ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR
- 7/29/2020
Operators standing by
My troubled personal history with the telephone before and during the pandemic - 7/29/2020
Ontario government reveals back to school plan
Ontario's elementary students and many high schoolers will return to traditional classrooms full time in September, the provincial government announced Thursday. But the province's new back-to-school plan indicates that high school students at two dozen boards—including the Toronto District School Board—will only attend class half the time in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19, with a maximum class size of 15. - 7/28/2020
Alberta premier stands by health minister as doctors' group votes non confidence
Of the nearly 9,000 who voted in the association's survey—two-thirds of the number who were eligible—98% said they did not have confidence in minister Tyler Shandro - 7/28/2020
Adracare announces the launch of self-serve telemedicine
Adracare, a leading provider of telemedicine and practice management solutions based in Toronto, announced the launch of its self-serve platform, available to Canadian and U.S.-based clients immediately. With the Adracare self-serve platform now fully functional, healthcare professionals can sign-up and start running their virtual practice in under 90 seconds - 7/28/2020
Siemens Healthineers releases test kit for coronavirus
Siemens Healthineers announced the availability of its molecular Fast Track Diagnostics (FTD) SARS-CoV-2 Assay test kit used to detect the severe respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus that causes the COVID-19 disease. - 7/28/2020
Alberta launches remote communication between patients and providers as part of COVID-19 response
The government of Alberta has given patients the ability to create their own secure messaging account to connect with healthcare providers. Brightsquid Secure-Mail has been integrated into the provincial MyHealth Records (MHR) portal. Patients registered for MHR can create their own Secure-Mail account to communicate virtually with community healthcare providers. - 7/28/2020
Manitoba frontline workers to get $1,500 to recognize work during pandemic
The program is funded 75% by the federal government but each province gets to determine which workers are eligible - 7/28/2020
Toronto, Peel to join Stage 3 of reopening Friday, July 31; Windsor-Essex remains in Stage 2
The province wants to collect and examine data for at least another week before deciding whether the Windsor-Essex can move ahead in the reopening process - 7/28/2020
Shoppers employee in Kelowna, B.C. tests positive for COVID-19
An employee at a Shoppers Drug Mart in Kelowna, B.C., tested positive for COVID-19, according to a list of cases maintained by Loblaws, Shoppers' parent company. - 7/28/2020
Ottawa should transfer money to provinces for doctors' COVID losses
Until recently, few had heard of this obscure code. Recently the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) disclosed that during the pandemic, a at least $623 million had been paid to civil servants—especially in the Canada Revenue Agency and Correctional Services. According to Yves Giroux of the PBO (Jennifer Chevalier, CBC News, July 24, 2020), this amount of lost productivity was the “absolute minimum.” Federal employees were permitted to stay at home during the pandemic and receive full pay while not working—all thanks to the pay code 699 policy. This involved at least 76,000 persons, or a quarter of all government employees. Randall Denley (Ottawa Citizen, July 29, 2020) put this number at 79,000. (By comparison, there are 86,000 practising physicians in Canada.)