Karuna S

@karunas.bsky.social

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“Beginning in 2024 and ramping up last year, an entity called Nieuport Aviation has been driving an enormous lobbying push around the airport issue. Nieuport didn't just hire one company; it brought on at least four separate firms, with ties not only to Ford's government, but to the federal Liberal party and even the NDP.”
Absenteeism a 'very serious problem, expert says School absence is a "very serious problem," says Kelly Gallagher-Mackay, an associate professor at Wilfrid Laurier University who researches education policy. Gallagher-Mackay said absenteeism has gotten more pronounced since the COVID-19 pandemic, is highly associated with health challenges and has "serious long-term outcomes for students."
Calling for the continuation of mask mandates in health care settings B.C's Human Rights Commissioner urged the Provincial Health Officer to reinstate the mask mandate in health care settings to ensure everyone's protection. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continue today and ending the mask mandate in health care settings impedes access to care for those who are more vulnerable. Vulnerable people include those who are immunocompromised, older, Indigenous and racialized, disabled, and low-income communities. Many of these are protected characteristics under B.C.'s Human Rights Code.
In 2025, Meta made approximately $196.2 billion from ads. This included $16 billion from ads for scams and banned goods. While these are against its policies, enforcement is often reactive rather than proactive.
There is a well-established "perception gap" between what we think others believe and what they actually believe. A recent poll by ReClimate found that 42 per cent of Canadians think about addressing climate change at least weekly, and yet they believe only 26 per cent of their neighbours do the same. Similarly, research has found as many as 89 per cent of people want more action on climate change - yet those 89 per cent tend to believe they're in the minority.
“Measles is highly contagious. It can incubate in people for up to 21 days but can only be spread four days before and after the rash appears. Transmission of the virus, which can live on surfaces for up to two hours, can happen when a carrier coughs or sneezes. People contract the disease by inhaling the virus or touching an infected surface and then their eyes, nose or mouth.”
Text from the article reading: “He said walking pneumonia comes in cycles and suspects the especially high jump in illnesses was due to an "immunity debt" after COVID-19 precautions further limited exposure to the bacteria that causes the illness. "We didn't have that sharp rise during the pandemic because people stayed away, they were masking and they had a lot of precautions," Lin said.
“During the April election, 91 candidates were registered in Poilievre’s former riding of Carleton. Elections Canada approved starting to count advance ballots six hours before polls closed. With 91 names on it, each ballot was about one-metre long, and Elections Canada estimated it could take about three times as long to count them, factoring the time it takes to unfold and tally each one.”
Kate Robertson, senior researcher at the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs, said the government had not been open about the extent of the powers the proposed law confers on law enforcement, without judicial oversight. “This particular power has been cast as something with a narrow scope that doesn’t unnecessarily or unreasonably interfere with privacy implications, but the actual text of the provision is extraordinarily broad,” she said.
Book cover of On Our Best Behaviour by Elise Loehnen
“It also has a more insidious legacy, one I helped discover. In 2015, I led a team that found that measles can erase the immune system's protective memory of prior infections. This "immune amnesia," as it's called, leaves people vulnerable to viruses and bacteria they were once protected against. In a follow-up study in 2019, we found measles can wipe out up to 70 percent of an individual's protective immune memory.”
Measles is among the most contagious viruses known. A single case can cause dozens more in places where people are unvaccinated. Infants too young for vaccination, immune-compromised people and the elderly are all at risk. Measles isn't just a fever and rash. It can cause pneumonia, brain inflammation, permanent disability and death. The virus can go dormant in the body only to re-emerge a decade or so after infection and cause rapid and fatal brain tissue deterioration.
Ad for Children’s Healthcare Canada discussion on Political Determinants of Children’s Health
Screenshot of article “A state Senate panel narrowly advanced a proposal Tuesday to eliminate regulations that bar 16- and 17-year-olds from working jobs before 6:30 a.m. or after 11 p.m. on school days, working more than eight hours on school days and working fore than 30 hours a week while in school. The proposal also would end a requirement that teens receive at least 30-minute meal breaks when they work eight-hour shifts.”
Our results identified female sex, comorbidities, COVID-19 severity, and reinfection as risk factors for long COVID, aligning with previous studies.2–5,30,32,34–36 Hospitalized patients had a higher risk of long COVID compared to those who were not hospitalized, with impacts lasting up to three years post-infection.20 Reinfection exhibited a significant dose-response effect on the developing long COVID in our study, which also increased the risk of sequalae and immobility.37 Besides, long COVID patients were at higher risk for reinfection and more likely to develop pneumonia.5 This was associated with increased healthcare utilization and reduced work capacity, contributing to a greater health burden and imposing a substantial economic strain on society. In this study, booster vaccination had no impact on the persistence of long COVID. This finding aligns with another study conducted in a highly vaccinated population infected with Omicron, potentially due to the waning of antibody titers over time
Nearly 5% of highly vaccinated adults experienced persistent LC one year after primary Omicron infection. Reinfection increased the risk for the development of long COVID. Participants with persistent LC displayed higher levels in several laboratory tests parameters, alongside more prevalent abnormal lung function, all of which could serve as diagnostic indicators for long COVID. The findings of this study underscore the significant long-term health impacts of long COVID on multiple organ systems and emphasize the necessity of ongoing monitoring and targeted interventions to address the persistent symptoms experienced by suffered individuals.
Screenshot with text “One last finding from our study worth emphasizing is the role of vaccination in the risk of developing PASC. Among those who later developed PASC, we found that the risk of PASC was much higher among individuals who were unvaccinated at the time of their first SARS-CoV-2 infection.”
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“Seventy-one per cent of health-care workers affected by long-form COVID said that their state of health now interferes with their ability to work, and 16 per cent said that they are now often unable to work.”
“A fifth of these workers requested rehabilitation and psychological support services, but their requests were granted in only six and 12 per cent of cases, respectively.”