risk Of Maternal Death 


Pregnant people infected with the coronavirus have a seven times higher risk of dying compared with pregnant individuals who are not infected, a finding that arrives amid renewed calls for vaccination of those who are expecting a baby. Researchers, whose findings were published Monday in the journal BMJ Global Health, pooled patient data from more than 13,000 pregnant individuals included in 12 studies from 12 countries, including the United States. Along with a higher death rate, infected pregnant people had a greater risk of being admitted to an intensive care unit, needing a ventilator or developing pneumonia if they have a coronavirus infection. (Malhi, 1/16)

In other covid research —


The Wall Street Journal:
Exercise Helps Blunt The Effects Of Covid-19, Study Suggests 


People who exercise regularly had lower rates of hospitalization and death from Covid-19 in a study published recently in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. … This latest study goes a step further and suggests that even people whose age or health conditions make them higher-risk have better outcomes if they are regular exercisers. (Janin, 1/16)

More on the spread of covid —


Fox News:
Omicron Subvariant XBB.1.5 Possibly More Likely To Infect Those Who Are Vaccinated, Officials Say


“Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 now accounts for 73{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} of all sequenced COVID-19 cases in NYC,” the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene tweeted on Friday. “XBB.1.5 is the most transmissible form of COVID-19 that we know of to date and may be more likely to infect people who have been vaccinated or already had COVID-19.” (Musto, 1/14)


Axios:
WHO Questions Severity Of XBB.1.5 COVID Subvariant As U.S. Cases Rise


The Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 is still gaining ground within the United States, accounting for at least 43{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} of sequenced cases from the last week, according to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (Scribner, 1/14)


The Atlantic:
Let’s Call XBB.1.5 The ‘Kraken’ Coronavirus Subvariant


A new subvariant of SARS-CoV-2 is rapidly taking over in the U.S.—the most transmissible that has ever been detected. It’s called XBB.1.5, in reference to its status as a hybrid of two prior strains of Omicron, BA.2.10.1 and BA.2.75. It’s also called “Kraken.” Not by everyone, though. The nickname Kraken was ginned up by an informal group of scientists on Twitter and has caught on at some—but only some—major news outlets. (Engber, 1/13)


San Francisco Chronicle:
Virus Spread Among Animals “Much Wider Than Previously Thought”


The coronavirus has been detected in nearly 400 domestic pets, including cats and dogs, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It has also been detected in captive zoo animals such as tigers, lions, gorillas, snow leopards, and otters. But experts say transmission among wild species is also common, even though federal officials have so far only detected the virus that causes COVID-19 in three so far —mink, mule deer, and white-tailed deer. (Vaziri, 1/13)

On long covid —


The Washington Post:
For Long Covid Fatigue, A Strategy Called “Pacing” Helps, But At A Cost 


What is it like to live with the chronic fatigue of long covid? It feels like dragging your body through wet cement, says Judy Schaefer, 58, a once avid hiker who lives in Seattle. It’s knowing that simple tasks, like showering or cooking dinner, will be exhausting, says Alyssa Minor, 36, a physiotherapist in Calgary. It’s trying to exercise and instead, landing in the ER, says Harry Leeming, 31, of London. (Morris, 1/16)

On the “tripledemic” —


Los Angeles Times:
‘Tripledemic’ Has These LAUSD Parents Seeking Mask Mandate


At the first sign of a sniffle or stormy weather ahead Lourdes Lopez keeps her 10-year-old daughter, Alison, home from school. Alison has Down syndrome and is more vulnerable to illness. A cold can be a major hardship, Lopez said, not only for her daughter but her entire family living in an overcrowded apartment in South Los Angeles. (Reyes-Velarde and Blume, 1/16)


CIDRAP:
US Flu Activity Declines Further 


Flu activity continues in the United States, but markers continue to decline across most of the country, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its weekly update, which covers the week ending Jan 7. The percentage of outpatient visits for flulike illness dropped from 5.4{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} to 4{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} last week. Twenty-three jurisdictions reported high (21) or very high (2) flu activity, another indicator of clinic visits for flu, down from 39 in the previous reporting week. Sites still reporting very high flu activity include New York City and New Mexico. (Schnirring, 1/13)

Tuesday, December 6, 2022 | Kaiser Health News

Tuesday, December 6, 2022 | Kaiser Health News

Flu Shots Are ‘Very Very good Match’ Fewer White Children Are Finding Them

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky explained Monday that this season’s flu shot should really present defense towards the strains that are at the moment circulating. In the meantime, Indiana’s most significant wellness method is restricting site visitors to control the unfold of flu and RSV.


St. Louis Public Radio:
Washington College Conducts Clinical Trial For MRNA Flu Shot


Experts at Washington College are looking for participants for a demo that would test if the very same form of vaccine utilized for the coronavirus could also operate on the flu. If an mRNA vaccine approach could function with the flu virus, it could indicate scientists could respond to illnesses a lot more rapidly, making more powerful vaccines greater matched to distinctive viral strains, scientists explained. (Fentem, 12/5)

A lot more on the distribute of flu, RSV, and strep —


AP:
Some Indiana Hospitals Prohibit Website visitors More than Flu Rates 


The hospitals in Indiana’s greatest health and fitness technique and in its most populous county have started customer limits due to the fact of a rise in documented scenarios of flu and other respiratory viruses, they introduced Monday. The limitations will go into impact by Tuesday at all IU Well being hospitals. They started Monday at all hospitals in Marion County, household to Indianapolis. (12/5)


United states Right now:
Medical practitioners Alert Flu Time Is ‘Fierce’ And Is Having Even worse. This is What To Know


Although the “tripledemic” – COVID-19, RSV and influenza – continues to be a issue in quite a few locations, gurus say the flu is starting to strike the place difficult. Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease professional at Vanderbilt University Healthcare Heart in Nashville, Tennessee, said he has seen the very first symptoms that RSV infections may well be stabilizing following an early jump, while COVID-19 is “smoldering.” (Rodriguez, 12/6)


United states Today:
Strep Throat Signs or symptoms: What Are The To start with Indications And How To Deal with It?


While the United Kingdom has described the deaths of six small children because of to strep A, U.S. health and fitness officials on Tuesday explained there hasn’t been a “noteworthy boost” in streptococcal illness right here. Regardless, it really is constantly fantastic to be prepared. Here’s everything you really should know about strep throat, from indicators to treatment method to unfold. (Kaufman, 12/5)

On drug shortages —


CIDRAP:
Shortages Of Medication To Take care of Kids’ Respiratory Health problems Troubling Health professionals, Parents 


Professionals fear that the absence of acetaminophen and ibuprofen to minimize signs could power mother and father to look for care for their kids at urgent-care centers and emergency departments. “It’s a enormous dilemma,” Kristina Powell, a Virginia pediatrician, told the Washington Put up. “Moms and dads run to Walmart or Goal, the shelves are empty. … This is likely to be a prolonged drop and winter season of viral infections.” (12/5)


CIDRAP:
Fda Chief Desires Pharma Corporations To Alert Of Need Spikes Forward Of Shortages


A US Food and Drug Administration (Food and drug administration) official needs pharmaceutical firms to start out reporting spikes in demand from customers for medicine in an exertion to reduce or relieve shortages, Endpoints News experiences. In a webinar final 7 days hosted by the nonprofit Alliance for a More powerful Food and drug administration, Valerie Jensen, RPh, affiliate director of the FDA’s Drug Scarcity Employees, famous expanding quality-connected problems and desire for specific medicines more than the past decade—but especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic. She termed on drug businesses to report demand spikes, despite the fact that they are presently essential only to report offer disruptions. (12/5)

Also —


The Atlantic:
The 12 months Without the need of Germs Adjusted Youngsters


In the spring of 2021, Brett Finlay, a microbiologist at the University of British Columbia, provided the earth a daring and stressing prediction. “My guess is that five many years from now we are heading to see a bolus of youngsters with bronchial asthma and obesity,” he advised Wired. Individuals kids, he reported, would be “the COVID kids”: those born just before or through the peak of the crisis, when the coronavirus was everywhere, and we cleaned everything for the reason that we did not want it to be. (Wu, 12/5)

Tuesday, November 22, 2022 | Kaiser Health News

Tuesday, November 22, 2022 | Kaiser Health News

Wellbeing Devices, Affected individual Care Impacted By Growing Claim Denial Prices

Modern Healthcare attracts attention to a “important” rise in denied coverage promises in excess of the previous year, which has enhanced administrative operate, lessened hospital money move, and delayed individual treatment. Independently, Axios stories on how health-related inflation is impacting huge businesses.

Extra on the value of coverage —


Stat:
The Scenario For Common Oral Wellbeing Coverage, In accordance To The WHO


On Friday, oral well being advocates across the globe acquired an early getaway present from their longtime wish lists. They had been waiting around their complete careers — for some STAT spoke with, up to approximately 50 {cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} a century — for oral well being to be folded into conversations calling for well being treatment accessibility for all. The Earth Health Organization’s new World Oral Health Status report took that 1st phase. (Castillo, 11/21)

In other wellness care business information —


Contemporary Health care:
Providence Closes 27 Southern California Retail Clinics


Renton, Washington-based Providence closed all 27 of its Providence ExpressCare services on Nov. 17 after the Southern California retail clinics posted “unprecedented operating losses” amid labor shortages, inflation, source chain disruption, reduce-than-predicted volumes and a extra aggressive retail clinic sector, the spokesperson mentioned. (Kacik, 11/21)


Stat:
Can Telehealth Enable Hospitals Mitigate The Local weather Crisis? 


As the globe stares down the barrel of weather alter, the health care technique — which is liable for about 9{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} of all U.S. greenhouse fuel emissions — is eventually beginning to consider action. Hospitals, in specific, are functioning to stem their impression, and have held up telehealth as a primary approach to lower down on carbon, by getting rid of thousands and thousands of miles of vacation to and from health care facilities. (Palmer, 11/22)


Fashionable Healthcare:
Atrium Overall health Hosts Yearly Expertise Exhibit For Workers


Atrium Health and fitness employees search for to place their skills on exhibit at function and on the stage. Each yr, the Charlotte, North Carolina-primarily based nonprofit health procedure invites its 70,000 personnel associates to take part in a expertise display, “Atrium Wellness Has Talent.” Clinicians, administrative staff members, leadership and other workforce members occur together from throughout the 40-hospital technique to showcase their competencies. (Berryman, 11/22)

In authorized news —


The New York Times:
A Botched Most cancers Exam, a Countrywide Scandal, and an Irish Hero


A subsequent formal inquiry revealed that at minimum 220 other Irish girls experienced also developed cervical cancer following getting unfavorable outcomes for point out-operate Pap smears that, a later evaluate showed, must have been flagged as most likely favourable. According to 221+, an advocacy group established by Vicky Phelan and other influenced women and their survivors, all around 30 of these women have since died. (O’Loughlin, 11/17)

MLB lockout: League sets new deadline for considering full season, could cancel more games Tuesday, per report

MLB lockout: League sets new deadline for considering full season, could cancel more games Tuesday, per report
mlb-lockout-8.png
Getty Images

Major League Baseball presented the MLB Players Association with a new set of collective bargaining proposal hypotheticals as part of a Zoom call on Monday, and did so while setting a new deadline to avoid further regular season game cancellations, according to The Athletic‘s Evan Drellich. The league’s latest self-imposed time limit will fall sometime on Tuesday evening. 

Commissioner Rob Manfred scrapped the first two series on the schedule this past week as the owner-imposed deadline entered a third month, and he is prepared to scrap another two series if the two sides fail to come to terms on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement by the deadline. 

In an interesting and predictable twist, the league has informed the union that it views Tuesday as the last chance for the season to be 162 games in length and for the players to receive both full pay and full service time. As Drellich noted, none of those aspects can be dictated unilaterally, and each is subject to further negotiation between the sides.

The two series that Manfred canceled last week could be added to the end of the schedule if an agreement is reached on Tuesday, according to USA Today‘s Bob Nightengale. The odds of the two sides reaching a new deal on Tuesday still seem unfavorable, though Nightengale added that the league’s self-imposed deadline could be pushed to Wednesday if there’s significant progress Tuesday. As Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweeted, one player briefed on the league’s call was told that the parameters remained “tilted in the league’s favor.”

The league did up its offer on the Competitive Balance Tax threshold to $228 million, per Drellich. The union has requested that it start at $238 million, but that’s the number the league would have it swell to over the course of the CBA. Previously, the league had been offering to begin the CBA with a tax threshold of $220 million. Drellich notes that the league’s offer has “major strings attached.”

Former Marlins president David Samson broke down the latest in the MLB lockout on Tuesday’s Nothing Personal with David Samson. Listen below:

As a reminder, here’s where things stood after the union’s latest proposal on Sunday that saw them cede ground on multiple matters, including the league’s ability to implement a pitch clock, larger bases and defensive positioning rules in 2023:

  • The union lowered its request on the pre-arbitration bonus pool from $85 million to $80 million. The owners previously proposed a $30 million central fund, meaning the gap there remains sizable at $50 million.
  • As mentioned above, the union ceded no ground on its request for the Competitive Balance Tax to begin at $238 million and grow to $263 million. The league had countered with a CBT threshold that starts at $220 million and slowly climbs to $230 million. That changed on Monday, with the league going up to $228 million to begin and $238 million to end. This has been arguably the hottest button issue in negotiations, with four owners reportedly voting no to the proposal based solely on the CBT threshold.
  • The union also made no movement on its ask for a higher league minimum salary of $725,000, with annual raises of $20,000. The league has offered a minimum of $700,000 with annual raises of $10,000.
  • The union wants a draft lottery to determine the top six picks every summer as a means of curbing anti-competitive behavior. The league wants that lottery to cover only the top five picks.

A league spokesperson released a statement on Sunday suggesting the union’s offer was a step backward. 

Coronavirus news and updates for Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2022

The latest coronavirus news from Canada and around the world Tuesday. This file will be updated throughout the day. Web links to longer stories if available.

6:20 p.m.: The province has distributed 9.1 million N95 masks for teachers and education staff in preparation for schools reopening next week, and there are plans to “regularly send new shipments over the coming weeks and months.”

“We have been preparing for the return of in-class learning on Monday, Jan. 17 by doing as much as we can to improve ventilation, provide high quality PPE and expand access to vaccinations,” Education Minister Stephen Lecce said in a written statement Tuesday, adding the province has also already shipped more than 4 million three-ply masks for students.

Lecce and Dr. Kieran Moore, the province’s chief medical officer of health, will hold a news conference Wednesday afternoon to discuss kids returning to schools.

“We have accelerated access to booster shots for education and child care staff by standing up over 10 more clinics in the past several days alone, in addition to providing access through mass-vaccination sites, pharmacies and other dedicated clinics. We are deploying an additional 3,000 stand-alone HEPA filter units to schools boards on top of the existing 70,000 HEPA filter units and other ventilation devices already in schools.,” Lecce also said.

Read the full story here: Ontario ships 9.1 million N95 masks to schools to prepare for Monday’s reopening

5:50 p.m.: Ontario is throwing hundreds of internationally trained nurses into the fight against COVID-19 as thousands of hospital staff call in sick or isolate daily and an Omicron wave of hospitalizations is expected to peak in early February.

About 300 nurses are being deployed to 50 high-need hospitals “immediately” to care for patients under supervision and work toward getting their licences in the province, Ontario Health chief executive Matthew Anderson said Tuesday.

They will be among the 6,000 extra health-care workers — including nursing students, medical students and other students from health-care programs — to join the COVID-19 effort by March 31, Health Minister Christine Elliott told a news conference as Ontario reported 80 new admissions to intensive care units, the highest daily increase of the pandemic.

“Every nurse matters. Every person that we can get to that front line of care makes a difference,” said Anderson, whose agency co-ordinates the many parts of Ontario’s health-care system.

Read the full story here: Ontario adds hundreds of foreign-trained nurses to pandemic-battered hospitals

5:40 p.m.: Prince Edward Island is reporting a series of outbreaks across the province as officials announced the second day of more than 300 new COVID-19 cases.

Chief medical officer Dr. Heather Morrison says nine early learning child-care centres across the province have reported outbreaks of the disease, seven of which were closed Tuesday.

Morrison also says clusters of cases have been found in a long-term care facility and within the population that regularly accesses shelters in the Charlottetown area.

She also reported 304 new cases of the disease, bringing the active case count in the province to 1,694.

Over the last seven days, P.E.I. has seen an average daily case count of 190.

There are now six people in hospital, including one in intensive care.

5:20 p.m.: With the Omicron variant raging throughout the province, the government has decided to hold firm and reopen schools on Jan. 17. The decision has split many parents. Some are happy schools are going to reopen quickly, while others are concerned they may not be safe. The government says it is taking measures to ensure safety for kids, but outbreaks and staff shortages are likely with the Omicron variant’s increased transmissibility. Are open schools better than the homebound alternative? That’s the question every parent of school age children in the province is wrestling with.

Listen to this episode of This Matters here: Today’s lesson: Why Ontario decided to reopen schools

4:45 p.m.: The Black Health Alliance says Quebec’s proposal to bring in a financial penalty for unvaccinated residents risks further entrenching inequities in Canada’s pandemic response and eroding trust in the government.

Quebec Premier François Legault announced Tuesday the province is working on a health-care “contribution” that would be charged to all adults who refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Provinces do not keep socioeconomic or race-based data about who has or hasn’t received a full slate of shots, but several health equity experts say there is evidence some have fallen through the cracks.

Black Health Alliance executive director Paul Bailey says the tax could punish people who have been hesitant to receive vaccines because of historic and present-day injustices, or face systemic barriers to accessing the vaccine.

He suggests instead doubling down on proven measures of combating vaccine hesitancy by engaging with people in a culturally responsive way.

He says a tax would only set those efforts backwards.

4:15 p.m.: New Brunswick’s chief epidemiologist says if current trends continue, the province could see 5,500 people testing positive each day for COVID-19 by the end of the month.

Mathieu Chalifoux told a news conference in Fredericton today that could result in nearly 220 people in hospital.

There are currently a record 88 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in the province, including 14 in intensive care and 11 on a ventilator.

Chief medical officer of health Dr. Jennifer Russell says New Brunswickers can help flatten the curve by further limiting their contacts.

The Edmundston Regional Hospital and the Saint John Regional Hospital are closing units and reallocating staff in an effort to deal with outbreaks in the hospitals.

There are currently 377 health-care workers who have tested positive for COVID-19 and are isolating, and officials say they expect the impact on front-line staff will increase in the coming weeks.

3:40 p.m.: Scientists are seeing signals that COVID-19′s alarming omicron wave may have peaked in Britain and is about to do the same in the U.S., at which point cases may start dropping off dramatically.

The reason: The variant has proved so wildly contagious that it may already be running out of people to infect, just a month and a half after it was first detected in South Africa.

“It’s going to come down as fast as it went up,” said Ali Mokdad, a professor of health metrics sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle.

At the same time, experts warn that much is still uncertain about how the next phase of the pandemic might unfold. The plateauing or ebbing in the two countries is not happening everywhere at the same time or at the same pace. And weeks or months of misery still lie ahead for patients and overwhelmed hospitals even if the drop-off comes to pass.

Read the full story here: Omicron may be headed for a rapid drop in US and Britain

3:30 p.m.: A Nova Scotia government official says 25 of the province’s 133 nursing homes are currently not accepting new admissions because of staffing issues partly caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Katelyn Randell, director of long-term care, told the legislature’s health committee today that the “pause” on admissions is to allow facilities to address what she says are “staffing gaps.”

Randell didn’t say how many workers are missing, saying the number changes almost daily.

She says the Department of Seniors and Long-Term Care has assigned more than 19 short-term replacement nurses to help at various facilities.

Meanwhile, health officials reported one new death in the province as a result of novel coronavirus — a man in his 80s in the Halifax area.

They also reported 15 new hospital admissions and 16 discharges bringing the total number of people in hospital due to an infection to 58, with four patients in intensive care.

2:25 p.m. (Update): Quebec is looking at taxing residents who don’t get vaccinated.

Premier François Legault dropped that bombshell Tuesday during a news conference ostensibly arranged to address the resignation a day earlier of his top public health official, Dr. Horacio Arruda.

But after briefly thanking Arruda and naming his replacement, Dr. Luc Boileau, the premier turned his thoughts to the surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations in his province and the number of Quebecers who remain unvaccinated.

“I’m announcing that we are currently working on a health-care contribution that will be charged to all adults in Quebec who refuse to get vaccinated,” said Legault.

“All people who are not vaccinated for non-medical reasons will have to pay a contribution,” Legault said.

He likened the contribution to the drug insurance coverage in Quebec, where, if a person’s employer doesn’t cover drug insurance, the person pays a contribution when they pay their taxes.

Legault said he would be working with his finance minister to sort out the logistics of such a contribution but that it would be a “significant amount.”

“Fifty dollars or $100, for me, is not significant,” said Legault. “But we haven’t yet set the amount.”

Read the full story here from Steve McKinley.

2:13 p.m.: Parents in Ontario are exhausted.

With schools closed yet again, working families everywhere have had to deal with the emotional rollercoaster of COVID-19 in schools. It’s been an education no one asked for.

The province has confirmed the province’s 2 million students will be back in classrooms next Monday. Ontario is distributing masks for teachers and students and working to improve filtration in classrooms, the education minister said on Tuesday.

New provincial guidance says that only students and teachers who show symptoms of COVID-19 while at school will have access to PCR tests once schools reopen to in-person learning.

The seven-page document from the Ministry of Health offers guidance on case, contact, and outbreak management for schools and child care settings, and includes new advice on PCR and and rapid antigen testing (RAT).

So, what are some of the things parents want to know before kids head back to school in-person? Send us your questions here.

Check out the reader submission form here.

2 p.m.: Teachers’ unions are expressing safety concerns ahead of schools reopening in Ontario next week, as the government sharply limits access to PCR tests for students and teachers.

Karen Brown, president of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, said while many teachers want to return to in-person learning and feel it is the “best way” to engage with students, some are still concerned about whether there will be enough safety measures in place by Monday to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in schools.

Her union and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation are calling for more HEPA filters in schools, reduced class sizes to promote physical distancing, along with COVID-19 testing, tracing and monitoring to ensure a safe return to schools.

Brown said she thinks parents should brace themselves “for a lot of interruptions.”

“What they’ve announced so far is not enough,” Brown added.

“We’re almost two years into this pandemic. Why are we still asking for those things? And we need to have testing, we need the rapid antigen testing happening, and the contract tracing to occur.”

1:55 p.m. Quebec Premier Francois Legault says adult residents who refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19 will be charged a financial penalty.

Legault made the announcement to reporters today in Montreal, adding that the levy will only apply to people who do not qualify for medical exemptions.

It is the first time a government in Canada has announced a financial penalty for people who refuse to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Legault says the amount of the penalty hasn’t been decided but will be “significant.”

More to come.

1:47 p.m. New Orleans will reinstitute an indoor mask mandate to fight the spread of COVID-19 while readying for an influx of visitors for the Mardi Gras season, the city health director said Tuesday.

Dr. Jennifer Avegno said the mandate takes effect Wednesday at 6 a.m. and will apply to participants in the annual Mardi Gras balls that take place in the city.

Avegno said Louisiana’s statewide coronavirus daily hospitalization numbers have grown in three weeks “by a factor of seven.” She said those cases have put a strain on hospitals, with emergency room waits as long as 12 hours in some facilities.

1:11 p.m. The province has distributed 1.9 million N95 masks for teachers and education staff in preparation for schools reopening next week, and there are plans to “regularly send new shipments over the coming weeks and months.”

“We have been preparing for the return of in-class learning on Monday, Jan. 17 by doing as much as we can to improve ventilation, provide high quality PPE and expand access to vaccinations,” Education Minister Stephen Lecce said in a written statement Tuesday, adding the province has also already shipped more than 4 million three-ply masks for students.

Lecce and Dr. Kieran Moore, the province’s chief medical officer of health, will hold a news conference Wednesday afternoon to discuss kids returning to schools.

Read the full story from the Star’s Robert Benzie and Kristin Rushowy

12:50 p.m. Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott says the province is deploying internationally educated nurses, nursing students and other health care professionals into hospitals and long-term-care homes which need staffing support.

More than 1,200 applicants have expressed interest in participating in the program.

Elliott says 2,500 ICU beds are available and can add another 500.

Ontario Health’s Matt Anderson says there has been a reduced demand on the PCR testing network in recent days.

Elliott says there will be PCR tests available for staff and students who are symptomatic while in the school setting itself. Take home PCR tests will be limited.

12:10 p.m. Toronto Zoo will be holding a mass booster vaccination clinic. The initiative will add over 5,000 daily jabs to the province’s booster campaign.

Education and child care staff will be prioritized. Priority time slots will be made available to education and child care staff outside of school hours. A special booking link is available on fhvax.com for education and child care staff to access.

The clinic will start on Jan. 12 and run seven days a week. Appointments are required in advance and can be booked at fhvax.com

“Your Toronto Zoo plays a vital role in supporting our community, and one of the best ways we can do that right now is by offering our Zoo as a mass booster vaccination location” says Dolf DeJong, Chief Executive Officer of the Toronto Zoo, in a release.

11:55 a.m. Quebec is reporting 62 more deaths attributed to coronavirus, pushing the total number of people killed by COVID-19 in the province to 12,028, the most in Canada.

The new data comes a day after the province’s public health director, Dr. Horacio Arruda, submitted his resignation to Premier François Legault.

Legault is scheduled to hold a news conference in Montreal at 1 p.m. today, where he will be accompanied by Arruda’s temporary replacement, Dr. Luc Boileau, the head of a government health-care research institution called the Institut national d’excellence en santé et services sociaux.

The Health Department says COVID-19-related hospitalizations rose by 188, to 2,742, after 433 people were admitted to hospital in the past 24 hours and 245 were discharged.

11:22 a.m. New school guidance from the Ontario government says that only certain students and teachers who show symptoms of COVID-19 will have access to PCR tests when schools reopen to in-person learning next week.

The Ministry of Health document says take-home PCR self-collection kits will only be provided to elementary and secondary students as well as education staff who become symptomatic while at school.

The test kits will only be given to students or staff who have fever or chills, a cough, shortness of breath or a loss of taste or smell, or two or more of the less common symptoms such as a runny nose, sore throat or muscle aches.

The ministry says PCR kits will not be provided to entire cohorts or school populations.

The document says those waiting for the result of a COVID-19 test, or who cannot access a test, must isolate at home regardless of vaccination status, along with others in their household.

10:35 a.m. (updated) Ontario is reporting 3,220 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and 477 people in intensive care.

There are 250 patients on ventilators due to COVID-19; 21 new virus-related deaths were reported.

The province reported 7,951 new cases, but Public Health Ontario says the real number is likely higher due to the current testing policy.

Health Minister Christine Elliott says the province will now distinguish between people admitted to the hospital due to a COVID-19 infection and people admitted for other reasons with COVID-19.

9:45 a.m. Justin Trudeau says Canada will have enough COVID-19 vaccines for all those eligible to receive a fourth dose if needed.

The prime minister spoke with provincial and territorial leaders yesterday, and a statement issued by his office says he assured them Canada has secured enough shots for a third and potential fourth round of vaccinations.

The statement says Ottawa will do all it can to help provinces and territories cope with the fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, as infections fuelled by the Omicron variant threaten to overwhelm health systems.

The federal government has said provinces and territories will receive a combined 140 million rapid tests this month, although the statement did not provide any new details on when the deliveries will be scheduled.

9:30 a.m. The Ontario government is expected to give an update Tuesday on the capacity of the province’s health-care system in the face of the fast-spreading Omicron variant of COVID-19.

Health Minister Christine Elliott is set to speak on the issue at 12:30 p.m., alongside the Matthew Anderson, the CEO of Ontario Health.

The province’s health-care system has been under growing strain in recent weeks due to the highly transmissible variant, which has also caused staffing shortages across several sectors.

The number of people in hospital with COVID-19 has skyrocketed, and there has been an overall surge in infections, even as the government limited access to testing to groups deemed more at risk.

Earlier this month, Premier Doug Ford invoked the potential for a “tsunami” of cases as he announced a temporary return to online learning for students.

9:20 a.m. According to the Ontario Hospital Association, Critical Care Services Ontario (CCSO) is now reporting at least 465 adult ICU patients with COVID-19 at provincial hospitals.

80 adults are newly admitted to intensive care with COVID-related critical illness, a single-day pandemic record for Ontario.

More people are now in Ontario ICUs with COVID-related critical illness than at the peak of the province’s deadliest second wave, around this time last year.

9:15 a.m. Between the deep freeze and the deluge of new COVID-19 cases connected to the Omicron variant, Mike Brown and his family thought it best to hunker down over the holidays.

There was a sense of relief on Dec. 30 when he heard his daughter would have a little more time before returning to her Grade 3 classroom after the Alberta government delayed reopening until Jan. 10.

The relief didn’t last long. This week, his daughter is back in school.

“I was hoping that there’d be some kind of a change … Why was last week not OK for her to go back and this week is as if, in my view, nothing has changed?” said Brown, whose daughter attends King George School in Calgary.

Read the full story from the Star’s Omar Mosleh and and Jeremy Nuttall

8:55 a.m. Poland has become the latest European nation to reach the sad milestone of 100,000 deaths related to the coronavirus.

Nearly a quarter of those deaths — some 24,000 — occurred in the most recent wave of infection that began in October, a period in which vaccines have been widely available in the European Union nation of 38 million people.

Health Minister Adam Niedzielski said Tuesday that 493 more people with COVID-19 had died, pushing the overall pandemic death toll to 100,254 in the central European nation.

8:45 a.m. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced a wave of public and political outrage on Tuesday over allegations that he and his staff flouted coronavirus lockdown rules by holding a garden party in 2020 while Britons were barred by law from mingling outside the home.

Opposition politicians called for a police investigation after broadcaster ITV published a leaked email invitation to “socially distanced drinks” in the garden of the prime minister’s Downing Street office and residence in May 2020. The email from the prime minister’s private secretary, Martin Reynolds, was sent to dozens of people and urged attendees to “bring your own booze.”

The event was scheduled for May 20, 2020 — the same day the government at a televised news conference reminded people they could only meet up with one person outside their household. London’s Metropolitan Police force also published reminders about the rules that day.

8:20 a.m. The urgent care centre at Peel Memorial Centre for Integrated Health and Wellness will be closed for at least three weeks, to direct staff and physicians to sites where demand is greatest.

William Osler Health System announced on Sunday, Jan. 9 the hospital would be closed until at least the end of day on Monday, Jan. 10. On Monday night, Osler announced Peel Memorial would be closed until at least Feb. 1.

Osler explained the decision was made as a result of “increasing volumes in Osler’s emergency departments and patients who require admission for care, further compounded by extreme capacity and staffing pressures.”

8:10 a.m. Novak Djokovic held a practice session on Tuesday, a day after he left immigration detention, focusing on defending his Australian Open title even while he still faces the prospect of deportation because he’s not vaccinated against COVID-19.

The top-ranked tennis star hit the show courts of Melbourne Park, where the tournament is held, within hours of winning a legal battle that allowed him to stay in the country.

At issue is whether he has a valid exemption to rules requiring vaccination to enter Australia since he recently recovered from COVID-19. A judge ruled Monday he could stay, but the immigration minister could still send him home.

There were also new questions raised Tuesday over an immigration form, on which he said he had not traveled in the 14 days before his flight to Australia. The Monte Carlo-based athlete was seen in Spain and Serbia in that two-week period.

7:20 a.m. As COVID-19 hospitalizations in Ontario hit pandemic highs, hospitals are racing to care for an influx of patients sick with a wider variety of symptoms and conditions, making this surge different from previous waves and placing additional stresses on a system already struggling to cope.

While patients are still being admitted with plummeting oxygen levels requiring breathing support — the typical COVID presentation seen in prior waves — a broader range of patients with the virus are also needing care.

Hospital leaders report COVID is now sickening greater numbers of elderly patients, people who are immunocompromised, those considered medically fragile and patients for whom the virus has exacerbated an underlying medical condition, such as heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or insulin-dependent diabetes.

Read the full story from the Star’s Megan Ogilvie

7:03 a.m. As Omicron sweeps through Ontario, it could take billions of dollars out of the province’s economy.

Economists say that’s the potential toll if 20 to 30 per cent of Ontario workers book off sick with the rapidly-spreading COVID-19 variant, as predicted by the province’s chief medical officer of health Dr. Kieran Moore.

“It’s certainly in the billions,” said David Macdonald, senior economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

While Moore’s prediction was meant to be across all sectors, some will fare worse than others when it comes to the economic impact from Omicron-related worker absences, Macdonald argued.

Read the full story from the Star’s Josh Rubin

5:32 a.m.: Justin Trudeau says Ottawa will do all it can to help provinces and territories cope with the fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, as infections fuelled by the Omicron variant threaten to overwhelm health systems.

The prime minister spoke with provincial and territorial leaders yesterday, and a statement issued by his office says he assured them that there are enough vaccine doses available for all eligible Canadians to receive third booster shots.

The federal government has said provinces and territories will receive a combined 140 million rapid tests this month, although the statement did not provide any new details on when the deliveries will be scheduled.

The statement says Trudeau also emphasized the need to promote support programs, such as the federal wage subsidy, to help people and businesses survive the latest lockdowns and public health restrictions.

The call with the First Ministers came as COVID-19 case numbers and hospitalizations continue to surge throughout Canada.

5:31 a.m.: A new poll suggests a slim majority of Canadians support the latest round of lockdowns and other government-imposed restrictions as the Omicron variant continue to fuel an explosion in new COVID-19 infections.

Fifty-six per cent of respondents in the poll conducted by Leger and the Association of Canadian Studies agreed governments are making the right decisions to limit the spread of Omicron and keep the health system from being overrun.

Another 31 per cent said they did not believe Omicron poses a serious health risk to most of those who are infected, and that governments should leave things open and let Canadians live with the risk.

The remaining 14 per cent said they did not know.

The results suggest there is a growing level of fatigue among Canadians when it comes to lockdowns, including among those who have been fully vaccinated, said Leger executive vice-president Christian Bourque.

5:31 a.m.: As Quebec officials consider tightening the rules for the unvaccinated, health experts in the province say expanding the vaccine passport system is justified because of the high number of COVID-19 patients in hospital who have refused to be jabbed.

Others, however, say the people who are rejecting COVID-19 vaccines are doing so out of ideology and likely won’t be swayed by the government’s latest restrictions.

Last week, Health Minister Christian Dubé said proof of vaccination will be required to shop at Quebec’s cannabis and liquor monopolies starting Jan. 18 and that the passport could be expanded further to include businesses such as shopping malls and personal care salons. Quebec’s College of Physicians on Friday said the vaccine passport should be required for places such as large department stores, libraries and museums.

Dubé has repeatedly said that about 10 per cent of Quebec adults are unvaccinated but represent about 50 per cent of COVID-19-related hospitalizations. But data published by the Health Department on Monday indicated that 32 per cent of the 4,094 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in the past 28 days had either been unvaccinated or were fewer than 14 days removed from their first dose.

Dr. Donald Vinh, an infectious disease specialist at McGill University Health Centre, said he supported an expanded vaccine passport system because it could encourage more people to get vaccinated. Any reduction in the number of COVID-19 patients in Quebec’s hospitals would help, he added.

5:29 a.m.: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced more allegations that he and his staff flouted coronavirus lockdown rules, this time by holding a garden party in 2020 while Britons were barred by law from mingling outside the home.

Opposition politicians called for a police investigation after broadcaster ITV published a leaked email invitation to “socially distanced drinks” in the garden of the prime minister’s Downing Street office and residence in May 2020. The email from the prime minister’s private secretary, Martin Reynolds, was sent to dozens of people and urged attendees to “bring your own booze.”

The event was scheduled for May 20, 2020 — the same day the government at a televised news conference reminded people they could only meet up with one person outside their household. London’s Metropolitan Police force published reminders about the rules on the same day.

During Britain’s first lockdown, which began in March 2020, gatherings were banned with a few exceptions, including work and funerals.

Johnson’s Conservative government has repeatedly been accused of flouting the rules it imposed on others.

5:29 a.m.: The head of the Serbian Orthodox Church Patriarch Porfirije has tested positive for COVID-19, the church said on Tuesday, amid a surge in infections in the country and elsewhere in the Balkan region.

Porfirije has developed “very mild symptoms of the virus infection” and remains in home isolation, said the statement. It added that Porfirije is carrying out administrative duties entirely without problems.

The 60-year-old patriarch became the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church after the previous patriarch, Irinej, died in November 2020 after contracting the coronavirus.

Porfirije on Sunday attended a mass ceremony in Republika Srpska, the Serb-run part of neighbouring Bosnia, where few people wore face masks.

5:28 a.m.: Poland has become the latest European nation to reach the grim milestone of 100,000 deaths related to the coronavirus.

Nearly a quarter of those deaths — some 24,000 — occurred in the most recent wave of infection that began in October, a period in which vaccines have been widely available in the European Union nation.

Health Minister Adam Niedzielski said early Tuesday that 493 deaths of people with COVID-19 had been registered in the past day, pushing the death toll to over 100,000.

The vast majority of the deaths are among people who have not been vaccinated. The vaccination rate in Poland is 55.8{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}.

Poland now joins Italy, the U.K, France and Germany as those European nations that have recorded 100,000 deaths.

Tuesday 5:26 a.m.: A third Chinese city has locked down its residents because of a COVID-19 outbreak, raising the number confined to their homes in China to about 20 million people.

It wasn’t clear how long the lockdown of Anyang city, home to 5.5 million, would last as a notice said it was being done to facilitate mass testing but did not indicate if it would end when the testing is completed.

Another 13 million people are locked down in the city of Xi’an and 1.1 million in Yuzhou.

Read Monday’s coronavirus news.

Biden speech Tuesday to unveil COVID steps, ‘warning’ for unvaccinated