Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
A new study tested more than 900 samples from high-touch surfaces in Ontario grocery stores for SARS-CoV-2 and found zero positive results, suggesting the risk of exposure to the virus in grocery stores is low.
Maria Corradini, one of the study's authors and an associate professor at the University of Guelph’s department of food science, said the results add to the growing evidence that transmission of coronavirus via surfaces is “very improbable.”
This means practices that were adopted by some in the early days of the pandemic, such as wiping down your groceries when you bring them home or letting them sit out in the cold for hours are not necessary.
“We can have some peace of mind and engage with our groceries like we used to before,” Corradini told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview.
For the study, researchers collected 957 samples from four different grocery stores in Ontario in October and November 2020. The grocery stores were located in urban and suburban locations across southern Ontario, meaning all were serving population-dense areas, and were located in COVID-19 “hot zones,” the study said.
All of the stores followed the same provincial COVID-19 guidelines, including social distancing, sanitation and enforcing PPE for customers and employees.
The surfaces selected for swabbing were all considered “high-touch” areas. They included the payment station, the deli counter, the frozen foods section, shopping carts and baskets. Swabs were collected on Tuesdays and Fridays, twice a day, once before the store opened and once immediately after the store closed. The samples were then taken to a nearby lab for testing.
Throughout the study period, the researchers also recorded the incidence of COVID-19 in the surrounding communities to see if there was any correlation between the number of COVID-19 cases and the presence of the virus found in the stores.
All 957 collected samples tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 RNA, regardless of the specific store location, sampling day or time, or type of surface area.
During the same testing period, the number of daily cases increased in the surrounding communities. However, this did not result in an increase in the presence of the virus on the tested surfaces.
“These results suggest that the risk of exposure from contaminated high-touch surfaces within a food retailer store is low,” the study concluded, adding that this is contingent on the upkeep of sanitation routines, social distancing and monitoring of employee health.
Corradini notes that earlier studies on surface transmission were conducted in labs where variables like temperature, humidity and viral load were controlled.
By contrast, in her study she wanted to look at the risk of surface transmission in real-world settings that people would encounter in their everyday lives.
In order to get the virus via surface transmission a combination of events has to “align perfectly,” she said. “It doesn’t happen often, but it can, but the probability is very low.”
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
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.