May 3rd 2024
Despite huge advances in our understanding of COVID-19 over the past four years, the disease is still very much among us – and there remains a lot to learn. One thing we do know: Following infection, it’s critical that our cells make new proteins to defend against the virus.
CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE
April 26th 2024
COVID-19 remains an important public health threat, despite overall decreases in COVID-19–related severe disease since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE
April 12th 2024
Researchers at Stanford Medicine say that immune cells in the lungs known as interstitial macrophages are critical in the development of severe—and potentially deadly—COVID.
CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE
April 5th 2024
McMaster University researchers have found that when masking and vaccinations were used, schools were not a major source of COVID-19 transmission.
CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE
March 15th 2024
An Ontario long COVID-19 researcher says she is all too familiar with the lasting effects of the condition, which she experienced for 18 months after she got infected. Manali Mukherjee is an assistant professor at McMaster University’s respirology division and said she caught COVID-19 in January of 2021.
CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE
March 8th 2024
In March 2020, things were far from normal. Vaccines and face masks were suddenly aspects of mainstream culture. Shoppers lined up, sometimes for hours, outside stores. Once inside, they followed strict instructions and sometimes encountered empty shelves and supplies in low stock. Schools were closed and students learned from home.
CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE
March 1st 2024
​For centuries, coronaviruses have triggered health crises and economic challenges, with SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that spreads COVID-19, being a recent example.
CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE
February 23rd 2024
Since March 2020, the federal government has announced a series of economic measures to help stabilize the economy and address the widespread fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE
February 16th 2024
A snapshot of Ontario’s COVID-19 wastewater data shows the rate of infection in the province is dropping after a holiday spike. The presence of COVID-19 in wastewater appears to be shrinking in every region surveyed by Ontario Public Health, with the exception of northwest Ontario where the signal is actually trending upward to 1.28.
CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE
February 9th 2024
Homeless people are more likely to have underlying health conditions that make them more vulnerable to illness. People who are homeless have high rates of COVID-19 reinfection, putting the health of an already vulnerable population at further risk, a study published Friday in the BMC Infectious Diseases journal says.
CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE
February 2nd 2024
Although it is sometimes impossible to avoid illness, some infectious disease specialists say there are certain things they do -- and don't do -- to keep healthy. Infectious diseases like COVID-19, group A streptococcus and measles are making the rounds in Canadian communities.
CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE
January 26th 2024
If testing positive for COVID-19 isn’t annoying enough, new research found it can also make you miserable and irritable. A team of researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine, Columbia University and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center uncovered how the virus can infect brain cells related to mood, movement and stress, leading to an interruption of dopamine production.
CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE
January 19th 2024
Public health officials in Toronto say that the level of respiratory illness in the city remains high, but appears to be decreasing following a wave of infections over the holidays. 
CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE
January 12th 2024
Canada's National Advisory Committee on Immunization says some groups of people vulnerable to severe illness from COVID-19 should be eligible for another dose of vaccine in the spring.
CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE
January 5th 2024
Respiratory virus outbreaks in Ontario’s long-term care homes remain dominated by COVID-19, with nearly 16,000 cases of the virus reported in the last four months.
CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE
December 29th 2023
Influenza (flu) and COVID-19 are both contagious respiratory illnesses, but they are caused by different viruses. Viruses are tiny microbes that survive by invading other living cells. These cells become host cells to the virus, which multiplies inside of them.
CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE
December 22nd 2023
Canadians raced to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in the first years of the pandemic, but data suggests there's far less of a rush to get the latest shots available this fall. Federal figures show only 15 percent of the population aged five and up had received an updated vaccine by Dec. 3.
CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE
December 15th 2023
ARS-CoV -2, the airborne virus that causes COVID-19, is spreading out of control, sickening adults and children alike. We continue to see patients with COVID-19 as infection rates hold steady across our region. We’re averaging about 15-20 COVID inpatients per day , some in the ICU. 
CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE
December 8th 2023
There is a lot of COVID-19 circulating in Ontario right now, and levels of both that virus and influenza are on the rise, set to peak over the holiday season, the province's top doctor said Monday. This is a key week for immunizing against both viruses, as it takes 10 to 14 days for protection to take effect.
CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE
December 1st 2023
To paint an accurate picture of the respiratory health in the province, data on all such illnesses must be considered together, not just that detailing COVID-19 levels. According to the PHO, over the last week, COVID-19 cases made up the majority of respiratory illnesses reported in the province (20.4 percent), followed by respiratory syncytial virus (7.9 percent), and entero/rhinovirus (6.8 percent).
CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE
November 24th 2023
Why don’t we have firmer numbers on how many people are actually testing positive for COVID right now? Earlier in the pandemic, most people were getting diagnostic PCR tests through official sites, which were then tracked through their laboratory processing and had their numbers reported — the way the state’s official test positivity rate is still tracked.
CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE
November 17th 2023
Masking requirements are back for long-term care staff in Ontario amid an uptick of COVID-19 cases and outbreaks in the sector. The new rules went into effect on Nov . 7 and impact staff, volunteers and support workers, who will now have to wear masks indoors in all resident areas.
CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE
November 10th 2023
Just in time for respiratory virus season, health officials are tracking a new coronavirus variant that has unseated its predecessors and is now the dominant strain.
CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE
November 3rd 2023
Toronto Public Health will be releasing another round of appointments for the updated COVID-19 shot at its fixed-site vaccination clinics on Friday as city officials urge residents to “do the double jab.”
CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE
October 27th 2023
Seasonal flu and COVID-19 are both contagious respiratory illnesses, but they are caused by different viruses, so it is important to get both vaccines. In addition to getting vaccinated, it is important to layer protective measures to prevent illness.
CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE
October 20th 2023
COVID-19 hospitalizations are on the rise across Canada as a wave of autumn infections sweeps the population. The latest numbers are nothing to panic over, infectious diseases experts say, but they can't be ignored either, especially with so many hospitals in the country already operating at or near capacity.
CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE
October 13th 2023
Toronto Public Health is opening up thousands of new appointments to select Torontonians for the updated monovalent COVID-19 vaccine as part of its ‘Fight the Flu and COVID-19’ vaccination campaign this fall.
CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE
October 6th 2023
Health Canada has given its stamp of approval to Pfizer’ s new COVID-19 vaccine that targets the Omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant. It is said that the vaccine is authorized as a one-dose vaccine for individuals five years of age and older, regardless of their COVID-19 vaccination history. 
CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE
September 29th 2023
Positivity has been trending upward recently, sitting at around 14.1 per cent the first week of September, up sharply from the 4.8 percent low near the end of June, according to data from the Provincial COVID-19 Diagnostic Network.
CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE
September 22nd 2023
A new variant of Omicron, Pirola, has been detected in Canada and a few other countries is being closely tracked by health officials because it is the most highly mutated version of the coronavirus since the emergence of the Omicron variant of concern in 2021.
CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE
September 15th 2023
As we enter the fall season, we start to see rising numbers in COVID cases and even new COVID variants. Public Health officials continue to warn Canadians about the threat of COVID-19, and remind people about the importance of taking preventative  measures. Although Canadian vaccination rates are relatively high, experts warn that many Canadians are likely experiencing
waning immunity since they received their last booster about a year ago.
CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE