Tag: pandemic

Los Angeles County officials are advising essential workers to wear masks at home to avoid further spread of Covid-19

Things are so bad in Los Angeles County that health officials are now advising all essential workers to wear masks inside their own home to prevent spreading Covid-19 within their household.”Right now, because there is so much spread, we’re recommending that people wear their face coverings while they’re inside the home,” Los Angeles County Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer said in a news conference Monday. That’s for people who are either leaving their home every day for work or who are running errands regularly for their family, Ferrer said.Doing so, she said, “will add a layer of protection while we get through this surge.”

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A ‘healthy’ doctor died two weeks after getting a COVID-19 vaccine; CDC is investigating why

Two weeks after getting a first dose of a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, a 56-year-old doctor in South Florida died this week, possibly the nation’s first death linked to the vaccine.

Health officials from Florida and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating what role, if any, the vaccine played in the death of Dr. Gregory Michael, a Miami-Beach obstetrician who, his family says, was in otherwise good health.

Michael received his first dose of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine on Dec. 18 at Mount Sinai Medical Center, according to a Facebook post from his wife, Heidi Neckelmann.

Three days later, small spots began to appear on his feet and hands and he went to the emergency room at Mount Sinai, where he has worked in private practice for 15 years, according to his personal website.

His blood count was far below normal ranges, according to Neckelmann, and he was admitted to the intensive care unit.

For two weeks, she said, doctors tried to raise Michael’s platelet count. “Experts from all over the country were involved in his care,” she wrote. “No matter what they did, the platelets count refused to go up.”

She wrote that Michael was “conscious and energetic” through the process. But just days before a last resort surgery, he suffered a stroke and died.

Neckelmann did not respond to calls and emails Thursday seeking comment.

Darren Caprara, director of operations at the Miami-Dade medical examiner’s office, said Michael died sometime between the night of Jan. 3 and the early morning of Jan. 4.

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Novel cannabis plant extracts could protect against COVID-19

Researchers in Canada have conducted a study suggesting that novel Cannabis sativa extracts may decrease levels of the host cell receptor that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) uses to gain viral entry to target tissues.

SARS-CoV-2 is the agent responsible for the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic that continues to sweep the globe threatening public health and the worldwide economy.

The team – from the University of Lethbridge and Pathway Rx Inc., Lethbridge – developed hundreds of new C. sativa cultivars and tested 23 extracts in artificial 3D human models of the oral, airway and intestinal tissues.

As recently reported in the journal Aging, 13 of the extracts downregulated expression of the SARS-CoV-2 host cell receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2).

“The observed down-regulation of ACE2 gene expression by several tested extracts of new C. sativa cultivars is a novel and crucial finding,” say the researchers.

“While our most effective extracts require further large-scale validation, our study is important for future analyses of the effects of medical cannabis on COVID-19,” write Olga Kovalchuk and colleagues.

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Wife of ‘perfectly healthy’ Miami doctor, 56, who died of a blood disorder 16 days after getting Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine is certain it was triggered by the jab, as drug giant investigates first death with a suspected link to shot

The grieving wife of a leading Florida doctor has told DailyMail.com how her ‘perfect’ husband died from a mystery blood disorder – just days after getting the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine.

Heidi Neckelmann says obstetrician Gregory Michael, 56 – her ‘best friend’ and partner of 28 years – was active, healthy and had no pre-existing conditions before getting the jab on December 18.

However he died from a stroke Sunday morning after suddenly developing a rare autoimmune illness that causes the body to destroy its own platelets, the tiny fragments that help blood to clot.

Distraught Heidi, 58, thinks the groundbreaking Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine may have somehow been the trigger.

‘In my mind his death was 100 percent linked to the vaccine. There is no other explanation,’ she told DailyMail.com, fighting back tears.

‘He was in very good health. He didn’t smoke, he drank alcohol once in a while but only socially. He worked out, we had kayaks, he was a deep sea fisherman.

‘They tested him for everything you can imagine afterwards, even cancer, and there was absolutely nothing else wrong with him.’

Pfizer told DailyMail.com Wednesday that it was aware of Dr. Michael’s ‘highly unusual’ death and was investigating further.

However a spokesman cautioned: ‘We don’t believe at this time that there is any direct connection to the vaccine.’

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Pre-departure COVID-19 testing and negative results for air travellers coming to Canada

On December 31, 2020, the Minister of Transport, the Honourable Marc Garneau, under the authority of the Aeronautics Act, is requiring effective January 7, all passengers five years of age or older, be required to test negative for COVID-19 before travelling by air from another country to Canada.

Documentation of a negative laboratory test result must be presented to the airline prior to coming to Canada. The test must be performed using a COVID-19 molecular polymerase chain reaction (or PCR) test within 72 hours prior to boarding a flight to Canada.

All travellers will have their quarantine plans reviewed by a government official and, if not suitable, will be asked to quarantine in a federal quarantine facility.

Travellers to Canada must use ArriveCAN and provide accurate contact information and their mandatory 14-day quarantine plan on or before entry.

The government has taken action to increase surveillance and enforcement of these mandatory quarantine restrictions. 

Violating any instructions provided when you enter Canada is an offence under the Quarantine Act and could lead to up to six months in prison and/or $750,000 in fines.

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