Source: https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/alberta-response-to-airborne-covid-19-transmission

Alberta is updating its mask-use guidelines in the light of a recent messaging shift from Canada’s top doctor on the risk of airborne spread of COVID-19, but the province is otherwise continuing to use a year-old document which considers aerosol virus transmission to be a non-dominant form of spread. Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, said in mid-November that respiratory aerosols — microscopic airborne particles which can carry SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 — can linger in air much like smoke , underlining the importance of mask use and ventilation in indoor spaces as virus mitigation measures.

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Source: https://torontosun.com/health/dwell-well-make-your-home-happy-and-healthy

It may all feel a bit grey and gloomy but there are ways to dwell well. You have no control over the chilly temps and lack of sunlight, but you can make your indoor space happier and healthier and brighter. Interior designer Sarah Walker is an expert at making indoor spaces as healthy as they are beautiful. Wellness-focused interiors combine not only decor and furniture placement, but enhance air quality too.

“We already spent 90% of our time indoors pre-pandemic, and that number unquestionably went up during lockdowns,” says Walker, of thecuratedhouse.com.

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Source: https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/message-shift-on-airborne-transmission-of-covid-19-seen-as-positive-but-late

Twenty-two months into the pandemic, there is something new in the air: a heightened emphasis by the Public Health Agency of Canada that COVID-19 can spread through the air, like second-hand smoke. As far back as last November, PHAC quietly acknowledged that COVID-19 could be spread through the air and not just through droplets. But it offered little or no advice about what that would mean to the way people and institutions prevent transmission, critics say.

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Source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/curbing-air-pollution-could-prevent-millions-of-deaths-in-north-america-over-next-50-years-1.6232730

As Omicron cases surge in Alberta, so does the number of children hospitalized with COVID-19.According to Alberta Health, 43 of the 1,007 COVID patients in hospital Monday were under the age of 18. That included eight who were in intensive care.
Those figures are up from last Friday, when 30 youngsters were hospitalized and four were in the ICU.
And it’s at least double the number seen in previous waves, according to Dr. Jim Kellner, pediatric infectious disease specialist at Alberta Children’s Hospital.
“We have more children in hospital now than with any of the previous waves,” said Kellner, who also teaches in the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary.

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Source: https://www.thestar.com/life/health_wellness/advice/2021/10/11/why-a-top-notch-air-exchanger-is-way-more-effective-than-plexiglas-when-it-comes-to-good-ventilation.html

At this stage of reopening, many Torontonians are obviously thrilled they finally have the chance to get back to the gym, yoga studio, local bar, and other bricks and mortar spaces.

And then there are the rest. After over a year of avoiding the indoors except for necessities, it still just feels a little weird to some to lower your mask inside, whether it’s on the treadmill or at the bar.

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