public health

This photo shows a logo of a McDonald’s restaurant in Havertown, Pa., on April 26, 2022. Vancouver Coastal Health is warning of a possible Hepatitis A exposure at a Vancouver McDonald’s between April 19 and May 9. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Possible hepatitis A exposure at B.C. McDonald’s

Vancouver Coastal Health warns of exposure dates between April 19 and May 9

 

Used medical masks overflow a waste bin at the University of Calgary Medical Clinics in Calgary, Alta., Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Rise and fall of Canada’s domestic PPE market blamed on government policy

‘We’ve got an industry that is just running on fumes’

 

Statistics about the local health region Sicamous is in were shared by harm reduction coordinator Myanne Peacock and other representatives from Interior Health in a presentation to Sicamous council at the March 8 committee of the whole meeting. (Interior Health image)

Interior Health calls for pause on Sicamous bylaw prohibiting public use of illicit drugs

Doctor, harm reduction specialists urge 6-month evaluation of decriminalization

 

Students in Mission middle schools and secondary schools are disrputing classrooms because of vaping. (Black Press Media file photo)

B.C. school district troubled by vaping students

Mission superintendent Angus Wilson says students leaving classes to vape is impacting their capacity to learn and focus

Students in Mission middle schools and secondary schools are disrputing classrooms because of vaping. (Black Press Media file photo)
Tony Gore with children Naomi (left) and Wyatt (right). Tony and his sister, Jill Hall, started sounding the alarm about radon after he found alarming levels of the radioactive gas in Naomi’s second-floor bedroom. Naomi is seen here holding a home radon test. (submitted photo)

Chilliwack brother and sister wage war against radon

Jill Hall’s push for radon awareness has found allies with the City of Chilliwack and FVRD

Tony Gore with children Naomi (left) and Wyatt (right). Tony and his sister, Jill Hall, started sounding the alarm about radon after he found alarming levels of the radioactive gas in Naomi’s second-floor bedroom. Naomi is seen here holding a home radon test. (submitted photo)
The Victoria Hospitals Foundation removed a tweet about Dr. Bonnie Henry winning a public lottery prize after it received hateful online comments. Their Facebook post (pictured) remains up. (Victoria Hospitals Foundation/Facebook) The Victoria Hospitals Foundation removed a tweet about Dr. Bonnie Henry winning a public lottery prize after it received hateful online comments. Their Facebook post (pictured) remains up. (Victoria Hospitals Foundation/Facebook)

Victoria charity receives backlash, removes tweet after Dr. Bonnie Henry wins e-bikes

Henry won the bikes in a randomly-selected public lottery fundraiser

The Victoria Hospitals Foundation removed a tweet about Dr. Bonnie Henry winning a public lottery prize after it received hateful online comments. Their Facebook post (pictured) remains up. (Victoria Hospitals Foundation/Facebook) The Victoria Hospitals Foundation removed a tweet about Dr. Bonnie Henry winning a public lottery prize after it received hateful online comments. Their Facebook post (pictured) remains up. (Victoria Hospitals Foundation/Facebook)
A Portland Loo, described as “A Unique Solution to a Universal Problem.” (Image: surrey.ca/emadden@theloo.biz)

Surrey council awards $432K contract for two public loos for homeless people

A corporate report sets the expenditure limit at $432,286.77 for the two outdoor washrooms in Whalley

A Portland Loo, described as “A Unique Solution to a Universal Problem.” (Image: surrey.ca/emadden@theloo.biz)
Chief Public Health Officer of Canada Dr. Theresa Tam speaks during a news conference on the COVID-19 pandemic in Ottawa on Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Monkeypox poses low risk, but everyone susceptible: Tam

Susceptibility is high because routine vaccination against smallpox ended decades ago

Chief Public Health Officer of Canada Dr. Theresa Tam speaks during a news conference on the COVID-19 pandemic in Ottawa on Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
A woman wears a protective face mask to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 as she walks past a billboard from the Vancouver General Hospital in Vancouver Thursday, April 8, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Legacy and language around masks will be debated long after pandemic recedes: experts

Experts agree the message around mask wearing could have been better communicated

A woman wears a protective face mask to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 as she walks past a billboard from the Vancouver General Hospital in Vancouver Thursday, April 8, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Chief Public Health Officer of Canada Dr. Theresa Tam speaks during a news conference on the COVID-19 pandemic in Ottawa on Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2020. Tang says governments should be prepared to recall public health measures in case of another serious variant of COVID-19. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Public health mandates could return, Tam warns, but favours lighter touch in future

Top doc hopes Canada is past the pandemic crisis, uncertain what the coronavirus will do next

Chief Public Health Officer of Canada Dr. Theresa Tam speaks during a news conference on the COVID-19 pandemic in Ottawa on Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2020. Tang says governments should be prepared to recall public health measures in case of another serious variant of COVID-19. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry, here receiving a seasonal flu vaccination, says the high vaccination rate at UVic is helping prevent serious illness despite a spike in COVID-19 cases associated with the school. (Courtesy Province of B.C.)

High vaccination rate helped mitigate B.C. university COVID-19 spike: Dr. Henry

Case uptick hasn’t translated into severe illness in University of Victoria community, Henry says

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry, here receiving a seasonal flu vaccination, says the high vaccination rate at UVic is helping prevent serious illness despite a spike in COVID-19 cases associated with the school. (Courtesy Province of B.C.)
FILE - In this Sept. 28, 2020 file photo, a view of the TikTok app logo, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File) FILE - In this Sept. 28, 2020 file photo, a view of the TikTok app logo, in Tokyo. The Biden administration is putting on hold a deal brokered by the Trump administration that would have had Oracle and Walmart buying a big stake in popular video app TikTok, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File)

More scrutiny needed of TikTok’s reach, influence on public health: B.C. researchers

Researchers need to get ahead of misinformation and not just in regards to COVID

FILE - In this Sept. 28, 2020 file photo, a view of the TikTok app logo, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File) FILE - In this Sept. 28, 2020 file photo, a view of the TikTok app logo, in Tokyo. The Biden administration is putting on hold a deal brokered by the Trump administration that would have had Oracle and Walmart buying a big stake in popular video app TikTok, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File)
Premier John Horgan and Health Minister Adrian Dix look on as Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry speaks about the COVID-19 vaccine card set to arrive in mid-September as they discuss details about the process during a press conference at provincial legislature in Victoria, Monday, Aug. 23, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito Premier John Horgan shows his vaccination card after receiving a dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at the pharmacy in James Bay Thrifty’s Foods in Victoria, B.C., on Friday, April 16, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

No medical exemptions for B.C. vaccine card ‘blatant discrimination’, disabled activist says

Some British Columbians cannot be vaccinated due to allergies to vaccine components

Premier John Horgan and Health Minister Adrian Dix look on as Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry speaks about the COVID-19 vaccine card set to arrive in mid-September as they discuss details about the process during a press conference at provincial legislature in Victoria, Monday, Aug. 23, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito Premier John Horgan shows his vaccination card after receiving a dose of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at the pharmacy in James Bay Thrifty’s Foods in Victoria, B.C., on Friday, April 16, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
A 60-year-old COVID-19 patient fights for his life, desperately gasping for air as health-care staff provide life saving medical care in an emergency situation in the intensive care unit at the Humber River Hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto on Tuesday, April 13, 2021. Surveys from the Ontario Medical Association suggest nearly three-quarters of physicians experienced at least some level of burnout when asked in 2021, up from 66 per cent the previous year. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

Experts warn B.C. on track to exceed record highs of new COVID-19 infections come fall

The B.C. COVID-19 Modelling Group is calling for increased safety measures to curb the spread

A 60-year-old COVID-19 patient fights for his life, desperately gasping for air as health-care staff provide life saving medical care in an emergency situation in the intensive care unit at the Humber River Hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto on Tuesday, April 13, 2021. Surveys from the Ontario Medical Association suggest nearly three-quarters of physicians experienced at least some level of burnout when asked in 2021, up from 66 per cent the previous year. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
Visitors to the Calgary Stampede line up for tickets in Calgary on Sunday, July 18, 2021. Alberta Health says 71 people likely acquired COVID-19 while attending the Stampede. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

Alberta to end isolation rules for COVID-19 cases, close contacts as cases rise

Starting Aug. 16, people who test positive for the virus will not be mandated to isolate

Visitors to the Calgary Stampede line up for tickets in Calgary on Sunday, July 18, 2021. Alberta Health says 71 people likely acquired COVID-19 while attending the Stampede. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
Labour Minister Filomena Tassi responds to a question during Question Period in the House of Commons Thursday December 3, 2020 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

Liberals look to fall for movement on having free tampons, pads in federal workplaces

A 100-per-cent take-up rate would put the cost at about $2.3 million annually.

Labour Minister Filomena Tassi responds to a question during Question Period in the House of Commons Thursday December 3, 2020 in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
Dr. Réka Gustafson, who is British Columbia’s deputy provincial health officer, speaks during a news conference in Vancouver on April 8, 2015. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

B.C. public health officials prepare to manage COVID-19 differently in the future

Flu-like? Health officials anticipate shift from pandemic to communicable disease control strategies

Dr. Réka Gustafson, who is British Columbia’s deputy provincial health officer, speaks during a news conference in Vancouver on April 8, 2015. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Smoke from wildfires burning in the U.S. fills the air as the Grouse Mountain tram transports people down the mountain, in North Vancouver, B.C,, on Saturday, September 12, 2020. The World Air Quality Index, a non-profit that tracks air quality from monitoring stations around the world, rated Vancouver’s air quality as the second worst in the world Saturday. Environment Canada has issued a special air quality statement for Metro Vancouver, showing a very high risk to health due to wildfire smoke from Washington and Oregon. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Prepare for the worst: 10 steps to get ready for wildfire smoke

The summer of 2021 has the potential to be worse than any wildfire season before it

Smoke from wildfires burning in the U.S. fills the air as the Grouse Mountain tram transports people down the mountain, in North Vancouver, B.C,, on Saturday, September 12, 2020. The World Air Quality Index, a non-profit that tracks air quality from monitoring stations around the world, rated Vancouver’s air quality as the second worst in the world Saturday. Environment Canada has issued a special air quality statement for Metro Vancouver, showing a very high risk to health due to wildfire smoke from Washington and Oregon. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
British Columbia on track to record more than 2,000 deaths this year due to an ongoing supply of toxic drugs. (Paul Henderson/ Chilliwack Progress file)

Toxic drug crisis disproportionately killing B.C.’s First Nations people

First Nations Health Authority reports First Nations people killed at more than five times B.C. rate

British Columbia on track to record more than 2,000 deaths this year due to an ongoing supply of toxic drugs. (Paul Henderson/ Chilliwack Progress file)
Dr. Bonnie Henry speaks about the province’s COVID-19 vaccine plans during a news conference at the legislature in Victoria. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

Dr. Bonnie Henry says Surrey immunization targeted at neighbourhoods most at risk

‘What we’ve been looking at is the case rates by neighbourhood,’ provincial health officer says

Dr. Bonnie Henry speaks about the province’s COVID-19 vaccine plans during a news conference at the legislature in Victoria. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito