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Friday
Braid: The daily news is dire but there’s hope for a brighter spring in Alberta
Columnist Don Braid writes:
Good news this week? Hard to believe. But there is some, and it’s very positive indeed.
Amid all the discouraging events — cancellation of Keystone XL, further bleak predictions on the economy, vaccine shortages — it’s clear that Albertans have regained their grip on COVID-19.
This brings real hope that after we fight our way through a glum February, spring will look much brighter.
Friday
‘It’s a scary thing’: Doctor on COVID ward says pandemic taking emotional toll on workers, patients
Dr. Sachin Pendharkar is a respiratory physician who has helped treat patients with COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, but has recently joined the unit at Foothills Medical Centre dedicated to COVID-19 patients on an on-call basis.
He said working on the ward has presented new challenges, caring for patients who are frightened by their admission to a COVID-19 unit and are unable to be close to their families and loved ones.
“You have a heightened sense of awareness of this virus and the illness it causes, how it affects people not only physically, but even emotionally. It’s a scary thing,” Pendharkar said.
Friday
Calgary doctor posts sign in clinic suggesting COVID-19 is ‘similar’ to the flu
A Calgary doctor is defending a message he posted outside his southeast Calgary medical clinic that suggests COVID-19 is “similar” to the flu in the number of people it harms and kills.
Cranston resident Taylor Brett said he was surprised to see the flyer titled “Facts About COVID-19” posted in the window of the Cranston Ridge Medical Clinic as he was walking past.
The flyer posts statistics that say nationally, 96 per cent of Canadians have tested negative for the virus, three per cent of those who contracted it died, and 97 per cent survived.