In the News

March 31

Syphilis cases in babies skyrocket in Canada amid health care failures
The Globe and Mail
Comments by Dr. Sean Rourke
The numbers of babies born with syphilis in Canada are rising at a far faster rate than recorded in the United States or Europe, an increase public health experts said is driven by increased methamphetamine use and lack of access to the public health system for Indigenous people.

AI-powered tool on St. Michael’s surgical unit helps to improve care
Canadian Healthcare Technology
Comments by Ruth Mega, Dr. Reza Gholami and Swanee Tobin
On a busy day in St. Michael’s Hospital’s surgical unit, the care team can look after upwards of 42 patients, coordinating everything from pain management to wound treatment to deciding when patients can go home.

Canadian company develops test for animal tranquilizer in street drugs — but it’s not available in Canada
CBC News
Comments by Karen McDonald
A Canadian biotech company has developed new test strips to detect the dangerous animal tranquillizer xylazine in the highly toxic street drug supply — but while the strips are already shipping across the U.S., Canada hasn’t yet approved the potentially lifesaving tool.

March 29

Profile: Vitor Mendes Pereira
Neuro News
Profile of Dr. Vitor Pereira
As medical accolades go, performing the world’s first robot-assisted neurointerventional procedure—a feat that Vitor Mendes Pereira and his team achieved back in 2019—is something any physician would be proud of.

March 28

Kidney stone ‘vacuum’ developed by Toronto researcher aims to reduce need for followup care
Toronto Star
Comments by Dr. Monica Farcas
A new invention created by a Toronto researcher could alter how kidney stones are treated, along with the disorder’s prognosis for patients.

March 27

Xylazine: Expert view on risk of lethal substance in Canada’s street drug supply
CTV News
Comments by Hayley Thompson
Another harmful substance is spreading within Canada’s unregulated street drug supply and, without more aggressive intervention from policymakers, one expert says a growing number of people could be at risk of serious illness, injury or death.

Calls to end ‘race correction’ in health care
CBC Radio – The Current
Interview with Dr. Nav Persaud
Common diagnostic health tests have long been interpreted differently for Black patients — a practice called “race correction,” which has systematically denied access to timely and sometimes life-saving care.

March 24

Toronto wants to expand drug decriminalization to cover all ages and substances
CBC News
Comments by Dr. Dan Werb
Toronto updated its 14-month-old decriminalization request to the federal government Friday, clarifying it wants a Health Canada exemption to cover young people as well as adults, and all drugs for personal use.

Improper disposal of medical waste costs health systems and the environment
CMAJ News
Comments by Dr. Ali Abbass
Health care is a major polluter both in terms of emissions and contributions to landfills. The combined health sectors of the United States, Australia, England, and Canada emit an estimated 748 million metric tons of greenhouse gases each year, more than all but the six top polluting countries in the world.

Toronto showed ‘significant unfairness’ in controversial encampment clearings, report finds
CBC News
Comments by Zoë Dodd
Toronto showed “significant unfairness” when it cleared encampments in the summer of 2021 and chose to act quickly despite there being no urgency to do so, an investigation into the controversial moves has found.

Everything you need to know about menstrual cups
Chatelaine
Comments by Dr. Yolanda Kirkham
The average woman uses a mind-boggling 11,000 pads and tampons in her life. As a result, approximately 20 billion disposable menstrual products—most of which contain plastic that won’t biodegrade for hundreds of years—get dumped into landfills annually.

March 22

Long COVID, bonuses for nurses and more
Zoomer Radio
Interview with Dr. Fahad Razak
The province of Nova Scotia is offering its nurses a bonus of $10,000 in an effort to retain them in the public health system. The only condition is that they commit to a two year “return of service” agreement by the end March 2024. Should Ontario’s government follow the same strategy?

March 17

In Toronto, more than three homeless people died on average every week last year, new data shows
Toronto Star
Comments by Zoe Dodd
More than three homeless Torontonians died every week last year, new public health data shows — a total of 187 lives lost while battling with housing precarity in Canada’s largest city.

COVID pandemic three years later: lessons learned
CP24
Interview with Dr. Fahad Razak
Dr. Razak, former head of the Ontario science table, reflects on the past three years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

March 14

Thirteen times more babies born with syphilis in Canada over 4 years, data shows
CBC Radio – The Current
Interview with Dr. Darrell Tan
There has been a sharp increase in the number of babies born in Canada with syphilis, an infection that one doctor says “can be particularly devastating in pregnancy.”

March 13

Toronto marks third anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic
CityNews
Comments by Dr. Naheed Dosani
It’s been three years since the COVID-19 pandemic was declared. Melissa Nakhavoly with the lesson learned and what experts say still needs to be done at this stage of the pandemic.

March 12

How to prepare for future pandemics?
CBC News Network
Interview with Dr. Prabhat Jha

March 11

Three years into COVID-19, life is ‘back to normal’ for some, forever changed for others
CBC Windsor
Comments by Dr. Prabhat Jha
Three years after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, many people are relishing the freedom to return mask-free to their pre-pandemic activities, while others’ lives have been changed forever by the arrival of the virus.

March 10

At a virtual long-COVID clinic, patients across Ontario access care and find support
The Globe and Mail
Comments by Dr. Ashley Verduyn and Lori Brady
The patients sit in front of their computers and phones, the glow of the screens illuminating their faces as they type questions and share stories about the challenges they’re facing. One woman’s brain fog is so severe she once forgot her own sister’s name. A man describes how difficult it is to do something as basic as walk to the kitchen for a snack. A mother laments the lack of energy and stamina she has to care for her toddlers.

Why isn’t everyone being offered a COVID booster this spring?
The Globe and Mail
Comments by Dr. Fahad Razak
Unlike previous COVID-19 vaccination campaigns, which were open to the general population, the next round of shots will probably be limited to people at risk of developing severe disease if they become infected with the virus that causes COVID.

March 8

The medical record: Ontario Patient Ombudsman Report
Zoomer Radio
Interview with Dr. Fahad Razak
This upcoming Saturday will be the three year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our panel reflects on how far we’ve come.

March 6

Newborns in Canada must have better primary-care access
The Globe and Mail
OpEd by Dr. Sloane Freeman
The OurCare national research survey estimates that 6.5 million Canadians over the age of 18 lack a primary-care physician, and a significant number of these people are parents with newborns.

March 3

Is it time for your COVID booster? New federal guidelines tell you
Toronto Star
Comments by Dr. Fahad Razak
For those wondering if and when they should get their next COVID-19 booster shot, federal health officials have released new guidance.

Pilot project invites Toronto Community Housing’s high school tenants to explore medical field
CBC News
Comments by Dr. Robert Yanagawa
High school students from marginalized communities don’t often get a lot of encouragement to enter the medical profession but a pilot project in Toronto is aimed at changing that.

Harm reduction dispensing machines to be installed across Canada
Hospital News
Comments by Dr. Sean Rourke
Machines that dispense free self-testing kits for HIV and COVID-19, naloxone kits, new needles, condoms and other essential harm reduction and sexual health supplies will soon appear in communities across Canada.

March 2

What Canadians need to know about palliative care
CP24
Interview with Dr. Naheed Dosani
Dr. Dosani, a palliative care physician, explains what palliative care is and what people need to know about the approach.

AI-powered tool on surgical unit to improve patient care
Hospital News
Comments by Ruth Mega, Dr. Reza Gholami and Swanee Tobin
On a busy day in St. Michael’s Hospital’s surgical unit, the care team can look after upwards of 42 patients, coordinating everything from pain management to wound treatment to deciding when patients can go home.

March 1

EVT will save millions of lives from stroke. Eventually.
The New York Times Magazine
Comments by Dr. Sharon Straus
A procedure called EVT is creating radically better outcomes for patients, but only when it’s performed quickly enough — and that requires the transformation of an entire system of care.

February 28

Navigating your postpartum period
She Does The City
Column by Dr. Yolanda Kirkham
For many, the first period after childbirth can feel new and different than what you were used to before pregnancy. Your body just went through a massive change, and your hormones are also changing. It’ll take some time for you to feel comfortable with your new cycle, so here are some tips to help you through.

Is Long Covid a single illness?
TVO – The Agenda with Steve Paikin
Interview with Dr. Fahad Razak
It can be pulmonary. It can be neurological. It can set off autoimmune issues. Long Covid can be many things. Should we no longer see it as a single issue?

Ottawa Hospital opens operating rooms to private corporation, amid questions about new partnership
Toronto Star
Comments by Dr. David Gomez
A move by Ottawa’s largest hospital to allow a surgeon-run corporation to use its operating rooms is fuelling concerns about how the provincial government plans to grow the private footprint in publicly-funded health-care.

Drug to treat cystic fibrosis is giving people the chance to consider new futures
The Globe and Mail
Comments by Dr. Anne Stephenson
Marie-Pier Emery dared not dream of a baby. She knew that women with her genetic disease, cystic fibrosis, struggled to conceive. She also knew that, although CF patients are living longer than ever, they rarely lived long enough to see their children grow up.

February 24

New supervised drug consumption sites in Toronto to address ‘significant overdose crisis’
Toronto Star
Comments by Dr. Tim Rutledge
New supervised drug consumption sites will open in Toronto in response to a worsening opioid overdose crisis, in a partnership between the city’s harm reduction program and two hospitals, Toronto Public Health announced Friday.

Hospitals are overwhelmed. Physician burnout is rampant. I’m working to change that
Toronto Life
Column by Dr. James Maskalyk
After I was diagnosed with stage-four thyroid cancer, my colleagues covered my shifts and even helped me financially. Now, it’s my turn to support them

February 23

How kids’ mental health suffered as we managed COVID: Mid-pandemic hospital data paints striking picture
Toronto Star
Comments by Dr. Amol Verma
Infants and young children were hit hard by COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses in the second year of the pandemic compared to the previous year, leading to a spike in hospitalizations, while older kids and teens required hospital care for mental health conditions, new Canada-wide hospital data shows.

February 22

Parents’ decision-making on COVID vaccinations for their kids
CityNews Halifax
Interview with Dr. Jannah Wigle
(Segment in hour one, starts at 25:12)
Dr. Wigle, lead author of the report, Clinical Research Specialist at Unity Health Toronto, shares a study that says kids COVID-19 vaccination was a ‘complex’ decision for parents.

15 per cent death rate, severe lesions reported in patients with mpox alongside advanced HIV: study
CBC News
Comments by Dr. Darrell Tan
During Canada’s unprecedented mpox outbreak last summer, Montreal physician Dr. Antoine Cloutier-Blais noticed a concerning trend: Patients co-infected with advanced HIV were reporting lesions across their bodies, and systemic mpox symptoms.

February 21

Kids COVID-19 vaccination ‘complex’ decision for parents, study shows
Global News
Comments by Dr. Janet Parsons
To vaccinate or not to vaccinate against COVID-19? It has been a challenging and polarizing decision for parents in Canada during the coronavirus pandemic.

February 17

No stick and a small carrot: Can the federal government fix health care?
Toronto Star – It’s Political podcast
Interview with Dr. Tara Kiran
What will it take to fix health care in Canada?

February 15

Where should the new health-care money go? Here are Canada’s most pressing problems — and solutions
Toronto Star
Comments by Dr. Tara Kiran
Across the board, Canada’s vaunted health-care system — always under strain — has seemingly come undone after three years of pandemic stress.

February 14

Uncovering the real numbers behind who in Ontario lacks access to a family doctor
The Globe and Mail
Comments by Dr. Tara Kiran and Dr. Rick Glazier
The number of Ontarians without a family doctor rose significantly during the first two years of the pandemic, according to the most comprehensive analysis yet of how access to primary care is deteriorating in Canada’s most populous province.

February 13

Paxlovid medication lowers risk of COVID-19 death, hospitalization: study
CTV News
Comments by Dr. Kevin Schwartz
A new study has found that Paxlovid is proven to lower the risk of COVID-19-related death and hospitalization among those likely to experience severe illness.

February 10

Homeless: Search for solution grows more urgent than ever
Catholic Register
Comments by Dr. Stephen Hwang
As Canada’s largest city panics over a series of random stranger attacks, there is sudden media and political attention on Toronto’s exploding homeless population, especially the homeless who appear to be addicted or mentally ill.

February 9

He never learned about Canada’s first Black doctors in medical school. He wants all students to know their names
Toronto Star
Comments by Dr. Nav Persaud
It was only a few years ago that Toronto physician and researcher Nav Persaud learned the names Alexander Augusta and Anderson Abbott.

February 7

We need bold reform to fix family health care
The Globe and Mail
OpEd by Dr. Tara Kiran
Access to health care should be based on need and not on one’s ability to pay. Time and again, people in Canada have reaffirmed this as a fundamental value we share.

COVID-19 vaccine uptake plunges in Canada
Toronto Star
Comments by Dr. Fahad Razak
Check the calendar. Has it been more than six months since you’ve gotten a COVID shot? Experts are concerned with how many people have had any COVID-19 vaccine, regardless if it’s their first vaccine or fifth, in the past six months.

February 6

Project to set up 100 harm reduction “vending machines” across Canada
Filter
Comments by Dr. Sean Rourke
Vending machines are increasingly being deployed to distribute harm reduction supplies in North America. As Filter has reported, they’re being used to dispense hydromorphone in a Canadian safe supply project, and naloxone and sterile syringes in New York City, among other examples.

February 5

Vinyl records pressed with bodily fluids and CDs packaged with human hair — what makes a Toronto doctor collect these things?
Toronto Star
Interview with Dr. Michael Tau
Dr. Michael Tau works in the Unity Health Toronto hospital network, serving patients at St. Mike’s downtown and Providence in Scarborough. Recently, he wrote a book in which he explores a certain obsessive behaviour that might seem odd if not downright disturbing to the average person. But the book in question probably won’t make a lot of waves in his specialist field of geriatric psychiatry – because it’s about his music collection.

February 4

Many Canadians welcomed virtual health care. Where does it fit in the system now?
CBC News
Comments by Dr. Tara Kiran
Having the option to speak with her doctor over the phone for basic check-ins and requests has freed up Shawna Ford’s energy for tasks she’d prefer doing. “Normally, to go into the city, I don’t do anything the day before. I don’t do anything a few days after because it totally drains me. So having those phone appointments is amazing,” the Alberta woman, 62, told White Coat, Black Art.

February 3

Extreme cold puts spotlight on homelessness
CP24
Interview with Dr. Naheed Dosani
Diana Chan McNally with All Saints Toronto and Dr. Dosani discuss the lack of warming centres for the city’s unhoused population.

February 2

Why Toronto’s homeless are sleeping in hospital ERs
Toronto Star – This Matters podcast
Comments by Dr. Carolyn Snider
While hospitals are still struggling with staff shortages and overflowing ERs, some have also been pushed to the front lines of Toronto’s homelessness crisis. As almost 5,000 homeless Torontonians came through St. Michael’s downtown trauma centre last year, some were there simply because they had no place to stay.

February 1

Can a vending machine save lives?
Toronto Star – This Matters podcast
Interview with Dr. Sean Rourke
Smart vending machines have launched on Canada’s East coast. They’re the first of what will be 100 nationwide. But instead of dispensing chocolate or candy, these machines hold life-saving supplies like HIV tests, naloxone kits and unused needles.

Estrogen: How lifelong exposure may reduce the risk of stroke
Healthline
Comments by Dr. Atif Zafar
Estrogen therapy and its impact on stroke risk remains a much-debated topic. While too much estrogen can cause reproductive issues, past research indicates that the risk of cardiac and stroke death increases in the first year after stopping hormone therapy.

January 30

On the front lines of the homelessness crisis, a downtown ER tries a novel new approach
Toronto Star
Comments by Dr. Carolyn Snider, Rissa Raposo-Ferreira, LP Pavey and Zahra Tahil
When Dan Shaffer turned up at the St. Michael’s Hospital emergency room, it wasn’t for a medical crisis. In his early 70s, Shaffer had been evicted from his apartment and had nowhere else to go.

January 27

WHO pandemic decision
CTV News Channel
Interview with Dr. Prabhat Jha
Epidemiologist Dr. Jha discusses the WHO decision.

January 26

Analysis: Kraken surging, COVID-19 misinformation
CP24
Interview with Dr. Fahad Razak
Dr. Razak, an internist at St. Mike’s Hospital, talks about the surging Kraken variant and a report on COVID misinformation.

January 25

Is COVID still a global health emergency? WHO will decide Friday
Toronto Star
Comments by Dr. Fahad Razak
On Friday, the World Health Organization will declare whether COVID is still a public health emergency, three years after the organization first triggered the alarm.

Clinical extern program helps learners gain experience and address staffing needs
Hospital News
Comments by Conor Goulden, Julie McShane and Kaleil Mitchell
Since completing a nursing student placement at St. Michael’s Hospital in December 2020, Conor Goulden knew he wanted to find a permanent spot at the hospital. “I did a student placement in my fourth year in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU), and I remember thinking it didn’t seem possible to work in a workplace and love it so much that you almost feel like crying at the end,” he recalls.

January 24

OurCare survey highlights lack of access to primary care
Healthy Debate
Comments by Dr. Tara Kiran
Canadians’ access to primary care is worse than previously thought, according to results of the first phase of the OurCare project, one of the largest ever nation-wide surveys on primary health care. Of the nearly 9,300 survey respondents, only 77 per cent reported having a family doctor or nurse practitioner. Pre-pandemic estimates had put this number closer to 85 per cent.

January 23

Machines that dispense HIV testing kits, clean needles and Naloxone launch in Canada
Toronto Star
Comments by Dr. Sean Rourke
Machines that dispense HIV self-testing kits, clean needles and other harm reduction supplies have been installed in Atlantic Canada with plans for 100 in the next three years across the country, which continues to grapple with HIV cases and an opioid crisis.

January 22

The rise of virtual care isn’t driving ER visits, study says
The Globe and Mail
Comments by Dr. Tara Kiran
There are many reasons why hospital emergency departments have been under unprecedented strain lately, but new research shows that the shift by family doctors to virtual care since the start of the pandemic is not one of them, according to the president of the Ontario Medical Association.

January 20

Does COVID-19 disrupt the immune system?
The Globe and Mail
Comments by Dr. Fahad Razak
The theory that a COVID-19 infection might cause some type of immune dysfunction is being seriously considered by medical experts.

Everything you need to know about XBB.1.5, a.k.a. the Kraken subvariant
Toronto Star
Interview with Dr. Fahad Razak
The XBB.1.5, known by the nickname “Kraken,” is the latest COVID-19 subvariant of concern. Found to be highly transmissible, health experts are already seeing surges in other parts of the world like Europe and the United States, where there are higher case counts and hospitalizations.

Grand River Hospital implementing AI to help support patient needs
CTV Kitchener
Signal 1 is mentioned
Grand River Hospital in Kitchener announced it will be the first teaching community hospital in Canada to use artificial intelligence as a clinical decision support system.

January 18

‘A Band-Aid on top of a Band-Aid’: Winter-weather alerts are leaving vulnerable Ontarians out in the cold
TVO
Comments by Dr. Stephen Hwang
On December 23, a winter storm hit Hamilton and much of southern Ontario. Hundreds of people in Steeltown lost power, and schools, businesses, and public spaces closed. The medical officer of health issued a cold-weather alert, which happens when temperatures are (or are expected to drop) below -15 C, or -20 C with wind chill.

Can Canadian med students abroad solve doctor shortages?
TVO – The Agenda
Interview with Dr. Glen Bandiera
In 2010 an estimated 3,500 Canadians left to study medicine abroad. Ninety per cent of them wanted to return to Canada to be practicing doctors. That study was over a dozen years ago and from there, the numbers keep going up, while here at home we have a chronic physician shortage. Might foreign trained Canadian doctors be the talent pool solution to doctor shortages around this province and the country?

‘I’m not lazy, I’m a warrior’: Scarborough woman with long COVID one of thousands still living with symptoms
Scarborough Mirror
Comments by Kelly Tough
Brain fog is forgetting something someone told you five minutes ago or struggling to find the right words or being unable to spell them in your head.

Joining efforts to train and hire nurses from around the world
Hospital News
Comments by Sheila Leano-Cunanan, Julie McShane, Navdeep Kaur and Amita Ganeshan
Sheila Leano-Cunanan says nursing is in her blood. “Through my mom, I saw nursing as being a hard job, dealing with so many different people and circumstances, and also rewarding to help those who are in need and to serve humanity,” she says.

January 17

New Omicron subvariant expected to become dominant in Ontario as cases rise
CTV News
Comments by Dr. Fahad Razak
Cases of a new, highly-transmissible Omicron subvariant have risen in Ontario, and the former head of the province’s science table said it will become the next dominant COVID-19 strain.

Recent overdose deaths in Simcoe-Muskoka part of an ‘ongoing trend,’ experts say
CBC News
Comments by Dr. Tara Gomes
Ontario Provincial Police sounded the alarm last week after four people in the Simcoe-Muskoka area died from suspected opioid overdoses in a span of four days.

COPD patients 61 per cent more likely to die in the year after major surgery
Medical XPress
Comments by Dr. Ashwin Sankar
Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who undergo major surgery are more likely to die in the year after surgery and incur higher health care costs than similar patients without COPD, found a new study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

January 16

Using machine learning to predict brain tumour progression
University of Waterloo News
St. Michael’s is mentioned
Researchers at the University of Waterloo have created a computational model to predict the growth of deadly brain tumours more accurately.

Toronto doctor reacts to significant changes coming to Ontario’s healthcare system
CBC Radio – Here and Now
Interview with Dr. Amit Atrey
The Ontario provincial government has officially laid out its plan to expand the range of medical procedures performed at privately run clinics.

Keep warming centres open 24/7 for rest of winter, Board of Health urges city
CP24
Comments by Dr. Jacqueline Vincent and Dr. Stephen Hwang
Toronto’s Board of Health is urging the city to keep its warming centres open 24/7 for the remainder of the winter season.

January 15

Why this Sask. drug outreach centre doesn’t require abstinence to access its services
CBC Radio – White Coat, Black Art
Comments by Zoe Dodd
Kayla DeMong considers it a sign of success if her clients keep showing up. DeMong is the executive director of Prairie Harm Reduction. The organization provides supports to people who use drugs, including Saskatchewan’s only supervised consumption site in Saskatoon’s Pleasant Hill neighbourhood.

January 14

Code Z59.0: diagnosing the toll of homelessness on health care
The Globe and Mail
Comments by Dr. Stephen Hwang
In the emergency department at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton, Dr. Louis Hugo Francescutti recently treated a patient who was homeless and was there for the 360th time.

Something really, really must be done: an urgent plea for the Canada Disability Benefit to become law in 2023
Toronto Star
OpEd co-written by Dr. Naheed Dosani
Our patient, a 59-year-old man with cerebral palsy, is experiencing homelessness. His family is no longer able to support him. Provincial social assistance rates are so low he can no longer afford to live. He is a victim of abject poverty.

January 12

Street drugs in Canada are becoming more toxic — and tools to treat them less effective. Why?
Global News
Comments by Karen McDonald
A rise in the circulation of highly potent fentanyl that is increasingly being mixed with other drugs is making Canada’s street drug supply so toxic and unpredictable, tools to prevent overdoses such as naloxone are not always fully effective, experts say.

Patients who use virtual walk-in clinics more likely to go to ER later: study
Toronto Star
Comments by Dr. Tara Kiran
People who used a virtual-only medical service — a kind of virtual walk-in clinic — during the pandemic were more likely to later go to an emergency room than patients who did appointments with their own family doctor online, a study by Toronto researchers has shown.

January 11

Ozempic for weight loss: wonder drug or diet fad?
CBC News
Comments by Dr. Nav Persaud
Questions are swirling around the use of semaglutide, commonly sold under the brand name Ozempic, for weight loss. CBC’s Christine Birak explores the risks and benefits of off-label uses of the drug, which is traditionally used to treat Type 2 diabetes.

January 9

‘It’s extremely hard’: Peel residents share what it’s like to live on ODSP and OW with rising inflation
Brampton Guardian
Comments by Dr. Gary Bloch
Judy Simms lives in constant pain. Even while explaining her diagnosis, she had to stop as a new wave of searing pain flashed over her.

January 7

What nearly dying of cancer taught an ER doctor about burnout
The Globe and Mail
Profile of Dr. James Maskalyk
Dr. James Maskalyk felt the irregularity in his neck in May of 2020, just as he and his emergency-room colleagues were bracing to be overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients. Tests showed it was Stage 4 cancer in his lymph node. Surgery soon followed.

Implications of COVID-19 surge ahead of Lunar New Year for Canada
Global News
Comments by Dr. Prabhat Jha
China’s Lunar New Year travel rush begins amid a surge of COVID-19 in the country and fears the virus will spread even faster than it already has. Beijing has suspended social accounts of vocal critics, while new cases of subvariant XBB.1.5 are still spiking in the U.S., raising questions about what comes next for Canada.

January 6

We can’t view health as an exclusively personal matter – it’s a collective endeavour
The Globe and Mail
Comments by Dr. Dan Werb and Dr. Naheed Dosani
Perhaps this year you’ve resolved to improve your health. You’re eating better. You’re exercising regularly. You’re staying hydrated, and prioritizing sleep. But have you also thought about what you can do to ensure your friends are healthy too? Your neighbours? Your surrounding environment and wildlife?

What Canadians need to know about the Omicron ‘Kraken’ subvariant XBB.1.5
The Globe and Mail
Comments by Dr. Fahad Razak
XBB.1.5, referred to by some as the Kraken variant, is just the latest in a constantly evolving string of new variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

January 5

What we know — and don’t know — about the latest COVID-19 subvariant
TVO Today
Q&A with Dr. Fahad Razak
Over the December holidays, data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that a new subvariant of COVID-19, XBB.1.5, was spreading rapidly, accounting for over 40 per cent of the cases in that country.

January 4

Covid variant xBB 1-5
CBC Radio Windsor Morning
Interview with Dr. Fahad Razak
Dr. Razak, an internist and epidemiologist at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, and the former director of Ontario’s Covid-19 Science Advisory Table, speaks with CBC Windsor Morning host Nav Nanwa about Covid variant xBB 1-5.

January 3

China travel measures a ‘political move’: Dr. Jha
CTV News
Interview with Dr. Prabhat Jha
Epidemiologist Dr. Prabhat Jha says China needs to share more COVID-19 data globally to help restore the confidence of other nations.

What the rest of the country can learn from Ontario’s family doctor payment model
The Globe and Mail
Comments by Dr. Gordon Arbess and Dr. Tara Kiran
Allan Carpenter shuffles into the doctor’s office and gets down to business. The 65-year-old patient and his long-time physician, Gordon Arbess, have plenty to talk about, even though they see each other for a check-up every second week.

Changing nature of Canada’s overdose crisis calls for more aggressive response, experts say
CBC News
Comments by Dr. Tara Gomes and Karen McDonald
An evolving mix of opioid cocktails and changing consumption habits mean governments must now respond more aggressively to the overdose crisis, experts say.