The mpox situation is concerning, but the identification of a case in Europe doesn’t change the concern we’ve had in public health tracking this global pandemic for two years.
We’ve been tracking clade 1 in particular for a number of months. Public health is paying close attention.
canada.ca/content/dam/ph… I’ll do a deeper dive soon, but my concerns with mpox are not immediate cases in 🇨🇦 and I would agree with @WHO that this is unlikely to be the ‘new COVID’.
bbc.com/news/articles/…

Please have a read.
A great detailed article delving deep into prescribed alternatives to toxic street drugs (aka safer supply).
I had a chance to visit the program & hear the results of their evaluation this week, the work from the NPLC & @kathyhardill is impressive & lifesaving

https://twitter.com/PTBO_Currents/status/1801384078349853059

This eval adds to a growing literature on safer supply as an effective harm reduction intervention and counters misguided narratives that this is “just keeping people alive” (although that also sounds like a good thing from my medical perspective) - 86% ppl used less/no fentanyl

The first @CochraneCanada CAN-PCC Prevention Guideline recommendation is out:
*We suggest masking for asymptomatic adults in community settings be used for the prevention of COVID-19 infection to prevent COVID-19 condition.* (Cond Rec, Low Cert Evidence) Here's what we found. No surprise, masks work. Their effectiveness at prevention of COVID-19 infection and therefore Post COVID Condition increase at higher risks of transmission. With 100 people infected per 1000, masks could prevent *17 cases per 1,000*.

🚨It's Time to Improve the Air We Breath 🫁: Peterborough Public Health @Ptbohealth advocates for improved indoor air quality where we live, learn, work, and play
peterboroughpublichealth.ca/its-time-to-im… Scientific thinking on airborne transmission of #COVID19 has heightened the importance of improving & assuring optimal indoor air quality, which also comes with other health benefits.
@Nature asks if countries will clean it up, and we advocate they must!
nature.com/articles/d4158…

Did you know Canada is the ONLY country in the world that has universal health care, but🚫access to covered contraception⁉️
Contraception is a gender health equity issue & 1:5 have insufficient drug coverage.
#InternationalWomensDay @Ptbohealth actioncanadashr.org/resources/poli… BC recently announced that contraception would be free for everyone, and all provinces in 🇨🇦, including @ONThealth should follow suit.
cbc.ca/news/canada/br…

The immune system is a fascinating, complicated thing. Here's a story to show, but spoiler alert. You don't owe it any debts and preventing infection is always better than it learning "the hard way" through acquired immunity from infection. When I was on a 6 mo mission @MSF, the project where I was based was in the middle of a jungle. We had no reliable electricity, just intermittent generators therefore refrigeration.

I feel the concern healthcare providers, especially those helping kids are feeling right now. I feel it both as a previous ER physician and a father of two little kids. I can feel the fear of health care providers right now. I’ve also worked in healthcare in other countries where I had to triage for inadequate care; I’ve had children die on me, because their health system failed them. It’s not something you ever fully recover from, and it’s something we must do everything in our power to avoid here.

In public health training you learn about seat belts as the biggest prevention success story of the 21st century. The 3-point seatbelt began shipping as an option in cars in the late 1950s.
Decades of public health messaging to strongly advise seat belt use just didn't work.
People only started wearing when required.
Ontario was the first to require (1976) and Yukon the last (1991).

I’m not saying there’s movement afoot to privatize Canada’s universal publicly funded healthcare system, but this is how you’d do it:
1️⃣ manufacture a crisis
2️⃣ obfuscate the blame
3️⃣ divide & conquer
4️⃣ provide knights in shining armour to save the day 1️⃣ cbc.ca/news/canada/ca…

Folks, take note please. It's no time to panic, but it is time to roll up our sleeves and get back to work preventing COVID-19. Transmission risk in the @Ptbohealth region is VERY HIGH. It's not what any of us want, but we've had nearly 3 years of experience so we know what to do 1⃣ if you're one of the many people currently sick. PLEASE stay home & stop the spread. Going to school/work sick will continue to lead to exponentially increasing transmission. This isn't just on you, we need to ratchet up advocacy to province & employers for paid sick leave.

While the COVID-19 pandemic continues, it is yet to have hit our household to the best of our knowledge.
We have been privileged to be extra cautious, in part because our two little kids aren’t yet fully vaccinated, but we’re also living our best life.
Here’s how 👇 We’re following the evidence on what 2.5 yrs of science has told us works:
1 - we’re checking the @Ptbohealth COVID-19 risk index every Wednesday when it’s updated and adapting our schedule, activities and expectations accordingly. app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjo…

More than 6 drinks a week leads to major health risks - new Canadian @CCSACanada lower risk drinking guidelines cbc.ca/news/health/dr… @CCSACanada Here are the guidelines directly
ccsa.ca/sites/default/…

Friendly reminder. The pandemic is not over. We’ve done great work responding but we haven’t won & there’s significant work to do in sustaining a response and scaling up effective interventions (use of masks, ventilation, vaccines & therapeutics) that will save disability and lives.

In terms of severe disease & death, strain on hospitals & exhausted health workers, & looming challenges of extensive Long COVID, a plateau of transmission this high can’t be acceptable. Two + years of science and we know what to do.

@PublicHealthON has released📰their latest Long COVID (Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome)
Lots of research incorporated, evidence is still evolving.

Our pandemic response needs to be guided by concerns with Long COVID.
publichealthontario.ca/-/media/Docume…
Summarized systematic review evidence🧵 Neurological and mental health outcomes:

COVID-19 has upended science, showing us we can accomplish great things by working together 💉💊🌎.

However... a thread 🧵 1/We've learned that despite global advancements in preventions & treatments, they're actively withheld from people living in lower-income settings, and lower income people living in high-income settings too.
COVID-19 has magnified, but followed the same injustices society does.

With this sixth wave upon us, preventive measures should be returned & communication needs to be as strong as possible to help us all get through this.
Even the worst of the @COVIDSciOntario modelling projections was showing less cases & hospitalizations than we are seeing. We need improved pathways to treatment and I'm hopeful people that are at high risk of hospitalization, who will benefit from treatment get access through broader access.

https://twitter.com/twpiggott/status/1509607149344808965?s=20&t=_QsGuDwKYdELvYg3EyFGdA

I'm concerned the discussion now in pandemic, & the 6th wave we are into in #Peterborough & #Ontario is just focused on preventing hospitalizations & death. Maintaining hospital capacity & preventing severe disease are important, but even 'mild' illness impacts are concerning. As the number of people infected increases, the number of people impacted by the effects of Long COVID is growing. This is a complex multisystem disease we are still learning the extent of...

https://twitter.com/EricTopol/status/1512145875216191519?s=20&t=o5CG7lcoLwstL5DRmr09XA

Ventilation is important to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but how can you tell how good your home's🏡air is?
@Ptbohealth has teamed up with @ptbolibrary & partners to launch the first CO2 Monitor lending program! #COVID19 #ventilationmatters #freshair
peterborough.ca/en/news/peterb… This is an exciting partnership & thanks 🙏 for the support @masks4canada @ncceh @deejcane @LadyScorcher @kdnyhan @Prescientx1 @co2check1 @comilla_s.
We hope other libraries will follow!

A multilayer approach to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is still critical, but there's ONE intervention we all need to stick with for the time being: MASKING 😷
That's why I'm still strongly recommending for all
Here's a quick recap on the science of just how impactful it is. 🧵 Before we get started on the evidence. A quick recall, that in public health decisions, NET balance is critical. For the teeter totter of masks 😷 benefits vs harms: all the weight is on the benefits side & NO harms have been demonstrated.

https://twitter.com/twpiggott/status/1491819007552466945

With provincial changes, and ongoing high levels of COVID transmission (though fortunately decreased from the omicron peak), I strongly recommend individuals who haven’t been vaccinated to do so as soon as possible, including their 3rd dose (or 4th if immunocompromised). I also strongly recommend individuals continue to wear their mask indoors around others beyond the 21st of March.