LIVE AT 2:30 MT Evacuation order issued for some Fort McMurray neighbourhoods as wildfire nears
Four Fort McMurray neighbourhoods were ordered to evacuate as a wildfire gets closer to the city.
A small Canadian study suggests having had COVID-19 may negatively impact one's performance at work, even after recovering from the initial illness.
The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Waterloo, found that individuals who contract COVID-19 often experience memory, attention, and concentration problems, and as a result, experience "significantly more" cognitive failures at work following infection.
Study author and associate professor in Waterloo's Psychology department James Beck says, since COVID-19 is going to be an ongoing part of Canadians' lives for the foreseeable future, it is important to address such cognitive failures.
"It is now common for people to catch COVID-19, recover, and then return to work. Yet, in our study, people who had contracted COVID-19 reported more difficulties at work, relative to people who had never caught COVID," Beck explained in a press release.
The findings were published in peer-reviewed journal Scientific Reports on May 25.
Researchers collected data from a sample of 94 full-time working adults who either had or had not contracted COVID-19 at least one month prior to the study. Both of these groups were matched on key demographic characteristics, according to the report.
The study notes that those adults surveyed contracted COVID-19 prior to March 2021, before vaccination became widely available.
Relative to the group who never had COVID-19, Beck said they found that the group who contracted the virus reported more cognitive failures at work, including problems with memory, attention and action.
As a result, the study found those who contracted COVID-19 self-reported lower job performance ratings, and had increased intentions to voluntarily leave their jobs.
Researchers suspect that, since death is a relatively rare outcome among those who are young and healthy, many individuals believe they are "likely to be largely unaffected by COVID-19 if they are infected."
"However, our results indicate that contracting COVID-19 can have practical implications for individuals' everyday lives; particularly, their ability to function effectively at work," the study's authors wrote. "As such, it is possible that beyond harming one’s physical health, COVID-19 also poses risks to financial well-being."
Beck said the study's finding are especially important for employers and organizations more broadly.
"Individuals returning to work after contracting COVID-19 may experience difficulties returning to their pre-COVID-19 level of performance, and accommodations may be necessary," he said in the release.
These accommodations may include reducing workloads, extending deadlines and providing flexible or hybrid working arrangements.
In providing these accommodations, the study's authors say employers will aid in their employees' recovery from the long-term implications of COVID-19 infection, but also "alleviate turnover intentions, as individuals will be less likely to feel their capacity to perform the job is outstripped by demands."
Four Fort McMurray neighbourhoods were ordered to evacuate as a wildfire gets closer to the city.
Canadian LifeLabs customers who filed an application for a class-action settlement began receiving their payments this week, though at a much lower amount than initially expected.
Nobel laureate Alice Munro, the Canadian literary giant who became one of the world's most esteemed contemporary authors and one of history's most honoured short story writers, has died at age 92.
Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health is stepping down.
Wildfires have led Environment Canada to issue air quality advisories for parts of B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories, as forecasters warn the smoke could drift farther east.
Saskatchewan RCMP have revealed that a historic sexual assault investigation has led to the discovery of alleged crimes against children dating back to 2005.
An American accused of sexually assaulting a Pennsylvania college student in 2013 and later sending her a Facebook message that said, 'So I raped you,' has been detained in France after a three-year search.
The annual list of Canada's top restaurants in the country was just released and here are the places that made the 2024 cut.
Ontario Provincial Police are responding to a fatal collision involving two vehicles on Highway 417 in Ottawa's west end on Tuesday morning.
A team is ready to help an entangled North Atlantic right whale in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
A $200 reward is being offered by a North Vancouver family for the safe return of their beloved chicken, Snowflake.
Two daughters and a mother were reunited online 40 years later thanks to a DNA kit and a Zoom connection despite living on three separate continents and speaking different languages.
Mother's Day can be a difficult occasion for those who have lost or are estranged from their mom.
YES Theatre Young Company opened its acclaimed kids’ show, One Small Step, at Sudbury Theatre Centre on Saturday.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.