Latest news with #emergencyrooms
Daily Mail
23-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
Doctors issue warning over dangerous new Covid strain imported from CHINA that's now in four US states
A new Covid variant behind a surge of hospitalizations in China has been detected at US airports for the first time. Latest tracking data from the CDC shows the new strain — dubbed NB.1.8.1 — has been detected among international travelers arriving in California, Washington state, Virginia and New York City. The patients have come from at least nine countries — including Japan, South Korea, France, Thailand, the Netherlands, Spain, Vietnam, China and Taiwan — arriving between April 22 and May 12. Currently, there is international alarm over the new variant, which is potentially more infectious than previous Covid variants. In China, official data claims that the proportion of severely ill respiratory patients with Covid has jumped from 3.3 to 6.3 percent over the last month, while the proportion of ER patients testing positive for Covid had jumped from 7.5 to 16.2 percent. Officials in Taiwan, which is facing an outbreak, are reporting a surge in emergency room admissions, with the number rising 78 percent in a week over the seven-days to May 3, according to the latest data available. And there are more hospitalizations being reported in Hong Kong, where officials are telling people to mask up, with the number of admissions reaching a 12-month high of 31 people. Thailand and Singapore have also recorded cases of the variant. The variant has been circulating in the US since late March, it appears, when cases were first detected in Ohio, Rhode Island and Hawaii. There is no sign at present of widespread transmission of the new variant in the country. In the US, there is no sign of a major uptick in cases at present — with the positivity rate of swabs detecting the virus falling 12 percent in the latest week data is available. The data showing arriving cases of the strain in the US was revealed by the CDC's airport testing partner Ginkgo Bioworks and reported by CBS News. In this program, travelers at select airports can volunteer to self-collect two nasal swab samples and complete a short survey. These swabs are then tested for a range of diseases of concern, including Covid. The travelers behind the cases of the new variant were tested between April 22 and May 12. Experts are closely watching the new variant, which is already dominant in China and is on the rise in parts of Asia. In Taiwan, there were 19,097 visits for Covid last week, the latest available — and the NB.1.8.1 variant has become dominant in the country. Early research from China suggests the NB.1.8.1 variant is not better at evading the immune system — but it may be better at binding to cells, making it more infectious. In a notice from Hong Kong released last week, officials again urged people to wear face masks in public places if they were at high risk from an infection. And they urged the public to wear a face mask when traveling on public transportation or staying in crowded areas. The FDA held a meeting Thursday on whether to update the Covid vaccines, where the strain came up multiple times. Currently, the latest vaccines target the JN.1 variant and its descendants. Data currently suggests that the LP.8.1 variant is dominant in the US — which is a descendant of JN.1. At the meeting, CDC and FDA officials told the panel that only one strain — called XFC — has been significantly growing in the US.
CTV News
12-05-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Hardware issue causes backlog in London-area emergency rooms
A hardware issue had patients backed up in London emergency rooms Sunday evening. London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) officials say several hospitals in the region were affected by a disruption to the systems which manage patient information electronically. Emergency rooms at the LHSC's Victoria and University campuses were impacted. The disruption started around 9:45 p.m. on Sunday and affected the hospitals ability to register incoming patients. At one point wait times posted online were more than 18 hours at the Victoria Campus emergency room. Staff say the issue was resolved Monday morning and staff worked throughout the morning to clear-off the backlog. They also encouraged patients to utilize the virtual urgent care system to address issues that don't require an ER visit. They say no patient information was lost or compromised during the disruption.
CBC
09-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
Nurses to be moved into new roles to address staffing gaps, province says
Opposition says nurses from public health, mental health and elsewhere have raised concerns Some nurses will be asked to move into different parts of the health system, according to the premier, in a bid to address issues with hospital waits and primary care access. Premier Susan Holt said the regional health authorities have made similar shifts before — notably, during the COVID-19 pandemic. This time, she said, it's being done to address long-standing issues, noting 12-hour waits in emergency rooms as an example. "We need different results in health. New Brunswickers are demanding that they get timely access to care, that they get the primary care that they need," Holt said. "Doing things the way we've always done them is not going to get better results for New Brunswickers." Holt did not have full details on the number of people who would be affected by the change, or the specialty areas that might see fewer staff, but said she's aware of discussions with public health nurses and at the Saint John Regional Hospital. Vitalité Health Network did not respond to a request for further details on Friday. Horizon Health Network president and CEO Margaret Melanson sent a statement that didn't confirm a redeployment of resources and did not say which staff members would be affected. "We are committed to continuous improvement and ongoing organizational transformation, ensuring the right provider is in the right place at the right time to provide the best access and care experience possible," the statement said. "Any time Horizon considers changes to roles or team composition, we make every effort to match opportunities with [an] individual's skills and scope of practice and ensure education and training required to succeed in those roles is provided. We are also respectful of collective agreements throughout these processes." But Official Opposition Leader Glen Savoie said he's heard from nurses in several parts of the system who have been told they will have to work in a different area. "I would argue that there are a lot of registered nurses in public health, community health, mental health, who are all being impacted. Extramural, all of these different facets," Savoie said. "We don't have large-scale numbers yet, but we're continuing to investigate to try and understand the scope of it." Savoie said the government is failing to communicate with workers in the system before making changes. He said the same thing is happening with education staff. "They should have talked with registered nurses, they should have talked with the people who are doing the jobs, and say, 'How do we get to a plan where we can make these changes?' They're not doing that," he said. "Same thing with teachers. They're making cuts that are impacting the classroom and they won't admit it. They're making cuts here that are impacting health care and they won't admit it." Savoie said he's heard from nurses who say they were told they would be laid off if they don't move into a new role. But Health Minister John Dornan said no one would be laid off as a result of what he called a "redeployment" of resources. "Health care does often involve a redeployment," Dornan said in question period Friday. "One of the things that we are quite proud of is that we are not laying our nurses off. We always have a role for them in different areas of our hospital." New Brunswick Nurses Union president Paula Doucet was not available for an interview on Friday. In a statement, spokesperson Alix Saulnier said the union would wait for more information before commenting. "We have not been officially notified of any workforce adjustments," Saulnier wrote. "When workforce adjustments are made, there is a process to be followed."
