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
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.