COVID-19

TORONTO – The Ontario government is providing $1.07 billion to expand COVID-19 testing and case and contact management. The government is also immediately investing $30 million to prevent and manage outbreaks in priority sectors, including the province’s long-term care homes, retirement homes and schools. Read More

HUNTSVILLE, Ont. – The Ontario government is providing people with convenient and timely access to free COVID-19 testing at pharmacies in the province, including Shoppers Drug Mart, Rexall and independent pharmacies. Up to 60 pharmacies in Ontario will begin offering testing by appointment only, with further locations coming online in the coming weeks. Read More

ORILLIA, Ont. – The Couchiching COVID-19 Assessment Centre at Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital (OSMH) announced that it has gone live with handheld devices for the creation of digitized COVID-19 Lab requisitions, as part of the Province’s Lab Automation project. It is an important step forward in improving the quality and performance of end-to-end testing for patients, care providers and labs. Read More

LOWELL, Mass. – Kronos Incorporated and Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. have announced a strategic alliance to support safer return to work initiatives during the COVID-19 pandemic. Organizations that jointly deploy Konica Minolta intelligent security solutions and Workforce Dimensions from Kronos will benefit from streamlined and automated reporting and record keeping associated with COVID-19 access control and contact tracing protocols. Read More

OTTAWA – A new study led by researchers at The Ottawa Hospital, University of Ottawa and the Public Health Agency of Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory shows that a Canadian-made spit test can detect the COVID-19 virus. Although it does not pick up as many cases as the traditional swab test, the spit test is more comfortable than swab testing, which requires a healthcare provider to insert a swab in the back of the nose or throat. Read More

ST. JOHN’S – The Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, Andrew Furey (pictured), announced that people in Newfoundland and Labrador can now receive one-time keys from their health authorities to use with COVID Alert, Canada’s COVID-19 exposure notification app. The app, first fully implemented in Ontario in July, helps notify users if they may have been exposed to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. Read More

TORONTO – When a patient with COVID-19 is admitted to Mount Sinai or Bridgepoint, they may notice the tall metal device on wheels standing in their room. It looks a little bit like a robot, but it’s actually a camera. It’s part of an innovative new system that has been introduced to units at Sinai Health, to help clinicians check on and communicate with their patients who have COVID-19. Read More

KITCHENER, Ont – Cloud DX, a leading provider of telehealth and remote patient monitoring solutions, announced that it is receiving advisory services and phase 1 research and development funding of up to $300,000 from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP) to prove the feasibility of a low-cost solution for continuous monitoring of patient vitals, including heart rate, temperature, oxygen concentration, blood pressure and respiration rate. Read More