COVID-19, other respiratory viruses sideline more Maritime health-care workers
A week-to-week increase in the number of Maritime health-care employees off work due to COVID-19 infections and exposures are adding to absences caused by early spikes in other respiratory viruses.
The Nova Scotia Health Authority is reporting 129 health-care workers unable to work due to COVID-19, compared to 107 employees the week before.
The IWK Health Centre in Halifax says it’s “seeing an increase in sick calls” but didn’t have a current tally of employees off work due to COVID-19 on Thursday.
On Prince Edward Island, Health PEI is reporting 20 health-care employees who are absent due to COVID-19, compared to seven last Thursday.
Between New Brunswick’s two health authorities, a total of 148 health-care workers are off duty due to COVID-19.
As of Tuesday, the Horizon Health Network is reporting 92 absent employees due to COVID-19, compared to 68 recorded on Nov. 22.
The Vitalité Health Network is reporting 56 employees off work due to COVID-19, compared to 31 the week before.
The statistics provided don’t account for absences attributed to other illnesses, including seasonal influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
“RSV and influenza are seeing an earlier rise than we normally, typically would,” says Dr. Leisha Hawker, President of Doctors Nova Scotia. “And I think we’ll just see a longer duration of the winter illnesses.”
Hawker says doctors, who are able to, are keeping up care through virtual means –- even when they’re ill.
“There’s two sides to that,” says Hawker. “On the one hand, it’s great because we’re not rebooking all of our patients and trying to fit them in the next week or two. But on the other hand, we’re not taking those full days off to really recover like we used to before the pandemic.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
WATCH LIVE As GC Strategies partner is admonished by MPs, RCMP confirms search warrant executed
The RCMP confirmed Wednesday it had executed a search warrant at an address registered to GC Strategies. This development comes as MPs are enacting an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power, summoning one of its contractors to appear before the House of Commons to be admonished publicly for failing to answer questions related to the ArriveCan app.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
Government proposes new policy for federally regulated employees to disconnect from work
In their 2024 budget, the federal government wants to amend the Canada Labour Code, so employers in federally regulated sectors will eliminate work-related communication with employees outside of scheduled hours. If implemented, this would affect roughly 500,000 across the country.
Earthquake jolts southern Japan
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 hit southern Japan late on Wednesday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, without issuing a tsunami warning.
Disappointment widespread over budget's proposed $200-month disability benefit funding
Advocacy groups across Canada are expressing widespread disappointment about the amount of funding earmarked in the 2024 federal budget for the long-awaited Canada Disability Benefit.