C/O Georgia Kirkos
McMaster experts share insights about the updated guidelines and their effects on the spread of Omicron
After relatively steady COVID-19 case counts throughout the fall, the highly contagious Omicron variant was identified in Ontario at the end of November. Since then, case counts have skyrocketed, surpassing 10,000 cases for the first time on Dec. 25.
In response to the increase in COVID-19 cases, the Ontario government has updated public health guidelines, putting in place more restrictions for Ontario residents. This includes stricter gathering limits, closure of events and businesses, shortened quarantine times for individuals tested positive and limits on who can access a PCR test.
The gathering limits in Ontario have been reduced to five people indoors or ten people outdoors. Weddings, funerals and religious services, when held indoors, are limited to 50 per cent capacity of the spaces they are held in. When held outdoors, they must allow for full social distancing between all attendees. Further, businesses and employers must ensure that their employees are working remotely, assuming that this is feasible.
In terms of business closures, indoor dining, theatres, gyms and other similar spaces are required to close completely. Other spaces such as retail settings and public libraries can remain open at 50 per cent capacity.
Zain Chagla, Associate Professor of Medicine at McMaster University, emphasized the importance of these closures for Ontario. According to Chagla, the highly contagious Omicron variant will likely infect a large portion of the population, regardless of public health measures; however, the public health guidelines should slow the spread of Omicron to prevent placing a strain on the healthcare system.
“The hope is [that] public health measures might delay or slow down some of that spread, so [that the Omicron variant spreads] over two to three months, as compared to one month, where hospitals [could] easily become overwhelmed,” said Chagla.
“The hope is [that] public health measures might delay or slow down some of that spread, so [that the Omicron variant spreads] over two to three months, as compared to one month, where hospitals [could] easily become overwhelmed.”
Zain Chagla, Associate Professor of Medicine at McMaster University
Chagla also noted that slowing the spread of Omicron should ensure that essential services still have enough people to operate them in the meantime.
“People, even if they are mild with COVID, still need to isolate and that has downstream impacts on the ability to staff hospitals, police, fire stations, grocery stores, etc. Again, spreading that out a little bit would at least allow some of those essential industries and essential care services to stay open,” explained Chagla.
In addition to stricter COVID-19 related restrictions, Ontario has also made changes to their rules surrounding testing and isolation.
Publicly funded PCR tests, previously available to anyone with symptoms of COVID-19, are now only accessible to symptomatic individuals deemed high-risk by the province. As well, most people who test positive for COVID-19 using a rapid antigen test will no longer be expected to confirm their test result with a PCR test; instead, the province has instructed those people to assume that they have COVID-19 and to isolate for the recommended period.
The recommended isolation period, which was previously ten days since the onset of COVID-19 symptoms, has been shortened to five days since the onset of COVID-19 symptoms, for vaccinated individuals and children under twelve. Ontario was not the only province to implement this change; British Columbia, Manitoba, Alberta, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick have announced shorter isolation periods as well.
Chief Medical Officers and Health Ministers of various provinces have given a range of reasons for the shortened isolation time, such as a far lower risk of transmission after five days, greater incentive to self-test when the quarantine time is shorter and prevention of unmanageable disruptions to the workforce.
In terms of what the changing restrictions will mean for students at McMaster, Chagla pointed out that McMaster’s decision to delay the full return to campus to Feb. 7 will allow students extra time to obtain their third vaccine doses.
“I really want to reassure people, especially young individuals attending Mac, that [if] you get your booster [and] get your two doses, yes, there's a good shot that you would still get COVID in the next few months, but the outcomes are going to be really, really benign,” said Chagla.
According to Lori Burrows, Professor of Pathology and Molecular Medicine at McMaster, obtaining a booster shot is one of the most effective ways to combat the Omicron wave.
According to Lori Burrows, Professor of Pathology and Molecular Medicine at McMaster, obtaining a booster shot is one of the most effective ways to combat the Omicron wave.
Burrows emphasized the importance of being careful in the meantime because, while Omicron is generally less severe for vaccinated individuals, it is still dangerous.
“The natural course of evolution for any virus or pathogen is to become less pathogenic over time because if you're a virus, your goal is to infect as many hosts as possible. If you kill your host, that's a bad strategy from an evolutionary standpoint. So, most pathogens become less pathogenic over time, but better at transmitting,” explained Burrows.
Burrows added that, while this seems to be the direction that Omicron is heading in, it isn’t there yet.
“It's still killing people, so we have got to keep that in mind and we still have to be careful,” said Burrows.
“It's still killing people, so we have got to keep that in mind and we still have to be careful.”
Lori Burrows, Professor of Pathology and Molecular Medicine at McMaster
Despite this, Burrows emphasized that some level of optimism is important because we have made significant progress in fighting COVID-19 over the last two years. As Burrows explained, we did not have vaccines, medications or any understanding of COVID-19 when the pandemic first began. Now, two years later, we are far better equipped to handle the pandemic.
“We are in a better place than we were two years ago,” said Burrows.
Lindsay Purchase
The Cord
WATERLOO (CUP) — Ontario’s universities will soon be competing for more than just students — they’ll be fighting for more space to put them. In December, the province released its Major Capacity Expansion Policy Framework, which provides guidelines for interested universities to put forth proposals for satellite campuses.
“We made a commitment to engage in capacity expansion to meet the needs of future growth in our system and a number of institutions … have expressed interest in putting project proposals together. And there was a need to provide them with a level of stability and certainty going forward in determining timing,” said training, colleges and universities minister Brad Duguid.
Duguid said that a call for proposals will likely go out in early 2014. The policy document outlines a number of characteristics it is looking for from applicants. This includes the ability for a new campus to accommodate growth of 5,000 to 10,000 students over the next twenty years, provide additional facilities of at least 70,000 square feet and address geographic gaps in capacity.
“So we want to make sure these expansions take place in the areas where growth is taking place in the province and where there’s the greatest need for students in the province for post-secondary institutions,” Duguid continued. “And we also want to make sure that the growth occurs in a way that’s reflective of our principles regarding differentiation, that it meets the needs of our students and our economy.”
Differentiation, he explained, does not necessarily mean that a university must offer something different, but must fill a gap. Cost-effectiveness and benefit to the local economy were also highlighted as advantages. Dugid said that while universities appear to be the focus of growth needs, colleges could also put forth proposals. He also noted that the main purpose is to accommodate growth, so funding expansions on current campuses is a possibility.
“These ultimately have potential to be substantial expansions, but if there are projects on existing campuses that accommodate this, that would be open for consideration within the competitive process as well,” he said.
A number of post-secondary institutions have expressed interest in campus expansions and have been waiting for more direction from the Ontario government. Laurentian University, in Sudbury, is one, hoping to expand into Barrie. Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo is another university whose administration has been pushing for a satellite campus, which it recently outlined in a draft Strategic Mandate Agreement submitted to the province in accordance with its new differentiation policy.
“We were pleased that the guidelines were released,” commented Brian Rosborough, senior executive officer for the WLU Brantford campus. “We were anxious to see what the government’s process would be for applying for new campuses.”
Rosborough said he believes a Milton campus would align well with the government’s stipulations, as there is no university in the Halton Region, of which Milton is a part, and it is undergoing substantial population growth.
“The fact that we based our proposal on sort of good public policy ideas around growth and addressing the infrastructure gap that exists there, I think our chances are pretty good,” he said.
Rosborough added that the presence of a university campus would also help Milton transition to a more knowledge-based industry. While a specific timeline has not been announced for proposals to be examined and construction would certainly be a ways off, Duguid assured that the turnaround would be quick.
“We wanted to make sure that those institutions that were considering projects had an idea ahead of time so they can start preparing and the institutions are aware that—we don’t have a date yet—sometime in 2014 we expect to put out a request for proposals,” he said. “We look forward to seeing what comes about.”
Dina Fanara
Assistant News Editor
An announcement was made to all users of McMaster’s Pulse fitness centre on Nov. 11 with regards to a new usage monitoring system. It will be implemented to regulate the number of users allowed to use the Pulse at any given time.
The new practice is called the “one-in, one-out” policy. The system was put into effect as a result of a greatly elevated attendance level in the facility, resulting in long wait times for equipment.
Students were told in the email that the busiest times for the facilities are between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and were advised to consider using their memberships outside of the peak hours.
According to Debbie Marinoff Shupe, the Manager of Recreation Services at McMaster’s Department of Athletics and Recreation, this year has seen a record number of Pulse memberships purchased, most of which were bought by McMaster students.
A recent ranking of Canadian universities in Maclean’s Magazine said that 79 per cent of McMaster students participate in athletics and recreation in some form, many by purchasing a Pulse membership. It’s a number that, according to Marinoff Shupe, is much higher than the average for Canadian universities.
A steady yearly increase in Pulse fitness facility usage has occurred since the opening of the new facility in 2006.
In the 2005-2006 academic year, close to 8,000 memberships were sold, with a steady increase until numbers reached more than 11,000 this year.
In addition to the increase in Pulse membership purchases, this year has also seen a steady increase in the average number of times per month that the fitness centre is being used.
Not only are more students purchasing memberships, they are also using the facilities more often.
As a result of this increase, the “one-in, one-out” policy has been implemented. This method was first used in January of 2011, as January is typically the busiest month for the Pulse, but this is the first year that the system has been used in the fall.
“Part of what we want to do is educate people on different options,” added Marinoff Shupe, including using the upstairs running track and changing personal exercise schedules.
Athletics and Recreation is currently looking into options for expansion. However, this also raises concern. For example, where would new equipment go?
There is little room left for more cardio machines on the second floor, and the first floor is already packed with weight machines and free weights.
While this issue is seen by Athletics and Recreation as a positive statement on student fitness, this is a serious problem for those who wish to use the facilities, and an issue that will take time and resources to resolve.
