Date of publication: Mar 25, 2022 • 12 hours ago • 16 minutes of reading Students wear masks in Beatonsfield High School Math 2. Photo by John Mahoney / Montreal Gazette
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Updated all day on Friday 25 March. Questions / Comments: [email protected]
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Legault, who tested positive yesterday, tweeted Pharmacists, scientists begin the hunt for long-term treatments for COVID Some memory of the immune system remains a year after COVID infection COVID infections in the UK increase by 1 million in just one week Increasing number of Quebec students, teachers absent due to COVID Federal pledges another $ 2 billion to provinces to address pandemic-induced health delays Ford says Ontario ready to handle rising cases of hospitalizations WHO rejects Canadian COVID-19 vaccine from Medicago, with high tobacco bonds Hospital admissions are falling as Quebec reports 12 new deaths François Legault tested positive after feeling sick on the way home to Montreal Experts are worried about how the US will see the next COVID outbreak Canadian Universities Schedule Convenience Ceremonies After a Long Pause The coronavirus situation in Germany is unlikely to improve any time soon How will the Omicron BA.2 sub-variant affect Quebec? There are fears that Justin Bieber’s concert in Ottawa on Sunday will be a COVID blockbuster Multiple additional criminal prosecutions against key protest organizers Ottawa police were unprepared for the number, behavior of escort protesters: interim police chief Quebec COVID Guide: Vaccinations, Vaccine Passports, Tests, Restrictions Sign up for our free nightly coronavirus newsletter
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16:00
Thanks for reading
I will be back tomorrow with another live blog. In the meantime, you can watch all of our coverage via the coronavirus page. My previous live blogs about COVID-19 are available here. 3:30 p.m.
Legault, who tested positive yesterday, tweeted
Prime Minister François Lego, who is in isolation at his home after testing positive yesterday, tweeted this afternoon. His office did not provide health information, but in a tweet yesterday Legault said he had symptoms but was feeling well.
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3 p.m.
Pharmacists, scientists begin the hunt for long-term treatments for COVID
From the Reuters news agency: After producing vaccines and treatments for acute COVID-19 in record time, researchers and pharmacists are turning to finding a cure for long-term COVID-19, a more elusive target characterized by hundreds of different symptoms that afflict millions of people. Leading drugmakers, including those who have released antiviral pills and monoclonal antibodies to COVID-19, have early discussions with researchers on how to target the disease, five scientists in the United States and the United Kingdom told Reuters. Companies such as GlaxoSmithKline, Vir Biotechnology and Humanigen have confirmed that they have spoken to researchers in trials using their current treatments for long-term COVID. Others, including Pfizer and Roche, said they were interested but would not give further details about the plans.
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Researchers, biotechnology companies and public health experts say the big pharmaceutical companies are an integral part of the proven cure for the disease, which currently affects more than 100 million people, according to the World Health Organization. “When you look at the numbers for heart failure, diabetes, etc., we’re talking about this problem,” said Amitava Banerjee, a lead researcher in a lengthy COVID trial. Long-term COVID, with approximately 200 reported conditions including fatigue, chest pain, and fog in the brain, is defined by symptoms lasting more than 3 months. It overrides people who have had both mild and severe COVID-19, including children. In the United States, it is estimated that it affected 1 in 7 working-age adults.
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Sandi Zack, 53, a former Atlanta elementary school teacher who can no longer work, described symptoms such as excessive fatigue, dizziness, pain and palpitations since she contracted COVID in December 2020. Seek help from a number of specialists and try a variety of medications to relieve its symptoms, including steroids and the antidepressant fluvoxamine. “We are all still out here,” he said. “Hoping and waiting.” There are less than 20 ongoing clinical trials for drug testing, some of which are in the early stages, according to interviews with more than a dozen independent and government-backed scientists and a Reuters review of a global clinical trial database. The scientists hope their research will reveal the causes of long-term COVID, a major barrier to finding targets for new drugs or identifying existing drugs that could work as treatments.
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“We are reaching a stage where we are attracted to people who are suffering, we are trying treatments,” said David Strain, a lecturer at the University of Exeter School of Medicine, whose research showed which treatments would be tested in a major British trial. . “Hopefully we will have things we can offer them to bring their lives back to normal in the near future.” Large pharmaceutical companies are looking for disease-specific biomarkers that will allow them to assess the value of the drugs being tested, experts say. “What they are struggling with is defining a case for long-term COVID,” said Dr. Amy Proal, a meta-viral disease expert at the PolyBio Research Foundation on Mercer Island in Washington. He said he had held confidential meetings with two venture capital groups and a large pharmaceutical company.
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Possible underlying causes that the researchers are studying include damage from the original infection, prolonged virus reservoirs in the body, an autoimmune response in which the immune system attacks its own cells, and a deregulated immune response that causes excessive inflammation that destroys small blood vessels. . It could be a combination of these or other factors, they say. 2:40 p.m.
Some memory of the immune system remains a year after COVID infection
One year after coronavirus infection, when antibodies in the blood are barely detectable, the immune system continues to “remember” the virus and must respond to some degree when it encounters it again, a study from China suggests. Read our full story.
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2:20 p.m.
COVID infections in the UK increase by 1 million in just one week
From Bloomberg News: The number of people infected with Covid-19 in the UK has risen by almost a third in a week as the government prepares to end free virus tests for most people. About 4.25 million people are currently suffering from the disease, almost a million more than last week, according to the National Statistics Office. Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the end of almost all pandemic-related restrictions in January, betting that the development of the country’s vaccination program and the emergence of the less severe omicron variant would reduce deaths and boost economic activity. Next month, most people who want to take a side flow test will have to pay for them.
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But as more people return to the office and socialize, a second wave of the micron has spread. So far, however, the number of people who have died from Covid is lower than that of those infected. According to the ONS, around 670 people died of the disease in England and Wales in the week ended March 11, the latest available figures. 2:15 p.m.
Increasing number of Quebec students, teachers absent due to COVID
The increase in cases observed in Quebec last week is beginning to take effect. After falling for weeks, the number of elementary and high school students absent due to COVID-19 increased this week. A total of 14,015 did not go to school on Tuesday. That’s 40 percent more than they did not go to school a week earlier. The data – from an information from the Ministry of Education published yesterday – include children who tested positive as well as those who were isolated without a positive test.
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Of the 14,015 absent on Tuesday, 7,882 were elementary school students, with 5,716 in high school and 417 in adult education. The number of distance learning courses has also increased – to 24, from 21. Two schools were closed due to COVID on Tuesday. A week ago, no schools were closed. The number of teachers absent due to COVID is also increasing. 936 were absent on Tuesday. This compares to 682 last week. The change represents a 37 percent increase. Figures show that 0.69 percent of all teachers in the province are absent due to COVID, up from 0.5 percent a week earlier. These are the latest data on the percentage …
