COVID-19 hospitalizations remain steady compared to last week, 17 more deaths recorded - CBC.ca

Another 17 people died in B.C. last week after testing positive for COVID-19, according to the province's latest reports on the pandemic.

As of Thursday, 273 people are in hospital with the novel coronavirus — the same as the week before. There are 32 in intensive care, according to the B.C. COVID-19 dashboard, up 14 per cent from last week.

The government says its weekly report numbers are preliminary. It has been retroactively adjusting them due to delays in the count and the new way in which it measures weekly cases, hospitalizations and deaths. 

The numbers released Thursday are part of an approach from B.C. health officials started earlier this year, both in the move to weekly reporting and in how certain metrics are calculated.

As vaccination efforts continue, provincial statistics show more than 48,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered from June 19 to 25. 

As of June 25, roughly 2.8 million British Columbians have received three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, and more than 370,000 people have received a fourth dose.

Other data related to the pandemic is available in a report from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, which tracks cases, hospital admissions and deaths between June 19 and 25.

It shows that 620 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in that time, based solely on lab-reported results, for a total of 374,594 cases to date. More than 40 per cent of the new recorded cases were in the Fraser Health region.

The report shows that the number of new cases is down slightly by about three per cent from 642 in the previous week. However, because testing is now quite limited, the province cautions that the case count underestimates the true number of people with COVID-19 in B.C.

A total of 169 people were admitted to hospital with COVID-19 from June 19 to 25, according to the BCCDC, nearly half of them in the Fraser Health region.

Test positivity rates highest on Vancouver Island

According to the latest weekly report, 17 more people died between June 19 and 25, a figure that is being reported in a very different way from in the past.

Those deaths include everyone who died within 30 days of testing positive for COVID-19, whether or not the virus has been confirmed as an underlying cause of death. Previously, each death was investigated to determine if COVID-19 was a cause.

Test positivity rates are down slightly, hitting an average 7.5 per cent provincewide on Saturday, compared to 7.6 per cent the previous week.

Positivity rates range from as high as 14 per cent in the Vancouver Island to as low as 6.2 per cent in the Fraser Health region, according to the province's dashboard. The province administered more than 12,000 tests in the last reported week.

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has said anything above a five per cent test-positivity rate is an indicator of a more worrying level of transmission.

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Gene discovery may explain why more women get Alzheimer's disease - CTV News

Scientists have identified a gene that appears to increase the risk of Alzheimer's in women, providing a potential new clue as to why more women than men are diagnosed with the disease.

The gene, O6-Methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase, or MGMT, plays an important role in how the body repairs damage to DNA in both men and women. But researchers did not find an association between MGMT and Alzheimer's in men.

"It's a female-specific finding -- perhaps one of the strongest associations of a genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's in women," said senior study coauthor Lindsay Farrer, chief of biomedical genetics at Boston University School of Medicine.

Two-thirds of the 6.5 million Americans currently living with the devastating brain disease are women, according to the Alzheimer's Association. It's a trend that holds true worldwide.

"Women, due to unique genetic risk factors like APOE ε4 and MGMT, and sex-specific risk factors like the sudden reduction in estrogen during the peri-menopause transition, may be in the fast-lane toward the disease, while men are sitting in traffic," said Dr. Richard Isaacson, director of the Alzheimer's Prevention Clinic at Florida Atlantic University's Schmidt College of Medicine, who was not involved in the study.

The APOE ε4 gene is considered the strongest risk factor for the future development of Alzheimer's in people over the age of 65, which is "especially true for women, who are more impacted by APOE ε4 than men," Isaacson said.

However, many women with APOE ε4 don't develop Alzheimer's, while women without the gene may still develop the disease.

"Perhaps MGMT is an important missing piece of the risk prediction puzzle for these women, but further studies are necessary," Isaacson said.

A LUCKY DISCOVERY

The discovery of the new gene's existence was made in two completely separate groups of people. A team of researchers from the University of Chicago were analyzing the genetic makeup of a small group of Hutterian Brethren women who live communally in rural Montana and South Dakota. Hutterites are a closed population who intermarry within their own ranks and keep extensive genealogical records, making them an excellent choice for genetic research.

"The relatively uniform environment and reduced genetic variation in Hutterites increases our power to find associations in smaller sample sizes than required for studies in the general population," said senior study coauthor Carole Ober, chair of human genetics at the University of Chicago, in a statement.

When the new association with MGMT popped up in her analysis, Ober reached out to Boston's Farrer to see if he might help replicate her findings.

Farrer, who was in the midst of a huge genetic analysis of over 10,000 women from the Alzheimer's Disease Genetics Consortium study, was surprised by the call.

"I told her we'd found the exact same gene in our analysis," Farrer said. "Two different studies started independently of one another find by serendipity the same gene, which to me adds a lot of confidence that the finding is robust."

The combined study was published Thursday in Alzheimer's Disease & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association.

A RISK FACTOR FOR WOMEN WITHOUT APOE Ε4

The research team compared the findings to autopsied male brain tissue, and found no association between the MGMT gene and Alzheimer's in men.

When they examined MGMT via epigenetics, which is what happens when a gene is switched on or off by behaviours and environmental factors, researchers found its expression in women was significantly associated with the development of beta amyloid and tau, two proteins that are hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease.

The association between MGMT and amyloid plaques and tau tangles was "most pronounced in women who don't have APOE ε4," Farrer said.

Considered an essential protein, a primary function of APOE is to "move cholesterol around in your body, and without that you'd be in trouble," Farrer said. However, studies have found that the APOE ε4 variation may result in depositing more fatty acid buildup than the other members of the APOE family, thus leading scientists to believe there is a cholesterol pathway to Alzheimer's.

In fact, a study by Farrer that published in March found having high cholesterol and blood sugar in your 30s may raise your risk for Alzheimer's disease decades later in life.

"There are many pathways to Alzheimer's disease. There's the lipid, or cholesterol pathway, which is now pretty well established in Alzheimer's, and APOE ε4 is a part of that," Farrer said.

"And there's the inflammatory pathway, which is common to all chronic disease. With MGMT, we may be looking at an additional pathway somehow related to DNA repair, or maybe MGMT participates in one of these other pathways and nobody knows yet how," Farrer added.

PERSONALIZED MEDICINE

Women should work with their doctors to try to identify which path they may be on, experts advise.

Interventions could include keeping blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar in healthy ranges, while "considering hormone replacement therapy when indicated, and advocating for a brain healthy lifestyle, including regular exercise, a Mediterranean-style diet, adequate sleep and stress-reduction techniques," Isaacson said.

At some point soon, scientists will be able to offer more personalized medicine to women, said Dr. Kellyann Niotis, a neurologist at the Alzheimer's Prevention Clinic at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian, who was not involved with the study.

"We will soon be able to offer women at risk more advanced assessments, like comprehensive genetic testing in a clinic setting, to more adequately assess their risk and develop personalized risk reduction plans for optimal brain protection," Niotis said.

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Miscarriages more likely in hotter summer months: study - CTV News

A new study suggests the risk of miscarriage may increase in the summer, which researchers say could indicate a link between extreme heat and pregnancy loss.

The study out of Boston University School of Public Health, published in the journal Epidemiology, looked at the seasonal differences in pregnancy data from more than 6,100 survey participants. They found that in North America, pregnant people have a 44 per cent higher risk of having an early miscarriage in the summer than in the winter – in particular, in the month of August in comparison to February. An early miscarriage for the purposes of this study was defined as occurring in the first eight weeks of pregnancy.

According to researchers, up to 30 per cent of pregnancies can end in spontaneous abortion, and up to half of all miscarriages are unexplained.

The risk of miscarriage at any point during the pregnancy was 31 per cent higher in August than in February.

Researchers also looked at geographical data and found that pregnant people who lived in the south or midwest United States, some of the hottest parts of the country, were more likely to experience a miscarriage in late August and early September.

“Any time you see seasonal variation in an outcome, it can give you hints about causes of that outcome,” the study’s lead author Dr. Amelia Wesselink said in a press release. “… Now we need to dig into that more to understand what kinds of exposures are more prevalent in the summer, and which of these exposures could explain the increased risk of miscarriage.”

Researchers said this study filled in gaps in past research, which tends to focus on data from pregnancy losses that occur in care at a hospital, which may exclude data from people who lost pregnancies very early on at home, or people who are not experiencing ongoing fertility issues causing miscarriage and therefore may not have sought care from a medical professional.

The study’s authors suggest that high temperatures may be a contributing factor to pregnancy loss, adding that while more research is needed to understand the possible link, health-care professionals and policymakers can begin to take action now to mitigate the effects of climbing temperatures on pregnant people.

“We know that heat is associated with higher risk of other pregnancy outcomes, such as preterm delivery, low birth weight, and stillbirth, in particular,” Wesselink said. “Medical guidance and public health messaging—including heat action plans and climate adaptation policies—need to consider the potential effects of heat on the health of pregnant people and their babies.” 

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More Albertans looking at voting UCP than NDP — but alternative parties of interest, poll suggests - CBC.ca

With the race to lead the United Conservative Party still in its early days, a new poll suggests more Albertans would consider voting for that party than the Opposition NDP in the 2023 provincial election.

The poll by Trend Research, under the direction of Janet Brown Opinion Research, surveyed 900 Albertans between June 13 and 21. It found slightly more than half of Albertans surveyed said they would be very likely (26 per cent) or somewhat likely (26 per cent) to consider voting for the UCP in the next provincial election.

"Now, of course, they don't know who the leader is going to be. But that's very good news for the UCP because they've been doing badly in polls lately," said pollster Janet Brown. "But now, with 52 per cent of voters willing to consider the UCP, it seems they have a new lease on life.

"A new leader could put them in the driver's seat in terms of public opinion." 

Click here if you can't see the chart below.

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Thirty-nine per cent said they were very likely or somewhat likely to consider voting for the Alberta NDP.

Alternative parties such as the Wildrose Independence Party — the party that formed after the merger of Wexit Alberta and the Freedom Conservative Party — and the Alberta Party also saw some interest from voters, with 25 per cent and 23 per cent openness, respectively.

And though the UCP was in the lead in the poll, it does come with a caveat.

"People say that not knowing who the leader is going to be, and sometimes a hypothetical leader, can be more popular than an actual leader," Brown said. "So that's a starting base for the UCP. It's good news for them, but they probably have to feel cautious about that number as well."

Issues of concern

Open-ended questions were also asked of Albertans in regards to what they thought were the most important issues facing the province today.

Inflation topped the list and was mentioned by 41 per cent of Albertans. Twenty-five per cent of Albertans also mentioned health care, while 19 per cent mentioned the economy and 16 per cent mentioned issues related to the energy sector.

"Inflation really is critical for Albertans. Right now, it is their No. 1 issue of concern," Brown said. "And it's of much greater concern than the second most important issue of health care, at 25 per cent."

Inflation is top-of-mind for many Albertans, according to a new poll from Janet Brown Opinion Research, though health care, the economy and the energy sector all factor highly. (Submitted by Janet Brown Opinion Research)

Despite that, Brown said inflation has yet to become a serious factor on the campaign trail.

"Interestingly, we're not hearing a lot from political leaders. And that just could come down to the fact that political leaders really don't know what the solutions for inflation are," she said.

"So there is this big gap right now between what the public is thinking about and probably wants to talk about, and what the leadership candidates and other politicians are talking about."

Leader a big question mark

Though the new poll might seem a marked improvement for the UCP, Mount Royal University political scientist Duane Bratt said a potentially grueling leadership race ahead poses some big challenges.

"I wouldn't immediately leap to the conclusion that we're about to see another UCP majority government," Bratt said. "It just shows the unpopularity of [Alberta Premier Jason] Kenney … with no new policies, just simply him resigning has increased support."

Duane Bratt, a political scientist at Mount Royal University, says though inflation was the top concern for those surveyed, leadership candidates for the UCP have spent much of the campaign talking about autonomy and separatism. (Dave Gilson/CBC)

Bratt said the NDP remains a formidable challenge for the UCP to overcome. And a potential range in support for the Wildrose Independence Party might depend on the eventual leader selected, he said.

"If a Brian Jean or a Danielle Smith win, then, sure, I could see [those voters] going to the UCP. But what if it's a Travis Toews or a Leela Aheer win? What does that do?" Bratt said.

The survey also asked where Albertans place themselves on the political spectrum, where zero means left and 10 means right. The average response given was 5.7 out of 10.

The survey was released at the Alberta Relaunch Conference, a full-day event being held by New West Public Affairs in Calgary on June 28. 

---

Methodology:

This survey was conducted June 13 to 21, 2022, by Alberta-based Trend Research under the direction of Janet Brown Opinion Research. The survey sampled 900 Albertans aged 18 and over. Respondents were initially contacted at random by live telephone interviewers and given the option of (1) answering the survey over telephone at that time; (2) answering over the telephone at a more convenient time; or (3) receiving the link and answering the survey online. The initial sample list contained approximately 50 per cent landlines and 50 per cent cellphones. Interviewers made up to five attempts to reach each phone number in the sample before classifying it as unreachable. The margin of error for a probability sample of 900 people is plus or minus 3.3 percentage points, 19 times out of 20 (i.e., at a 95% confidence interval).

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UN Human Rights Office estimates more than 306000 civilians were killed over 10 years in Syria conflict - OHCHR

GENEVA (28 June 2022) – The UN Human Rights Office today published a report that, following rigorous assessment and statistical analysis of available data on civilian casualties, estimates that 306,887 civilians* were killed between 1 March 2011 and 31 March 2021 in Syria due to the conflict. This is the highest estimate yet of conflict-related civilian deaths in Syria.

The report, mandated by the UN Human Rights Council, referred to 143,350 civilian deaths that have been individually documented by various sources with detailed information, including at least their full name, date and location of death. In addition, statistical estimation techniques of imputation and multiple systems estimation were used to connect the dots where there were missing elements of information. Using these techniques, a further 163,537 civilian deaths were estimated to have occurred, bringing the total estimated civilian death toll to 306,887.

“The conflict-related casualty figures in this report are not simply a set of abstract numbers, but represent individual human beings. The impact of the killing of each of these 306,887 civilians would have had a profound, reverberating impact on the family and community to which they belonged,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said.

“The work of civil society organizations and the UN in monitoring and documenting conflict-related deaths is key in helping these families and communities establish the truth, seek accountability and pursue effective remedies. This analysis will also give a clearer sense of the severity and scale of the conflict.”

“And let me be clear: these are the people killed as a direct result of war operations. This does not include the many, many more civilians who died due to the loss of access to healthcare, to food, to clean water and other essential human rights, which remain to be assessed,” Bachelet stressed.

The report also contains disaggregated data for the documented deaths, including by age, gender, year, governorate, actors allegedly responsible and the cause of death by weapon type. The estimate of 306,887 means that on average, every single day, for the past 10 years, 83 civilians suffered violent deaths due to the conflict.

The report notes that, “the extent of civilian casualties in the last 10 years represents a staggering 1.5 per cent of the total population of the Syrian Arab Republic at the beginning of the conflict, raising serious concerns as to the failure of the parties to the conflict to respect international humanitarian law norms on the protection of civilians.”

This statistical work builds on previous efforts to assess direct conflict-related deaths. In 2013 and 2014, the UN Human Rights Office commissioned three statistical analyses of documented killings in Syria, but this effort was discontinued as the situation in the country grew more complex and dangerous, affecting the Office’s capacity to maintain the required quality and verification standards. In 2019, the Office resumed information-gathering and analysis on casualties, including on Syria, in its global reporting on the UN Sustainable Development Goals indicator on conflict-related deaths (SDG indicator 16.1.2).

The report sets out the challenges in recording casualties during a conflict, beyond the immediate risk to civil society actors who try to access the sites of incidents where attacks have taken place.

“Where civil society actors undertake casualty recording, efforts…can put the recorders themselves at risk. They also face multiple challenges in their documentation efforts, including the collapse of their usual networks of information as people are on the move, displaced or in areas where there is a general information shutdown; the limited, or lack of, access to mobile data, Internet and electricity to collect and transmit information; limitations on their movements; and surveillance,” the report states.

Despite these challenges, there has been “consistent and systematic work” in documenting casualties on the ground for more than a decade now. The data used for the report rely on the courageous work of such individuals and groups.

To produce the report, the Office used eight sources of information pertaining to different periods across the 10 years covered. These include: the Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies; the Center for Statistics and Research–Syria; the Syrian Network for Human Rights; the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights; the Violations Documentation Center; Syria Shuhada records; Government records; and records of the UN Human Rights Office itself.

“The work done by casualty recorders in documenting individually verifiable information on each casualty is critical. The process is victim-centred, placing individuals, their families and communities at the centre by ensuring that those killed are not forgotten, and that information is available for accountability-related processes and to access a range of human rights,” the report states.

“Unless and until the conflict ends, there is a continued risk of civilian deaths. It is therefore critical that all States, the United Nations and civil society use all available means to end the conflict and support a transition to peace.”

END

*Accordingly, the total civilian casualties is estimated to be 306,887 with an approximate 95 per cent credible interval. This 95 per cent credible interval implies that, given the observed data and assuming that the model is correct, there is a 95 per cent chance that the true number of civilian deaths is between 281,443 and 337,971.

The full report is accessible here and contains charts with disaggregated data, as well as an explanation of the statistical techniques used.

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P.E.I. student referrals to well-being teams more than doubled during pandemic - CBC.ca

Students being referred to well-being teams at school more than doubled during the pandemic, a legislative committee heard Tuesday.

Well-being teams consist of social workers, nurses, outreach workers and other staff that help students who are struggling with mental, social and physical health issues.

Just prior to the school year disrupted by the pandemic, there were close to 600 referrals to well-being teams. That figure has grown ever since:

• 2017-18: 183 referrals.
• 2018-19: 573 referrals.
• 2019-20: 914 referrals.
• 2020-21: 1,353 referrals.
• 2021-22: 971 referrals (Final number not yet finalized).

"We have seen a little bit of a decline this year from what we saw last year … I think last year was certainly a peak year," said Elizabeth Kennedy, acting program lead for the well-being program.

"The mental health needs are there. Kids do have a lot of stress and they have a lot on their plate that they're trying to manage."

At committee, education officials also said as the number of referrals swells each year so do wait lists, with some students waiting upwards of three months to see a well-being team.

'Give them the skill set they need'

Kennedy said the number one referral is for anxiety, with many youth having trouble with stress every day.

Elizabeth Kennedy says they're looking at offering more group services, to complement the one-to-one settings available. (Steve Bruce/CBC News)

"Any time kids are going through transitions where school's starting and stopping, that certainly adds stress levels to students. So we see that as a difficult time for kiddos," she said.

"Then, certainly, what the parents are dealing with at home, all the stressers — financial stressers, housing stressers — that all transpires and comes through the kids as well. They're feeling that."

Committee members asked about the well-being team's staffing problems, in light of the growing wait lists for students.

Kennedy said that their focus is figuring out ways to be more effective and efficient with the staff they have next year.

"We're looking at increasing some of the upstream work we do, in getting into classrooms and doing some well-being presentations," she said.

"If we can give them those prevention pieces ahead of time, and give them the skill set they need that when they encounter stressful situations, they've got the tools to be able to deal with that."

Kids do have a lot of stress and they have a lot on their plate that they're trying to manage.— Elizabeth Kennedy

Kennedy said they're looking at offering more group services, to complement the one-to-one settings available.

"Sometimes the group is the service that we would be suggesting for a student, because that may be more appropriate than the one-to-one service," she said. 

Additionally, the program is offering drop-in clinics throughout the summer which are available for students 12 and older.

Parents can also access the drop-in clinics for supports and resources to help their children "going through a tough time," Kennedy said.

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‘It’s really quite appalling’: More Calgary suburban development being considered - Global News

The controversial subject of suburban development heads to city hall on Monday.

The growth strategy that goes to a city committee on Monday says over the 2023 to 2026 period, Calgary‘s population is expected to grow by 22,000 people annually or an additional 88,000 people in total.

City bureaucrats are now recommending five new communities to help meet demand and three more if “risks around servicing, operating cost efficiency and absorption can be mitigated.”

“It’s really quite appalling what’s before us and I do hope this new council — which has declared a climate emergency — will just reject this outright,” said Noel Keough, co-founder of Sustainable Calgary Society and a retired associate professor of sustainable design at the University of Calgary.

Read more: City of Calgary administration recommends council withhold approval for 11 new communities

“It’s supposed to be a city-wide growth strategy but really it seems that it’s a suburban growth strategy.”

He says the price of suburban homes may look cheap but there are many other costs associated with them, including infrastructure and environmental.

“I think taxpayers, above all fiscal conservatives, should be most concerned because this is enormous spending that comes from continuing to build a sprawling city — which is a more expensive city,” Keough said.

“We were pretty clear moving forward that we want to review these business cases from a financial perspective but we also want to review them from a climate perspective,” said Ward 9 Coun. Gian-Carlo Carra.

Carra said upgrading infrastructure and using existing roads is cheaper and better for the environment. However, Carra added that it’s not realistic to go “cold turkey” when it comes to building on the outskirts because that will just push people into places like Airdrie and Chestermere.

Read more: City of Calgary committee hands Guide for Local Area Planning back to administration

Carra admits the city’s new climate strategy is at odds with the growth strategy but he says “life is messy” and at least council is talking about the cost of subsidizing urban sprawl.

“Inner-city redevelopment will win every day but we are not there yet. So right now we are having a very difficult conversation about continuing to accommodate growth on the edge,” Carra said.

“It’s frustrating but at least we’re having that conversation publicly.

“The report is also acknowledging that we are still paying money from 2018 and 2020 and they are acknowledging that there’s a big chunk of change that we are paying from previous growth decisions as well.”

The report states that approval of the business cases would increase city-wide greenhouse gas emissions and result in the destruction of over 300 hectares of natural assets.

The committee will decide if administration should include the new communities in the four-year budget plans that will go before council in November.

“We are living in an age of a climate emergency and it’s a rough situation. I’ve spent the last 11 years of my life working to scale up inner-city redevelopment and we’re almost there,” Carra said.

The report states that “approval of new communities will lock in generations of high-energy intensity land use and transportation patterns and eliminate large areas of climate-mitigating natural assets that would make it more difficult to achieve the city’s 2050 net-zero emissions goal.”

“Approval of the recommended portfolio of business cases would result in an increase in city-wide GHG
emissions of approximately one per cent, increase climate risk through additional exposure of developed lands and assets to climate hazards, and result in the destruction of over 300 hectares of natural assets and the ecosystem services they provide.”

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