COVID-19

TORONTO – With funding from Canadian Institutes for Health Research, Sinai Health nurses will lead a Canada-wide study looking at models of care during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study will be led by Dr. Lianne Jeffs (pictured), Sinai Health’s research and innovation lead, nurses and health disciplines, and a senior scientist with Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute. Read More

TORONTO – ParticleOne has become the first platform of its kind to integrate with BlueDot, the infectious disease intelligence system. The combined use of the two platforms expands their tools and accelerates their response capabilities. Developed by Canadian environmental engineering firm RWDI, ParticleOne is cloud-based software that measures, models, and reduces the risk of viral transmission within a specified shared space. Read More

TORONTO – The Vector Institute, an artificial intelligence organization based at the MaRS tech hub in Toronto, has teamed up with telecommunications company Telus Corp., consulting firm Deloitte and diagnostics and pharmaceuticals business Roche Canada to help healthcare professionals learn more about the symptoms that people with a long-lasting form of COVID experience. Read More

HAMILTON, Ont. – Bay Area Health Trust will be supplying Ontario’s provincial labs with its McMaster Molecular Medium (MMM), a molecular transport medium that is a critical component of COVID-19 PCR testing. This is a repeat order of the made-in-Ontario product by the procurement authority representing the Province of Ontario. MMM is on Public Health Ontario’s approved list of COVID-19 PCR collection kits. Read More

TORONTO – The president and CEO of the University Health Network is urging Health Canada to approve Pfizer’s COVID-19 antiviral pill – called Paxlovid – to help curb the rising rate of hospitalizations across the country. Dr. Kevin Smith (pictured) said the surge in COVID-19 cases is affecting capacity at the UHN’s hospitals. Read More

OTTAWA – A new report commissioned by the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) provides a stark overview of the broader impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on Canadians. From delayed or missed treatments to a significant increase in the incidence of mental health and substance use disorders, the report highlights the dire consequences beyond the immediate loss of life and illness caused by the COVID-19 virus. Read More

OTTAWA – As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, a new policy brief from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) highlights the importance of addressing the mental health needs and substance use concerns of Canada’s homelessness services sector workforce. Read More

OKANAGAN, BC – A University of British Columbia Okanagan researcher has seized a golden opportunity to find a silver bullet for COVID-19. While exploring anticorrosion coatings, the pandemic hit and Dr. Seyyedarash Haddadi (pictured) quickly pivoted to apply his graphene research towards virus prevention, devising an antiviral material for face masks to thwart transmission of COVID-19. Read More

OTTAWA – Physicians from the University of Ottawa’s Department of Family Medicine and the Institut du Savoir at the Montfort Hospital have partnered with the Eastern Ontario Health Unit to support family physician’s bid to bolster COVID-19 vaccine uptake. The Public Health Agency of Canada is funding this $450,000 project, which will involve 300 family physicians and nurse practitioners. Read More

MONTREAL – Steven Lachance, a Montreal-based digital security analyst and entrepreneur, says he was worried when the Quebec government announced it would impose a vaccine passport system across the province to reduce COVID-19 transmission. Read More