Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
A new report says misinformation about COVID-19 contributed to more than 2,800 Canadian deaths and at least $300 million in hospital and ICU visits.
The Council of Canadian Academies says misinformation led to people not believing COVID-19 was real or was exaggerated, fostering vaccine hesitancy.
The study suggests that the belief that COVID-19 was a "hoax or exaggerated" led to 2.35 million people delaying or refusing to get the vaccine between March and November of 2021.
The report authors estimated that if those vaccinations had happened, there would have been approximately 198,000 fewer cases, 13,000 fewer hospitalizations, and 2,800 fewer deaths from COVID-19 in Canada.
"This is a threat," says Alex Himelfarb, chair of the panel that did the research.
"Vulnerable communities always pay the biggest cost for things that go wrong in our society," he says.
The actual impact of COVID-19 misinformation is very likely much larger than the report findings show, Himelfarb says, because they only looked at that nine-month period during the pandemic, which has so far lasted for about three years.
The study also didn't include estimated "indirect costs and the ripple costs," he says, such as delayed elective surgeries and treating long-COVID cases.
Himelfarb told The Canadian Press that the mathematical models took the availability of the COVID-19 vaccine and eligibility during that time period into account.
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada asked the Council of Canadian Academies to look at the "socioeconomic impacts of science and health misinformation and disinformation," the group's news release says.
The council bills itself as a not-for-profit that convenes experts in their respective fields to assess evidence on complex scientific topics of public interest and help inform policy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 26, 2021
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Three people have been arrested and charged in the killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar – as authorities continue investigating potential connections to the Indian government.
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
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A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.
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A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
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Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.