As more provinces scale back PCR testing for COVID-19 and the Omicron variant continues to surge, many people in Canada are relying on results from take-home rapid antigen tests, if they can get their hands on them.
However, in much of the country, rapid tests are going uncounted and are not included in official provincial case counts. Some medical experts are warning it's important to document those results to keep tabs on the pandemic's progress.
"We need it for a number of things," said Sally Otto, a UBC evolutionary biologist and member of B.C.'s COVID-19 Modelling Team.
"In order to predict when we're going to be at the peak, when we're going to be at the downside of this Omicron wave, we need to know how many people are infected. If we don't have a good sense of that, it's really hard to know, are we still at the beginning of this wave or are we at the end of this wave?"
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Manitoba says it is making take-home, self-administered rapid tests available at provincial testing sites. (David Horemans/CBC)
The tracking of positive results from rapid tests is extremely limited, with most jurisdictions forgoing any kind of reporting system, and it's getting more difficult for people to access other forms of testing in several parts of Canada.
On Thursday, for example, Ontario changed its testing guidelines to say people who receive positive results on rapid antigen tests no longer need to get PCR tests for confirmation. And as of Friday, the province is also limiting PCR testing to high-risk people who are symptomatic, vulnerable populations and workers in high-risk settings.
A patchwork of approaches to documenting rapid test results are in place in jurisdictions throughout Canada to document rapid test results, such as:
A piecemeal effort is not going to be as good.- Sally Otto, member of B.C.'s COVID-19 Modelling Team
"A piecemeal effort is not going to be as good in terms of the ability to have a good sense of actually how many people are infected right now, what's the predicted burden that's going to lead to with hospitalization and when will we be through this," Otto said.
"The best data we've had about the COVID pandemic has been from the United Kingdom and that's been because of their strong data analytic framework. They have data on cases linked to hospitalization and vaccination and that's world class," Otto said.
Next steps
Jarvis Schmid of Calgary tested positive for COVID-19 on a rapid test on Boxing Day.
After he processed the news, Schmid next wondered what he needed to do with his result.
Jarvis Schmid of Calgary tested positive for COVID-19 on a rapid test on Dec. 26. Unsure of what he should do with the result, he inputted it into his electronic medical records on his own. (Google Meet)
"I remember someone saying something about it's good to have these records on hand. What if you have long term symptoms or it helps with diagnoses?" said the 38-year-old, who has been isolating from his family.
There is no system to track rapid test results in Alberta so Schmid instead uploaded a photo of his rapid test along with the date he took the test into his electronic medical records.
"I understand they probably couldn't get something in place right away. I hope they end up putting something in place that you can easily log this. But right now it's a bit of a scramble mode," he said.
However, not everyone agrees a portal similar to what Schmid suggests would be helpful.
Dr. Stephanie Smith, an infectious diseases specialist at the University of Alberta, said that type of tracking would require people to be proactive about inputting their results.
"I think the time and effort and money it takes may not actually result in a huge amount of benefit in terms of giving us more information than what we have from the subset of people that are still getting PCR tested," Smith said.
Down the line
Dr. David Keegan, a family physician in Calgary, is concerned that insurance companies may not accept the results of a rapid antigen test for COVID-19 without confirmation from a PCR test result. (Google Meet)
Alberta family physician Dr. David Keegan said something is better than nothing when it comes to tracking rapid test results.
He's primarily concerned with the bureaucratic consequences for patients who only have a positive rapid test rather than PCR confirmation.
"Will disability, insurance companies accept those when later on, people are looking at long-term disability for benefits and for access to services? Will those self-reported results be accepted? We don't know," Keegan said.
"Let's hope they are. It would just be ideal if governments had figured out a way to gather such data, rapid test results objectively."
Watch: Don't trust a negative rapid test for New Year's parties, says specialist
Don't trust a negative rapid test for New Year's parties, says specialist
7 hours ago
Duration 1:37
Rapid COVID-19 tests are only about 50% reliable against the Omicron variant and should not be used to clear the way for a New Year's Eve party, says Dr. Peter Jüni, scientific director of Ontario's COVID-19 Science Advisory Table. (Alexandre Silberman/CBC) 1:37
Ontario’s top public health official says that the government still plans on distributing rapid tests “at a population level” but isn’t likely to have sufficient supply to do so until at least mid-January.
A select number of LCBOs that were given the kits to hand out before the holidays also ran out in less than a day.
In an interview with CP24 on Friday morning, Chief Medical Officer of Health. Dr. Kieran Moore said that the province still intends to distribute rapid tests but is dealing with dealing with a global supply issue that is likely to make them scarce for at least the next several weeks.
His comments come as a new policy limiting publicly-funded PCR testing to select high-risk individuals takes effect.
“It is absolutely in our plan to distribute more (rapid tests) at a population level to make them accessible and available now that we have to limit the PCR but please bear with us as we negotiate on the international market to have them available to Ontarians,” he said. “We anticipate second or third week of January that we'll have more to distribute. Right now we need them to protect our workplaces in long-term care, in cancer wards, in transplant centers where we're trying to protect patients by testing workers asymptomatically in those areas.”
The final planned pop-up sites to distribute rapid tests to the general public took place this morning at Hillcrest Mall in Richmond Hill and Upper Canada Mall in Newmarket. Hundreds of people lined up outside Hillcrest Mall hours ahead of time but the tests were all handed out within 30 minutes, leaving many disappointed.
It is unclear when the tests will be made available to most Ontarians again but Moore said that he anticipates the government will be able to make an announcement in “the coming weeks.”
In the meantime, he urged residents to continue to use caution and to isolate for a period of five days should they develop symptoms consistent with COVID-19. Residents who are not fully vaccinated should isolate for a period of 10 days.
“I don't necessarily have a crystal ball but we're absolutely accelerating throughout January. I do hope we'll be on the descent in February and in March we'll have population immunity plus immunity through our robust immunization strategy and head us off for spring and summer with a very strong protection at a population level,” Moore said of the weeks ahead. “So that's our hope. I do think January is going to be a rough month for us and we'll be watching the data closely.”
Those flying with WestJet should brace for changes to their travel plans
Author of the article:
Josh Aldrich
A WestJet Boeing 737 lands at the Calgary International Airport on Nov. 18, 2021.Gavin Young/Postmedia
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Those flying with WestJet should brace for changes to their travel plans.
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Interim CEO Harry Taylor announced Thursday that the “unpredictable” spread of the Omicron variant in the company’s workforce has led to a significant increase in delays and cancellations over the past 72 hours. The Calgary-based airline is now planning to consolidate 15 per cent of its flights through Jan. 31.
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“Despite all contingency planning, in addition to hiring back thousands of WestJetters to safely support peak operations, we find ourselves no longer able to predictably resource our planned schedule due to Omicron impact,” Taylor said in a news release.
“Schedule changes will be implemented over the coming days, and while consolidation is a last resort, it demonstrates the reality of the service we planned versus that we can now realistically deliver.”
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WestJet will prioritize the consolidation of flights that will have the least amount of disruption, and all affected travellers will be notified. Changes will be made across the board for WestJet, including to sunspot, international, trans-border and domestic flights, but they will focus on consolidating same-day flights and lower-demand markets.
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Refunds or the option to change plans will be available for WestJet-initiated cancellations or schedule changes where the change is greater than 90 minutes or one or more stops added.
WestJet was averaging about 450 flights a day in December, so the consolidations will affect about 65 flights a day in January. Pre-pandemic, the airline averaged more than 700 departures a day.
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Taylor called on support from federal and provincial governments to minimize disruption. He pointed to the Canadian airline system being the only fully vaccinated ecosystem and the most tested consumer sector in Canada.
“National alignment and standardization for our sector, similar to the approaches being taken by provinces to stabilize other essential services such as health care, would remove inconsistent provincial isolation requirements that are restricting staffing abilities,” he said.
The departure hall at Calgary International Airport (YYC) was photographed on Monday, December 27, 2021.Photo by Azin Ghaffari/Postmedia
Angela Mah, a spokeswoman for Air Canada, said in an emailed statement that approximately four per cent of its flights had been affected by weather and other service conditions, with customers automatically rebooked to travel within 24 hours.
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Air Canada has not announced widespread changes yet, but that does not mean they are not coming.
“For its 2022 schedule, Air Canada continues to evaluate and adjust its route network as required in response to the trajectory of the pandemic, government-imposed travel restrictions and quarantines, regulatory requirements and overall demand,” she said. “Affected customers will be contacted by Air Canada and offered options, including refunds for eligible customers and alternative routings where available.”
Rick Erickson, an aviation analyst based in Calgary, said all airlines are facing compounding issues due to Omicron. There are different and constantly evolving health regulations in each jurisdiction they fly into and it gets more complicated for international destinations. There are also issues with the spread of the virus putting strain on staffing levels while causing travellers to cancel their plans.
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He did say those on board a plane are actually in a safe situation due to the air-cleaning systems, comparing it to the environment in an operating room.
Still, cancellations are industry-wide, with thousands of flights being cancelled in the past week due to COVID-19 and weather conditions.
“This really adds to the uncertainty on the part of the traveller,” said Erickson. “If you’re going to a sunspot destination in a foreign jurisdiction, WestJet may only be flying there two to three, possibly four times a week . . . and if you are scheduled to come back on a Wednesday and that flight doesn’t leave Canada in the first place to go down to Mexico or the Caribbean, you’re not going to get on that flight on Wednesday.”
He said this often puts the onus on the traveller to come up with alternate plans, which can often be expensive and in short supply.
“Trying to find another last-minute ticket back could be both costly and, again, fraught with all kinds of misadventure,” said Erickson.
Applications are now open for the expanded Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit, the government said Thursday after adding most provinces and territories to the eligibility list.
The benefit, announced in November but expanded on Dec. 22, allows any worker to apply for the support if their workplace has been slapped with capacity-limiting restrictions of 50 per cent or more amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Eligible workers can receive $300 — $270 after taxes — for each one-week period until May 7, 2022. The expanded eligibility, however, only applies until Feb. 12, 2022.
To get the benefit, workers will also need to have lost 50 per cent or more of their income as a result of these capacity limits, according to the government.
Earlier this month, no province or territory met the criteria for residents to apply for the benefit, despite several of them having introduced new public health restrictions by then to curb the spread of the Omicron variant.
The eligibility list now includes every province and territory that has reduced capacity for bars, restaurants and other workplaces: British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador and Nunavut.
National Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier said in a statement Thursday that the government will expand eligibility to remaining regions once similar measures are introduced there. Officials in Saskatchewan and Yukon have publicly stated they would not introduce restrictions during the holiday season.
COVID-19: Freeland discusses details, qualifications for $300-a-week benefit
COVID-19: Freeland discusses details, qualifications for $300-a-week benefit – Dec 22, 2021
Bill C-2, which brought this new benefit to life, became law on Dec. 17. The benefit is the government’s latest temporary income support for Canadians who can’t work because of the pandemic. It follows past programs like the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) and the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB).
The number of confirmed active cases nationwide has now surged to over 230,000 thanks to the highly transmissible Omicron variant. On the day the benefit’s expansion was announced last week, there were about 72,000.
Further restrictions have been enacted by some provinces since then. On Thursday, Quebec reintroduced a nighttime curfew to try to curb the spike in COVID-19 cases, which surpassed 14,000 the same day.
Nunavut imposed a “circuit-breaker” lockdown on Christmas Eve after the Omicron variant was detected there among a surge in cases, while the Atlantic provinces have scaled back capacity limits on most businesses and gatherings.
Thanks to the language of Bill C-2, the government was able to immediately expand its COVID-19 benefits in reaction to these new restrictions — without having to pass any new legislation. As part of C-2, the government gave itself regulatory authorities that allowed it to temporarily expand the definition of a “lockdown,” Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland explained last week.
She said they expanded that definition to include capacity limits of 50 per cent or more.
“These expanded federal support measures will ensure that provinces and public health authorities across the country can continue to make the right difficult decisions they need to make to save lives,” Freeland said.
“The federal government will be there to financially support workers and businesses as we finish this fight.”
The Retail Council of Canada says labour shortages have dogged retailers throughout the pandemic but the recent sharp rise in infections has left many scrambling to adjust schedules and keep their doors open.
Michelle Wasylyshen, the industry group's national spokeswoman, says allowing employees to return to work sooner after they recover will ensure adequate staffing to maintain health and safety standards like frequent cleaning and enforcing mask mandates and capacity restrictions.
She says the province's announcement is welcome news for retailers who continue to contend with staffing shortages.
Ontario's chief medical officer of health Dr. Kieran Moore announced Thursday that the isolation period for most people with COVID-19 will drop to five days from 10 days.
Many retailers have responded to the industry-wide labour crunch by offering incentives such as higher wages, signing and retention bonuses and more flexible schedules.
Still, Wasylyshen says retailers are continuing to deal with staffing shortages, especially in distribution warehouses, customer service centres and transportation networks as online shopping remains high.
She says stiff competition for talent was particularly felt by retailers in the lead up to the holiday shopping season.
Statistics Canada figures show retail had one of the highest job vacancies among Canadian business sectors in October, the most recent month with data available.
Job vacancies in retail trade increased for the sixth month in a row to reach a record high vacancy rate of 6.3 per cent in October.
Ontario's decision to cut the isolation period in half follows a similar change by federal health officials in the United States earlier this week.
The province says the change to the required isolation period is based on growing evidence that generally healthy people with COVID-19 are most infectious in the two days before and three days after symptoms develop.
Ontario says individuals with COVID-19 who are vaccinated, as well as children under 12, will be required to isolate for five days following the onset of symptoms.
They can end isolation after five days if their symptoms are improved for at least 24 hours and all public health and safety measures, such as masking and physical distancing, are followed.
Individuals who are unvaccinated, partially vaccinated or immunocompromised will be required to isolate for 10 days.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 30, 2021.
Pauline Klimek says her 46-year-old husband Joe wasn't looking too good a little over a week ago.
He was working at his job in Hamilton's sewage industry when Klimek says Joe's boss sent him home to get a PCR COVID-19 test after seeing he was drowsy.
Having used up sick days earlier in the year, unless Joe took his vacation days, he wouldn't be able to return to work — or get paid — until he received a negative test result. But tests have been hard to come by.
"There were only three sites in Hamilton that were offering appointments," the Hamilton-area woman told CBC Hamilton on Wednesday.
After being sent home from work on Dec. 22, he got an appointment on Dec. 27. Klimek said they waited for more than an hour in the freezing rain at Mohawk College before getting the test.
Three days later, after two calls with "frustrating" long waits to the province to find out where the test results might be, Klimek finally got through Thursday.
Results were in, after more than a week of lost wages: the test was negative.
Demand outweighing testing ability, says city
Waiting has become a common experience among those trying to get PCR tests and the results, with many complaining online about the inability to book appointments.
The surge in demand follows soaring COVID-19 cases thanks to the Omicron variant's ability to spread at a fast pace.
Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario's chief medical officer of health, is set to make an announcement at 3 p.m. ET that may include "testing guidance" but specific details of the announcement are not yet known.
Meanwhile, City of Hamilton spokesperson Michelle Williams told CBC Hamilton testing centres aren't run by the city and operate under the direction of the province. According to the province, Ontario had 59,259 test samples waiting to be processed on Wednesday.
"Hamilton's health-care partners are doing extremely high volumes of COVID-19 testing," Williams wrote in an email.
"Even with the increased ability to test, demand for testing is far outweighing ability to keep up to the rapid increase in demand, and it is challenging for testing to happen in a timely way. This is a situation occurring in many communities across Ontario."
She also said anyone waiting for COVID-19 test results needs to self-isolate for 10 days and should inform close contacts if they develop symptoms.
If someone has mild symptoms, no underlying health conditions and doesn't work in high-risk settings (e.g. hospitals, congregate living, prisons, shelters) they don't need a PCR test and should assume they're positive, she said.
"Given the significant demand on centres, we ask that if individuals decide to cancel their appointments or cannot attend to please cancel the appointment online to give other individuals the ability to receive a test," Williams wrote.
Woman finds rapid test after pleading online
Getting rapid tests — which should be used for asymptomatic people and can only be considered a "preliminary positive," according to the province — has been a challenge for locals, too.
Earlier this month, the province supplied some LCBO locations with rapid tests, though the supply has since run out. It does host pop-up sites to hand some out, but the supply has not matched the demand.
Williams said local public health has no involvement in the province's pop-up testing blitz.
Hamilton resident Ashley Letts said she only got a rapid test after asking people online if they had a spare. (Submitted by Ashley Letts)
Hamilton resident Ashley Letts said she tried finding a rapid test after realizing the soonest PCR test would mean waiting a week-and-a-half.
She says she only had a sore throat, but wanted to be sure it wasn't Omicron. With no luck, she resorted to pleading with people on social media, asking if anyone had a test to sell or spare.
"It's ridiculous. I know we're in an unprecedented situation ... It doesn't make sense [that the province didn't] send the tests in the mail ... it's Hunger Games-y," Letts said.
Testing roll-out is inequitable: McMaster professor
Ameil Joseph, a member of the Hamilton Vaccine Readiness Network and a McMaster University associate professor with the faculty of social sciences, says the province's approach for COVID-19 testing doesn't do enough to consider which populations should be prioritized when it comes to access to testing.
"Who are most at risk? Where are we seeing more infections? Who should be prioritized? ... Without that kind of data and that kind of care, what we're looking at is the exacerbation of the existing inequities we've learned are getting worse throughout the pandemic and, of course, existed prior to that," he said.
He pointed to the fact that free tests are inaccessible, but options remain for those who can pay.
"It's a really messed up situation where those who now can't afford to pay $180 or so to get a PCR test, say at the Eaton Centre in Toronto, or pay $50 to get five rapid tests mailed to their house ... might not know if they're at risk to others or themselves."
Joseph said the city and the province need to invest more resources into public health and into higher risk populations. "We don't have collective understanding of who those folks are that are being disproportionately affected," he said.
Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore is set to hold a 3 p.m. ET news conference. CBC News will carry the announcement live in this story.
Ontario will push back the return to school to Wednesday, Jan.5, The Canadian Press reports, citing a senior government source.
Classes were set to resume as early as Monday in much of the province, but critics called for clarity on the back-to-school plan in light of the spike in COVID-19 cases.
According to The Canadian Press, the source says the province will deploy 3,000 more HEPA filter units to school boards in addition to the 70,000 it has already rolled out, and will also provide N95 masks to staff.
CBC News has asked Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce's office multiple times when an announcement will be made, but has not received an answer. CBC News has also asked whether teachers will be given N95 masks, with no response.
The Canadian Press also reports that seating capacity in concert venues, arenas and theatres will be limited to 1,000 people or 50 per cent capacity, whichever is less, starting Friday.
Ontario reported a pandemic high of 13,807 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday — far outpacing the previous record set on Wednesday and ahead of an expected announcement from the province's chief medical officer of health.
Infectious disease experts have said the actual number of new cases is likely far higher than those reported each day because many public health units in Ontario have reached their testing capacity.
The seven-day average of daily cases has topped 10,000 for the first time in the province, and now stands at 10,328. It is on pace to double every five days or so.
Positivity rates similarly continued to spike. Public Health Ontario logged a 30.5 per cent positivity rate Thursday on 67,301 tests, the highest level ever seen in the province. The previous three days saw rates of 26.9, 24.9 and 24.5 per cent, respectively.
As of Wednesday evening, there were 96,455 test samples in the backlog waiting to be completed — also a new pandemic high.
The number of patients with COVID-19 in hospitals climbed to 965, up from 726 on Wednesday and 440 at the same time last week.
There were also 200 people being treated for COVID-related illnesses in intensive care units, up from 169 last Thursday.
Minister of Health Christine Elliott said the province is working with hospitals to distinguish between patients admitted to hospitals and critical care because of COVID-19 and those who test positive while in care for other reasons. Daily data will soon reflect that distinction, she said.
The Health Ministry recorded the deaths of eight more people with the illness, pushing the official toll to 10,179.
Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore was supposed to hold a news conference on Tuesday, but it was postponed after U.S health officials cut isolation times for COVID-positive Americans from 10 to five days, and similarly shortened the time that close contacts need to quarantine.
Officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the guidance was in keeping with growing evidence that people with the coronavirus are most infectious in the two days before and three days after symptoms develop.
Like Ontario, many areas in the U.S. are experiencing dramatic increases in new COVID-19 cases. While early research suggests Omicron may cause less severe illness than previous variants, the sheer number of people becoming infected — and therefore having to isolate or quarantine — threatens to crush the ability of U.S. hospitals, airlines and other businesses to stay open, the CDC said.
The Ontario Ministry of Health said Moore wanted time to review the U.S. changes before announcing any revised policies for the province.
Omicron less likely to result in hospitalization or death: PHO
A new study from Public Health Ontario suggests that Omicron is indeed less likely to lead to hospitalization or death than the Delta variant, which drove the third wave in the province.
The agency identified 6,314 Omicron cases that saw symptoms emerge between Nov. 22 and Dec. 17, and matched them with Delta cases based on age, gender and onset date.
It found that after adjusting for vaccination status and region, the risk of hospitalization or death was 54 per cent lower in Omicron cases than Delta cases.
"Omicron appears to be the first dominant variant to demonstrate a decline in disease severity," the study said.
While severity may be reduced, due to the transmissibility of Omicron, the absolute number of hospitalizations and impact on the healthcare system is likely to be significant."
WATCH | Ontario parents anxious about back-to-school plans:
Ontario parents anxious as other provinces delay back-to-school return
16 hours ago
Duration 2:55
Ontario parents are anxious and frustrated about a lack of information as some other provinces delay the return to school amid skyrocketing COVID-19 case counts. 2:55
Back-to-school uncertainty
The ongoing surge in cases has some health experts and families wondering if Ontario's two million students will return to school for in-person learning next week, with critics expressing frustration that the province's plan is still clouded with uncertainty.
Some provinces have decided to prolong the winter break for some or all students, while others have opted to switch to virtual learning starting next week.
Premier Doug Ford said on Tuesday that his cabinet ministers would meet soon to finalize a plan.
"I know the minister [of health] has been sitting down at the table along with the minister of education ... and we will be having an announcement in the next couple of days," Ford said.
"But we just want to see how things go and obviously speak to the chief medical officer, Dr. [Kieran] Moore."
The Queensway Carleton Hospital says it will need to "slow down some services" this week as it deals with a temporary staffing shortage caused by COVID-19.
More than 40 staff members at the hospital in Ottawa's west end have tested positive for COVID-19. In a statement, the hospital said the positive cases are "primarily from household contact, creating staffing shortages in several areas."
The hospital says it will slow down services in Ambulatory Care, therapeutic services, Endo/Cysto, and other areas to redeploy staff.
"This week the operating room is currently performing only emergency and cancer surgeries and will re-assess next week’s plans on Monday," said the Queensway Carleton Hospital in a statement Wednesday evening.
As of Wednesday, the hospital was at 107 per cent occupancy, with a 141 per cent occupancy in medicine and 150 patients in isolation precautions.
“We appreciate how difficult this is for our patients whose care needs may be delayed. Please know, this isn’t a decision that was made lightly," said Kerry Cook, Vice-President of Patient Care and Interim Chief Nursing Executive.
"The team is working very hard to provide the highest quality care, and to return to normal operations as soon as we can."
The Queensway Carleton Hospital is asking people to save the emergency department for emergencies, and consider visiting family doctors and walk-in clinics for care.
If you do visit the emergency room, the hospital says prepare for "longer-than-usual waits."
"The Ottawa Hospital has a staffing plan in place, in line with Ministry of Health recommendations, that allows us to balance staffing levels while ensuring the safety of everyone in hospital," the statement said. "Staff who have a known exposure to COVID-19 follow a process through Occupational Health and Wellness that assesses their risk and the next steps they should take. For example, if staff have an exposure but are asymptomatic, they may be placed on work self-isolation. This means they are under several precautions when coming into work, such as regular temperature checks, wearing PPE at all times, taking breaks alone, and limiting their work to one area."
With files from CTV News Ottawa's Colton Praill and Ted Raymond
To address temporary staff shortages, we will need to slow down some services, including Amb Care, endo/cysto, therapeutic. We will re-evaluate surgeries on Monday. Our apologies to those it impacts. Please know, the team is working hard. https://t.co/qGwGpRdxiSpic.twitter.com/FE8ON7kCaj
— Queensway Carleton Hospital and Foundation (@QCHOttawa) December 30, 2021
Local officials are not sugarcoating the possibilities of what may happen to small businesses that are heavily impacted by absenteeism caused in the latest COVID-19 spike.
At the latest daily COVID update today, B.C. provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said that — while the province is working on guidelines for mildly ill workers to return to their jobs in key sectors such as health care, policing and firefighting — that option will likely not be available to the average store owner.
It means that a business may have to close if too many of its workers stay away from work voluntarily due to COVID symptoms, Henry said.
“It is a reality that, for some businesses, if they have a lot of people off sick who aren’t able to work, they will need to find ways to either have additional staff — or they may need to close,” Henry told reporters at the news conference Wednesday afternoon.
“That has been a reality through this pandemic.”
She noted the key is preventing the spread of COVID-19 — especially the highly contagious Omicron variant that has now pushed the province’s daily new case count near 3,000 — among workers at a place of employment. That means the onus is on the business owners themselves to not only ensure employees are vaccinated, but also that the “layers of protection” such as plexiglass, social distancing measures and cleaning procedures are in place.
“These are things we want to prevent,” Henry said about businesses having to close because of COVID-triggered absenteeism. “The best way to prevent them is to make sure everybody in your setting is vaccinated and that we have those COVID safety plans — that thinking that we had — that worked for us through the last part of these last 24 months... So going back to thinking about what we had in place before the vaccinations.”
The issue of COVID absenteeism and its effect on businesses came to the forefront recently during the Omicron wave in the United States, when Christmas Eve saw more than 2,000 flights delayed or cancelled due to pilots and flight attendants calling in sick because of contracting COVID-19.
The staff shortage caused by the absenteeism heavily disrupted travel during one of North America’s busiest travel seasons, while reports of similar, staff-shortage-driven disruptions were also seen in sectors such as live entertainment and restaurants/hospitality.
Henry did say that the province is looking at “fitness for work” for employees in the health-care setting to make sure the overall system can maintain “continuity of care.”
“Obviously, if somebody is sick — if it’s with COVID or with any other illness — we don’t want them in a workplace setting because it’s a risk to others,” she said.
“But there are certain settings where we need to have that balancing of continuity of care... So we need to look at what are the measures we need to have in place to ensure that — particularly people who have mild illness or are asymptomatic — are able to safely do work in those workplaces if needed.”
The Ottawa Paramedic Service has had an additional eight staff test positive after a social gathering at a restaurant in mid-December. With those additional cases, a total of 53 positive cases are linked to the gathering. Paramedics say at this time no patients in close contact with these staff have contracted COVID-19.
A Para Transpo driver has also tested positive for the illness, according to OC Transpo. The person last worked on Monday. The driver worked from 2:15 to 11:30 p.m. on Saturday on bus 5637 and from 11:30 a.m. to 8:15 p.m. on Monday on bus 5612. They did not work on Sunday.
Quebec's health minister Christian Dubé announced on Tuesday that some health-care workers in the province who have tested positive for COVID-19 or come in close contact with a confirmed case may remain on the job to protect hospital capacity.
Dubé also announced that Quebec will be widening the scope of its vaccine booster campaign. As of Jan. 4, Quebecers aged 55 to 59 can book online appointments. Appointments will open to a new age group every few days until Jan. 21.
Ottawa Public Health reported 653 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday.
As of Wednesday, Ottawa has had 39,823 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
There are 5,637 known active cases, while 33,665 cases are considered resolved and 621 people have died from the illness.
Local public health officials have reported more than 75,600 COVID-19 cases across eastern Ontario and western Quebec, including more than 62,700 cases now resolved. Elsewhere in eastern Ontario, 250 people with COVID-19 have died. In western Quebec, the death toll is 223.
Akwesasne has had more than 1,250 residents test positive for COVID-19 and has reported 18 deaths between its northern and southern sections.
People can prove their vaccine status with a paper document, a PDF file or a QR code. These documents have to have a QR code as of Jan. 4 and medical exemptions have to have one by Jan. 10.
Western Quebec
Private gatherings are limited to six people or two family bubbles indoors, while 20 people are allowed outside.
Schools, bars, gyms, spas and movie theatres are closed. Places of worship are restricted to 50 per cent capacity. Restaurants are limited to serving groups of six, or two family bubbles and can only open from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. No singing or dancing are allowed.
People play pond hockey on Brown's Inlet in Ottawa, on Christmas Day, Dec. 25, 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)
A vaccine passport is in place for most people age 13 and up in many public spaces. It won't apply to younger kids. People can use an app or show paper proof.
It really does look like swiss cheese! Public Health measures work together to close up the holes in our defenses and help prevent variants of concern like Omicron from spreading in the community. <a href="https://t.co/OgydlCXwm5">pic.twitter.com/OgydlCXwm5</a>
When and how long to self-isolate can vary by community, by testing availability, by the type of exposure and by vaccination status.
Health Canada recommends older adults and people with underlying medical conditions get help with errands and have supplies in case they need to isolate.
Travel
Travellers more than 12 years and four months old must now be fully vaccinated to board a plane, train or marine vessel in Canada.
Health Canada has approved Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine for children as young as five. Both local provinces generally recommend doses for kids age five to 11 be given at least eight weeks apart, with limited exceptions.
Some health units are limiting Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines to those under the age of 30.
The Pfizer <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID19Vaccine?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#COVID19Vaccine</a> will be reserved for those individuals under the age of 30 for 1st, 2nd and 3rd doses until further notice.<br><br>Mixing COVID-19 vaccines is safe, effective, and enables Ontarians to benefit from the protection of a booster dose.<a href="https://t.co/OhXjNCoGlm">https://t.co/OhXjNCoGlm</a> <a href="https://t.co/331NHwadf9">pic.twitter.com/331NHwadf9</a>
Everyone 18 and older in Ontario can now try to book third shots, though local resources don't always meet demand. The province has also shortened the interval required between second and third doses to 84 days.
People who are 60 and older can receive a third dose in Quebec, along with those who have certain health conditions.
There have been more than 4.1 million COVID-19 first, second and third vaccine doses administered in the wider Ottawa-Gatineau region, which has about 2.3 million residents.
Two pop-up locations open Thursday in Ottawa, at the Walter Baker Recreation Centre at 100 Malvern Dr. in Nepean, Starting at 10 a.m. and at the St. Laurent Shopping Centre at 1200 St. Laurent Blvd.
The Nepean location will also be open New Year's Eve.
Tests are strongly recommended for people with symptoms and their contacts.
People can make an appointment or see if they're near a walk-in option online. They can also call 1-877-644-4545 with questions during hours the line is running.
Maniwaki's test site is relocating to 57 route 105 as of today.
Gargle tests are offered in some places instead of a swab.
Tests are available in Pikwàkanagàn by calling 613-625-1175 and vaccines (including third doses) at 613-625-2259 extension 225 or by email.
Anyone in Tyendinaga who's interested in a test can call 613-967-3603 and should watch the website for dedicated vaccine clinics.
Inuit in Ottawa can call the Akausivik Inuit Family Health Team at 613-740-0999 for service, including testing and vaccines, in Inuktitut or English on weekdays.
When Alicia Dempster started her maternity leave in June 2019, she never dreamed that she would still be at home two and a half years later.
The Stouffville, Ont., woman fully intended to return to her job as an event planner for an area municipality after 15 months at home caring for her infant son and his toddler brother.
But COVID-19 derailed those plans. When her planned return-to-work date rolled around, the complete absence of public events meant the job she once had no longer existed. The alternative work her employer offered her — cutting grass and picking weeds with the parks department — seemed a poor match for her skills, so she opted to stay home "just a little longer."
Now, her sons are five and two and a half and the Omicron variant is on the rise.
Like many Canadian women, Dempster is not only concerned about how long she's been out of the workforce, but should she find a job, she knows she'll be juggling the demands of work and parenting, including COVID tests and mandatory isolation every time one of her children gets a cough or the sniffles.
While recent data suggests a jobs recovery for working age women, the statistics fail to capture the whole picture, one in which many women are still struggling to balance work and family life.
Job quality over quantity
Early in the pandemic, much was written about the disproportionate toll of COVID-19 on the finances and career prospects of Canadian women.
Female-dominated industries like accommodation and food services were the hardest-hit by restrictions and lockdowns, and many women also suffered from a lack of child care as daycares and schools shut down in those early months.
Even one year on, in March 2021, employment among women remained about 5.3 per cent below where it sat in February 2020, compared to a drop of about 3.7 per cent for men, according to a report from the Labour Market Information Council.
WATCH | How the pandemic has made employers more flexible for working parents:
Pandemic pushing employers to make work more flexible for parents
10 months ago
Duration 2:31
Over the past year, many women have either left their jobs or reduced their hours so they could take care of children during the pandemic. It has pushed some employers to look into how to make work more flexible for parents. 2:31
But as the economy gradually reopened over the summer and fall, women's prospects improved. Canada as a whole caught up with its pre-pandemic job numbers in September of this year, and according to Statistics Canada, the only age group of women that has yet to recover to its pre-pandemic employment level is the 55-plus category.
"Now if you look at younger women, their employment rate is higher than it was before the pandemic. A little more than one percentage point higher," said University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe.
"It's the same story for the 25-54 age group — their employment rate is one percentage point higher."
But Armine Yalnizyan, a Toronto-based economist and the Atkinson Foundation's Fellow on the Future of Workers, cautions against declaring the "she-cession" over. She pointed out that statistics offer an aggregate look at a population, and many individual women are still struggling with the impacts of the pandemic on their careers and finances.
In addition, Yalnizyan said, it's crucial to remember that Statistics Canada employment data only looks at the "quantity" of jobs, not "quality" — a key part of the story when it comes to COVID-19 and its affect on gender and the workforce.
According to Armine Yalnizyan, a Toronto-based economist and the Atkinson Foundation's Fellow on the Future of Workers, the question of the quality of work is 'really, really important to the question of what's been happening to women.' (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives)
"The quality of work question is really, really important to the question of what's been happening to women," she said.
"For the 'I'm not able to get a promotion, I've had to change jobs or I have stress about possibly losing my job, I'm barely hanging on because my kids are home half the time,' the binary of 'are you employed or aren't you employed' isn't a very good metric."
Impact on working mothers
Before the pandemic hit, Stephanie Bakker-Houpf of High River, Alta., was excited to finally have time to focus on getting her creative consultancy and content management business off the ground after years of putting her own career dreams on the back-burner to raise her two now-teenage daughters.
But not only did her bread-and-butter contracts with musician and entertainer clients dry up in the absence of live performances last year, the divorced Bakker-Houpf found herself sacrificing precious work time as she helped her daughters with home-schooling and supported them through all of the disruptions and anxieties that go along with being a kid in a pandemic.
"Kids today are constantly dealing with uncertainty and their lives being interrupted. And yet, we as moms are still supposed to be able to function the same way and show up at our jobs the same way," Bakker-Houpf said.
Jennifer Hargreaves, founder and CEO of diversity recruitment organization Tellent — which aims to help women in career transition find new opportunities — said while it's true that as many women may be working now as before the pandemic, the numbers don't tell the whole story.
Jennifer Hargreaves, the CEO of diversity recruitment firm Tellent, says it's frightening to hear some employers say things are back to normal when more women are reaching out for mental health support 'because they've just got to a tipping point with burnout.' (Andy Heics photo )
In fact, Hargreaves said she worries Canadian working women may be heading into another crisis in 2022, as employers begin to urge employees to come back to the office on at least a part-time basis even as schools and daycares continue to struggle with COVID cases and children under five remain unvaccinated.
"What's frightening is some employers seem eager to say, 'we're going back to normal this year,' " Hargreaves said.
"Because what I actually see on the ground is more and more women reaching out and getting mental health support, because they've just got to a tipping point with burnout. And women are taking stress leave."
WATCH | Child care among key policies needed for she-covery, economist says:
‘She-cession’ will require a different playbook for recovery, says expert
1 year ago
Duration 2:02
The federal government is planning a national child-care program as one way to help get women — who bore the brunt of pandemic job losses — back to work. It’s a key support that one economist says is key to a ‘she-covery.’ 2:02
If women have one thing working in their favour, Hargreaves said, it's the fact that employers across a wide range of industries are struggling with systemic labour shortages right now.
She said she hopes that will spur employers to recognize that the way to retain talent is to continue to prioritize flexibility.
"I hope employers can take the lessons learned during COVID-19 and start implementing them and doing that culture shift," Hargreaves said.
"I think they're absolutely going to need to do that in order to stay agile in this new economy."
