American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
As COVID-19 continues to infect tens of thousands of Canadians every day, a Toronto doctor is worried that that could also result in an explosion of people with long-haul COVID-19 symptoms, potentially creating a "mass disabling event."
Long COVID-19, also known as post COVID-19 condition, occurs when symptoms of the disease continue to linger for weeks or months after the initial recovery period. For some patients, the symptoms are so debilitating, they're unable to work.
"Because COVID-19 is a multi-system illness, people can have extreme fatigue to the point of not being able to get out of bed or find it very hard to engage in physical activity," palliative care physician Dr. Amit Arya told CTV's Your Morning on Thursday.
Other possible long COVID-19 symptoms include cardiovascular issues, respiratory symptoms such as shortness of breath and even memory impairment.
While it's still unclear how many people with COVID-19 end up with long-term symptoms, Arya says the estimates are as low as 10 per cent to as high as one in three, citing data collected before the rise of the Omicron variant. A Lancet study from July 2021 also found that 96 per cent of people with long COVID-19 can experience symptoms for longer than three months.
"It could be even up to half a million Canadians who have experienced long COVID," he said.
Many of these people who experience long COVID-19 never require hospitalization. "We might assume that they have mild illness, but that is not the case for people who are suffering from the impacts of long COVID," Arya said.
A May 2021 survey of more than 1,000 COVID-19 long-haulers in Canada found that 60 per cent of respondents had to take time off from work due to their long-term symptoms and 69 per cent had to reduce their workload. Health Canada also says 10 per cent of those with long COVID-19 are left unable to return to work in the long term.
"The symptoms can fluctuate, but once again … there's many people who cannot return to work and may be living with a severe disability," Arya said.
Given that surging COVID-19 cases could result in an increase in the number of Canadians living with disabilities due to long-haul symptoms, Arya says it underscores the need to strengthen disability supports such as access to rehabilitation centres and social assistance.
"We're not seeing that people have access to those resources. And of course, for people with who are living with a disability, whether it's long COVID or not, we need to empower them with the resources and the tools that they need to survive this Omicron wave and beyond," he said.
Last summer, the federal government introduced Bill C-35, which would create the Canada Disability Benefit and provide a basic income support for low-income Canadians with disabilities. Disability advocates are urging the feds to fast-track the bill.
"People with disabilities cannot wait for consultations. They need to be able to pay for basic pain medications. They shouldn't have to make difficult choices in this pandemic, just because they live with a disability and are finding themselves in deep poverty,” said Rabia Khedr, national director of Disability Without Poverty, in an interview with CTV's Your Morning on Thursday.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
Cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc says he plans to run in the next election as a candidate under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's leadership, amid questions about his rumoured interest in succeeding his longtime friend for the top job.
A male columnist has apologized for a cringeworthy moment during former University of Iowa superstar and college basketball's highest scorer Caitlin Clark's first news conference as an Indiana Fever player.
The United States has vetoed a widely backed UN resolution that would have paved the way for full United Nations membership for the state of Palestine.
A group of suspects that allegedly defrauded seniors across Ontario and other parts of Canada using a so-called emergency grandparent scam appear to have ties to 'Italian traditional organized crime,' according to an investigator involved in the OPP-led probe.
Health Canada will change its longstanding policy restricting gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks in Canada, CTV News has learned. The federal health agency has adopted a revised directive removing the ban on gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, effective May 8.
Prince Harry, the son of King Charles III and fifth in line to the British throne, has formally confirmed he is now a U.S. resident.
The judge presiding over the trial of a man accused of fatally running over a Toronto police officer is telling jurors the possible verdicts they may reach based on the evidence in the case.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.
Molly Knight, a grade four student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.
When Les Robertson was walking home from the gym in North Vancouver's Lower Lonsdale neighbourhood three weeks ago, he did a double take. Standing near a burrow it had dug in a vacant lot near East 1st Street and St. Georges Avenue was a yellow-bellied marmot.
A moulting seal who was relocated after drawing daily crowds of onlookers in Greater Victoria has made a surprise return, after what officials described as an 'astonishing' six-day journey.
Just steps from Parliament Hill is a barber shop that for the last 100 years has catered to everyone from prime ministers to tourists.
A high score on a Foo Fighters pinball machine has Edmonton player Dave Formenti on a high.
A compound used to treat sour gas that's been linked to fertility issues in cattle has been found throughout groundwater in the Prairies, according to a new study.
While many people choose to keep their medical appointments private, four longtime friends decided to undergo vasectomies as a group in B.C.'s Lower Mainland.