“Coke on fish gills is as dumb as it sounds", Dr. Solomon David, aquatic ecologist, Nicholls State University

Northern pike  Photo by Darcy Cheek /Postmedia

"We provide the first evidence that counters the growing popularity of using carbonated beverages to stop bleeding in angling-caught fish."                     "We found no benefit or disbenefit with pouring carbonated beverages over the gills of northern pike but it is possible there are longer term impacts."  "These findings provide direct scientific evidence that the use of carbonated beverages does not curtail bleeding from gills, which is counter to anecdotal observations made by recreational anglers that use this technique. Overall, our study debunks the assertion."                                                                                                          Carleton University researchers

Research funded by Muskies Canada and by fishing guide John Anderson and undertaken by the fish ecology conservation and physiology laboratory of Carleton University, led by graduate student Alexandria Trahan, appears to have concluded that a technique to ease bleeding in injured fish that has become popular with anglers has more resemblance to an urban myth than it does a folk remedy to curtail bleeding and discomfort in fish that have sustained injury either as a result of the angler's actions or other misadventure.

And though veteran fishing guide and owner of Ottawa River Musky Factory John Anderson was partially responsible for putting the research into motion, spurred on no doubt by his belief in the healing power of carbonated liquid on fish, his commitment to the use of Diet Coke to help stop muskellunge bleeding from the mouth, throat or muscles around the gills is secure. On the basis of his own experience with the use of the technique on 18 different occasions.

While on a fishing trip four years earlier accompanied by writer and outdoorsman Gord Pyzer, the method was first brought to his attention when it was demonstrated to him. He gave due credit to the senior manager in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry when he was informed by this man who makes use of spring water, supersaturated with carbon dioxide in cauterizing hook wounds in a fish's mouth, throat or gills, who swore by its efficacy.

In the event, researchers from the lab of biology professor Steven Cooke undertook a scientific study of the controversial and popular belief in the usefulness of Diet Coke as a first aid for injured fish, where advocates insist that carbon dioxide in soda drinks constricts a fish's blood vessels to halt bleeding. Critics of the method on the other hand, label it as pop science for the gullible. Those who want to catch these fish for sport, but are committed to releasing them back to the water. Salving their consciences in the belief that the remedy works. In their analysis the Carleton scientists discovered that in the first 20 minutes following the application of pop to injured gills of northern pike, nothing occurred.

Last year, led by graduate student Alexandria Traham from the lab, 145 northern pike were caught in the
Rideau River system to use as subjects where gill injuries were simulated with the use of pliers removing a one-centimetre section of gill. A carbonated beverage was then applied; Coca-Cola, Mountain Dew or carbonated lake water. Nothing was applied to a control group of fish. The experiments were conducted in May and August in assessing whether changes in water temperature might affect the outcome.

Scientists observed and recorded what happened to the bleeding of the injured fish held in a water-filled tank for 20 minutes -- finding that Mountain Dew as well as the other carbonated drinks produced no discernible effect whatever. No difference was noted, according to the researchers, between the fish in the control group and those that had been treated with a soft drink. Bleeding failed to stop sooner, and nor did the fish bleed less.

A possible explanation was put forward, researchers suggesting that when anglers lift a fish from the water to apply a soft drink to the fish wounds, air exposure induces hypoxia which in turn slows the heart rate of the fish. "The pop does work at the right place and the right time", insisted Mr. Anderson who didn't dispute the Carleton study, but felt that the researchers would have done better to avoid using sensitive gill injuries in their assessment of the value of the technique.

John Anderson of the Ottawa River Musky Factory says the Carleton research has not changed his mind about the value of Diet Coke as a way to assist muskellunge bleeding from the mouth, throat or muscles around the gills. He said he had successfully used the technique 18 times. Photo by Tony Caldwell /Postmedia

Plastics Waste During COVID

"I remember going to a coffee shop and them saying, 'We can't fill  your cup'. I think it was mere days later everything was shutting down. But that was the first little tiny step, was reusable coffee cups."                                             "People are still motivated to want to do something [about the environment]."                             "There was really strong support for more regulations and bans on single-use plastics a year ago. When we ran our survey this summer, we saw a lot less support for that, which makes sense based on the idea that it's less of a priority issue right now [in preoccupation with COVID-19 issues]."                                                                                               "The experience of the pandemic has been gendered in a lot of different ways [such as childcare disproportionately affecting women]."                                       "It's hard to imagine how you can move ahead [with things like zero-waste grocery stores] in the same way today in our new environment. But at the same time, the issue of plastic pollution is the same whether or not there's a pandemic. Ocean plastics don't care about our pandemic. The problem hasn't gone anywhere, and we still need to find solutions."                                                                                  Robert Kitz, research associate, Agri-Food Analytics Lab, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia

When COVID-19 struck an unready world, companies such as Bulk Barn and Starbucks halted the use of reusable containers in a reflection of overall concerns relating to contagion and hopes of controlling the coronavirus spread. This issue marked the turning point as the coronavirus transmission was identified as a global pandemic by the World Health Organization, heralding sweeping changes in coming months. Not too gradually cup lids, disposable cutlery, bottled water packs and plastic containers have been proliferating as plastic waste continues to make its presence known.

Dr.Kitz and co-authors of a new study on plastic food packaging looked intensively at how attitudes of consumers have been altered as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In their search to identify the changed attitudes, the researchers compared 977 responses collected between July 10 and 14 against results of an earlier survey of 1,014 Canadians dated May12 to 18 of 2019. Consumers actively avoiding plastic packaging has stabilized, remaining the same (58 percent in 2019 as opposed to 66 percent in 2020).

More than half (52 per cent) of Canadians think new regulations on plastics should only be put into place when the COVID-19 pandemic is over, the study found. Photo by Michael Loccisano /Getty Images

In Canada, consumers taking steps to avoid plastic packaging has remained pretty much stable (58 percent in 2019 versus 60 percent in 2020), yet fewer consumers are now concerned in relation to environmental repercussions (91 percent from 87 percent; the larger decrease seen among men), as one-third of respondents admitted purchasing more plastic-wrapped foods, attributed primarily to takeout and home delivery (44 percent) and increased concerns over safety (43 percent). Anxiety over food safety strikes fifty-five percent of Canadians, while 40 percent think of new safety concerns as "very", or "extremely important" in considering whether to purchase plastic-wrapped consumables.

At the outset of the study, researchers imagined that respondents might be less concerned over plastic pollution in the light of grave immediate concerns relating to pandemic contagion. A measurable decrease was recognized, but it was also observed that most Canadians continue to be engaged in the issue of environmental protection. Zero-waste grocery stores where bans on plastic bags and straws, pre-pandemic were proliferating, have come to an abrupt halt.

1/3 of Canadians now buy more plastic-wrapped foods Photo: Mario Tama /Getty

The issue of plastic pollution appears to be gaining momentum as the use of single-use plastic is seen to have grown by 250 to 300 percent during the pandemic, and as their use has increased, regulation efforts have faltered in the face of the coronavirus. Plans announced last year by the federal government on a ban of single-use plastic have not yet been carried through and will not likely be, for the foreseeable future of struggling to overcome the threat of the pandemic.

Back in 2019, fully 90 percent of respondents viewed stricter regulations favourably, while 70 percent gave their support to a single-use plastics ban. A drop of 11 and 12 percent respectively was seen in the most recent survey; men in particular reporting a notable drop in agreement. The issue of gender in concerns over environmental ramifications -- pointed out Dr.Kitz -- wasn't present in 2019. Price-consciousness has struck 50 percent of Canadians among the demographic receiving government top-ups to income, under CERB (Canada Emergency Response Benefits).

Leaving 55 percent of people reporting their willingness to pay more for products wrapped in biodegradable food packaging. Food security, as a result of the pandemic disrupting production and supply chains, has arisen as a greater issue in Canada because of the pandemic, with rising food costs; yet another recognizable difference from the year before. New regulations on plastics should be put into place only once the pandemic is over, in the view of over half of Canadians (52 percent). 

“What we found was that people are still concerned about it,” says Robert Kitz about plastic pollution. “People are still motivated to want to do something.” Photo by Mario Tama /Getty Images

Because It's There : Climbing Mount Everest

"Mount Everest is still a very dangerous mountain, and climbing it will never become a walk in the park, because it's way above the limits of what most people can do."  "By analyzing climbing data, we provide accurate information on the chances of success and on the chances of dying, thereby helping climbers make an informed decision about whether to attempt this great peak."                                  Professor Raymond Huey, University of Washington

"The researchers found that a contemporary 60-year-old climber has about the same death rate -- about 2 percent -- as a 48.5-year-old in the earlier period, suggesting '60 is the new 40' when it comes to summiting Everest. The probabilities of summiting were similar for men and women."                              University of Washington researchers

A newly-published study has concluded with interesting but also predictable results. Published by the journal PLOS One, the findings represent a comprehensive view of climbing success and the rate of death to date, on the world highest peak. The 29,000-foot peak, once thought unassailable, has traditionally been sacred to the people of the region, the abode of a goddess who is worshipped by the Sherpas who call the mountain Chomolungma, Mother Goddess of the World.

Twice as many mountaineers successfully climb Mount Everest, pictured, now than three decades ago — but the death rate remains at around 1 per cent, a study has found

 

 

 

 

 Between 1990 and 2005, one third of the  mountaineers who set out to climb Mount Everest reached the summit. Between 2006 and 2019 that success rate doubled to two-thirds realizing success in their bid to reach the top, point out the University of Washington researchers. Current expeditions are likelier to succeed in scaling the mountain, using supplemental oxygen. The thin air at the topmost levels of the mountain, known as the 'Death Zone' can cause high altitude sickness in even the most fit people.

That condition produces brain fog, impacts judgement, creates tiredness, sapping energy when lower air pressure and low oxygen levels wreak havoc in the brain. Climbers acclimatize to lower oxygen levels by gradually approaching the thinner atmosphere, returning from camp 4, for example, to camp 5 to gradualize the impact on their body function. With the use of supplemental oxygen canisters the risk of acquiring mountain sickness is dramatically reduced.

There have been mountaineers, the elite in the field, who have managed to reach the summit eschewing supplemental oxygen; over the years that number has reached up to several hundred ambitious and highly experienced climbers. Another useful climbing tool is the fixed ropes put in place at particularly dangerous places on the mountainside to enable climbers to maintain footing, and not stray from the most direct route to the summit. That dangerous and highly skilled pre-preparation work is usually undertaken by Sherpas under direction from a head Sherpa.

Reaching 29,030 feet above sea level, the summit of Everest in the Himalayas attracts around 500 climbers wanting to scale the world's tallest peak each year. Pictured, the Everest base camp

Communication has improved substantially, and that has been a huge help, since accurate weather reports warn mountaineers what they will be encountering, and with that information, plan when to set off for best possible ascent conditions to the summit -- and when to lay low and wait out the kind of atrocious weather conditions at high altitude that Mount Everest is known for; sudden snowstorms and winds strong enough to rip tents off the mountainside, often trapping summiteers for days in their tents waiting for the storm to pass.

Expedition leaders have gained invaluable experience with repeat climbs, as have the indispensable Sherpas whose climbing prowess has long been acclaimed as essential to the success of a climbing expedition. All those things considered, climbing Everest is extremely dangerous. Roughly one percent of people who attempt the climb succumb to accidental death. Even after a successful ascent the rigours of the descent after an exhausting climb claim more lives than does the ascent itself.

Between 1990 and 2004, 2,211 climbers dedicated their endeavours to mounting the peak, a number that increased to 3,620 people from 2005 to 2019, a rise of about 64 percent. Increasingly, inexperienced climbers take on the challenge of the summit as a prestigious feather in their cap as it were, leading to crowded conditions at narrow precipices and passes when time is of the essence, creating long wait times and adding to exhaustion and danger.

Adventure Travel//Mountaineer//Out There

Comparisons between the two periods show that:

• Summit success rates from the first period to the second period have essentially doubled; two-thirds of climbers now reach the summit, verses one-third previously
• The overall death rate of around 1% hasn't changed
• A contemporary 60-year-old climber has the same success rate (about 40%) as a 40-year-old climber in the prior period -- i.e., 60 is the new 40
• A contemporary 60-year-old climber has the about the same death rate (about 2%) as a 48.5-year-old in the earlier period
• More women are attempting the climb in recent years (14.6%) verses the previous period (9.1%)
• Women and men had very similar odds of success or death in both periods

 

COVID-19 Heart-Stopping Alert

Electron microscope image COVID-19. CP/NIAID-RML via AP

"[It is clear that COVID-19] is a disease that affects multiple organ systems. Everyone thinks of the lungs first and foremost, but we know there are quite a few patients who have involvement of the heart." "What is really scary about this infection is its unpredictability. You have the occasional story of the 25-year-old marathon runner in perfect shape who dies from COVID. That can happen. That freaks everybody out."                                                              "We know that COVID and heart disease don't marry very well. You don't want to bring the two together."                                                                                              "I think we are going to have to manage both threats for a long time -- the COVID threat, but also the heart disease threat, and make sure people don't forget to seek medical attention when they need it."                                                                    Dr.Marc Ruel, head, cardiac surgery, Heart Institute, Ottawa

Doctors and nurses inspect a patient’s scans in Istanbul. Concern is growing that the lungs and other organs can struggle to heal after infection. Chris McGrath/Getty Images

Specialists at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute are on alert in recognition of medical experts now acknowledging that COVID-19 constitutes an especial threat to the heart-health of those who contract the virus. Though once it was felt people with heart disease were likelier to become infected with COVID-19 now evidence has shown that those with heart disease, though not likelier to contract COVID-19, are nonetheless likelier to have a severe form of the disease.

An even stronger link between COVID-19 and the heart has been revealed by new research. Research that leads to the belief that COVID-19 could result in long-term detrimental impacts on the state of heart health of some patients with no prior heart disease condition. Dr. Ruel of the Ottawa Hospital Heart Institute estimates that the number of patients with heart involvement resulting from COVID could be as high as 20 percent.

Because COVID-19 stresses the body in a number of ways, it specifically does so to the cardiovascular system. In that it can both reveal the presence of previously unknown heart disease and on the other hand, become the catalyst to produce new issues in some patients, though its frequency is not yet clear. According to Dr. Ruel, COVID-19 ultimately will have a profound effect on the heart health of some patients once recovered from the disease.

A recent study from Germany, published in JAMA Cardiology discovered troubling cardiac signs in patients recovered from COVID-19 in comparison to people who were similar but never infected. Comparing cardiac MRIs of 100 relatively healthy previously infected patients and 100 non-infected patients, the study found those who had COVID-19 likelier to come out of the experience with signs of heart disease, including structural changes to the heart in 78 percent of recovered patients. 

Yet another study found elevated levels of the virus in the hearts of patients who had died as a result of having contracted COVID-19 early in the appearance of the pandemic. Some characteristics of COVID-19 clearly have direct influence on the heart. Unusual blood clotting issues in a significant number of patients, along with widespread inflammation which can damage cells and affect the function of the heart, included. 

There have been instances of relatively young and healthy people suffering serious outcomes, even death, while many other people who contract COVID-19 recover completely. No cases of COVID-19 have occurred among open-heart surgery patients at the Heart Institute, but the potential of such an occurrence must be contemplated, with the continuation of the global pandemic.

Another issue is raised in the presence of the pandemic, one of persuading people reluctant to enter a  hospital for fear of contracting COVID-19 there. Evidence exists globally of patients deliberately avoiding entering hospital for any reason, for fear of contracting the virus there, leading to more severe illness of various types; in some cases death.

"These are two studies that both suggest that being infected with Covid-19 carries a high likelihood of having some involvement of the heart. If not answering questions, [they] prompt important questions about what the cardiac aftermath is."  "The question now is how long these changes persist. Are these going to become chronic effects upon the heart or are these — we hope —  temporary effects on cardiac function that will gradually improve over time?" 
Matthew Tomey, cardiologist, assistant professor of medicine, Icahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai Health System, New York

1 Brain fog Difficulty thinking can occur after acute COVID-19infection. The virus may damage brain cells, and inflammation in the brain or body may also cause neurologic complications.Other viral infections can also lead to brain fog. 

2 Shortness of breath Doctors are eyeing lung and heart complications including scarring.Patients who become critically ill with COVID-19 seem more likely to have lingering shortness of breath, but those with mild cases are also at risk. 

3 Heart arrhythmia The virus can harm the heart, and doctors are concerned about long-term damage. How the heart heals after COVID-19 could help determine whether a patient develops an irregular heartbeat. 

4 Hypertension Some patients have high blood pressure after an acute infection,even when cases were relatively mild and people were previously healthy, possibly because the virus targets blood vessels and heart cells.   V. Altounian/Science

Alberta Hyperloop : Enthusiasts and Naysayers

"There are some very obvious better ways to do it [construct a time-efficient transportation link between Edmonton and Calgary]. I think we need to focus on what we know already works."                                                                           "There's a lot of evidence out there showing regular high-speed rail already works. In reality I think it is a distraction tactic that can allow them [provincial authorities] to put off connecting Edmonton and Calgary indefinitely."                                               Ashley Salvador, Edmonton urban planner

"The Government of Alberta should not invest in a high-speed rail transit system in the Edmonton-Calgary corridor at this time because the population of the corridor is not sufficient to support the profitable operation of such a system."                      Feasibility study, Alberta economic standing committee, 2014

"Most of the high speed rail around the world are not profitable. It's not to fill up the train -- which is important -- it's to fill up the infrastructure."                              "That's the main difference compared to a conventional rail track."                    "Best-case scenario ... we could have a line operational by 2030."                Sebastien Gendron, CEO, co-founder, TransPod, Toronto

"The MOU [memorandum of understanding between the transit builder and the province of Alberta] facilitates the process of attracting private investment to the province, in order to build a multi-billion-dollar infrastructure project."                        TransPod, hyperloop project startup, Toronto

Artist renderings of the hyperloop the pod and its interior. Photo by TransPod illustrations

A provincially commissioned 2014 study estimated that by the time 2031 rolls around 105 million trips between Edmonton and Calgary annually would materialize, requiring for optimum efficiency that some type of high-speed transit between the two cities be considered, and there is no time like the present to consult beyond theorization, to weigh options and to commit to the future in necessary transit options.

What the province brought into view under a magnifying glass of potentials is a super-transit, high-tech link, a futuristic vision of a pod that literally sucks passengers through a tube to reduce the current three-hour drive from one city to the other to a preferential half-hour commute. "Electrically-driven magnetic propulsion" would whisk a transit pod within a tube suspended on pillars from point A to point E in record time.

That would be accomplished at speeds of up to 1,000 km/hr, roughly a speed similar to that of a jetliner. Artwork meant to convey what such a system would look like shows a tansluscent tube adjacent the side of a highway and in the tube, whistling along at breakneck speed, is a pod hosting travellers, commuting from one city to the other. By no means a spanking-new vision, but one that has been under discussion for decades.

Artist renderings of hyperloop infrastructure Photo: TransPod illustrations

The combined population of the two cities, 300 kilometres distant from one another, is roughly 2.3 million at the present time. Back in 2014 the study undertaken by an economic standing committee, reached the conclusion that the hyperlink could be set aside, as not a good idea. Conveying passengers alone, given the relatively sparse population simply didn't justify the outsize investment in a hyperlink.

To which, at the present time, TransPod's CEO responds that to make the system ever more practical it could be used as well to haul freight. Solar panels placed along the line could realize an added source of revenue. As the future moves ever closer, TransPod and the Alberta government agreed there would be no financial commitment, but for the time being additional study would be undertaken on the feasibility of a project such as the 1,000 km/h hyperloop duorail link.

According to the company, the project would be responsible for creating 38,000 jobs in the province through the course of ten years; construction and operation. The current provincial premier, Jason Kenney and the mayor of Calgary are both enthusiastic about the potential for such a link. "I'm excited about it. I don't know if it's real, I don't know=if it's science fiction, but we'll never know unless we continue to do more testing with folks other than one entrepreneur who talks about stuff a lot in the U.S.", commented Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi.

Artist's conception of a proposed hyperloop between Calgary (shown) and Edmonton. Photo by TransPod illustration

Another COVID Complication -- No Simple Solutions

"The finding does not mean taking vaccines will be useless. Immunity induced by vaccination can be different from those induced by natural infection."                  "The patient got re-infected 4.5 months after the first infection. Therefore, it shows that for this patient, the immunity induced by the first infection is short lasting."    Dr.Kai-Wang To, University of Hong Kong

"Given the number of global infections to date, seeing one case of reinfection is not that surprising even if it is a very rare occurrence."                                                  Jeffrey Barrett, consultant, COVID-19 Genome Project, Wellcome Sanger Institute, Britain

"This case illustrates that re-infection can occur even just after a few months of recovery from the first infection. Our findings suggest that SARS-CoV-2 may persist in humans, as is the case for other common-cold associated human coronaviruses, even if patients have acquired immunity via natural infection or via vaccination."                                                                                                   "Patients with previous COVID-19 infection should also comply with epidemiological control measures such as universal masking and social distancing,"                                                                                                     Research paper

Medical staff wearing protective clothing take test samples for the Covid-19 coronavirus from a foreign passenger at a virus testing booth outside Incheon international airport, west of Seoul, on April 1, 2020

"What I think is really important is that we put this into context. There's been more than 24 million cases reported to date. And we need to look at something like this on a population level. And so it's very important that we document this -- and that, in countries that can do this, if sequencing can be done, that would be very, very helpful. But we need to not jump to any conclusions."                                       "Even if this is the first documented case of reinfection, it is possible of course because with our.experience with other human coronaviruses, and the MERS coronavirus and the SARS-CoV-1 coronavirus, we know that people have an antibody response for some time but it may wane."                                           Maria Van Kerkhove, World Health Organization's technical lead for coronavirus response, head, emerging diseases and zoonoses unit

 

"The report from Hong Kong of a re-infection in a man by COVID-19 that was genetically different from the first infection should not be too surprising. It is, however, important that this is documented."

"Of particular note was that the case was a young and otherwise healthy person and that the second infection was diagnosed 4.5 months after the initial episode." "Commentators have been saying for some time that immunity is unlikely to be permanent and may only last a few months. Given the different intensity of the antibody response in people with mild or severe illness and the subsequent decay in levels, it is likely that those with a mild illness will have a shorter duration of immunity than those with severe illness."                                                                      Dr. Paul Hunter,  professor in medicine, University of East Anglia's Norwich School of Medicine, Britain

 

"Second infection was asymptomatic. While immunity was not enough to block reinfection, it protected the person from disease. Patient had no detectable antibody at the time of reinfection but developed detectable antibody after reinfection. This is encouraging. [Since reinfection can occur, herd immunity by natural infection is unlikely to eliminate the novel coronavirus.]"                          "The only safe and effective way to achieve herd immunity is through vaccination." "Lastly, while this is a good example of how primary infection can prevent disease from subsequent infection, more studies are needed to understand the range of outcomes from reinfection."                                                                                         Akiko Iwasaki. Yale School of Medicine

There have been reports from various countries; Israel, the Netherlands, of reinfections with COVID-19. People who had once contracted the disease then recovered months later being reinfected with an entirely new infection, and a new strain of the disease; meaning that the antibodies their immune system produced after their first infection were perhaps partially or temporarily effective in warding off new infection, but not long-lasting enough to prevent a future reinfection. This finding, should it turn out to be a common occurrence, would blow the effect of the herd immunity concept out of the water.

A 33-year-old man in Hong Kong, recovered from a bout of COVID-19, some four and a half months later was once again infected. His is the first documented case of human reinfection, and researchers at the University of Hong Kong, reporting on this case produced a study, published in the international medical journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. The man had been judged entirely recovered from COVID on his discharge from hospital in April.

He had later gone on a trip, returning on August 15 to Hong Kong from Spain through Britain. He appeared to be healthy but was found to have contracted a different strain of the coronavirus from that he had previously been infected with. For the second infection he remained asymptomatic, not knowing he was infected and theoretically passing the virus on to others with whom he came into contact. 

The virus which causes the disease has led directly to the deaths of over 800,000 people globally. And according to the findings documented in the newly published paper, COVID may continue to spread around the globe, in spite of herd immunity. The hope that the more people within any given population contracted the disease and community antibodies build, the better the opportunity for the greater, uninfected population to be able to avoid contracting SARS-CoV-2 causing COVID-19.

Dr. To, the lead researcher in the study, cautioned that no such predictions can yet be made with confidence, that results of the vaccine trials would determine just how effective they will turn out to be in preventing the further spread of the virus. Mainland China has reported instances of people having been discharged from hospitals after recovering from COVID-19 infection, later testing positive for the virus. There was no clarity however, whether the virus had been contracted following full recovery as with the patient in Hong Kong or whether these people had virus remaining in their body from the initial infection.

A man walks past a mural in Hong Kong on Sunday. | AFP-JIJI

Food Insecurity in the Time of Covid

"I actually stay up at night worrying about this one [the place of migrant workers in Canada, and the institutionalization and need of food banks]. I don't have an answer to it. And we already have a food insecurity problem in this country that has been massively exacerbated by COVID."                                                            "And I say that as a consumer who benefits from economic efficiency [built into the Canadian food supply system] because I don't pay much for my food and I'm very happy not to and that's a real asset of Canada, but there is a negative consequence of that. What we're seeing is symptomatic of a situation that squeezes the margins at all levels and then leaves vulnerable people and vulnerable aspects [in the system] open for exploitation."                                                Evan Fraser, head, Arrell Food Institute in Ontario, University of Guelph 

"We are concerned for what's to come. Please keep in mind that food bank use has remained at high levels following the 2008 recession [food bank use has never returned to pre-2008 levels]."                                                                                       Kirstin Beardsley, Food Banks Canada

Foreign workers harvest watermelons on farm in Ontario. Postmedia

"Of course, wages are a big part of the conversation. But what migrant farm workers are talking about is that housing is being controlled, their inability to speak up about exploitative conditions, their inability to access health care. Those aren't just about wage pressures. Those are about the immigration system that has tied those workers to employers, in part, yes, to keep wages low."                                "A perfect system is one where everyone in the country has full and permanent immigration status. That doesn't mean they have to stay, but permanent residency is the mechanism through which you get your rights"                                    "Nobody wants to do that work [farm work] in those conditions and for those wages, including migrants. That's why they're organizing. Look, our entire position is that we don't want an immigration system that has temporary labour."            Syed Hussan, Migrant Workers Alliance for Change

"Their current employer will be investigated [when migrant workers register a complaint of mistreatment], subject to fines, banned from hiring foreign workers and/or face a possible criminal investigation."                                         Employment Canada spokesperson

"You can't tell me that working at a local coffee shop is paying anybody $20 an hour. I don't think it [the struggle to fill worker vacancies on farms] can be framed entirely about a wage issue."                                                                                "The consolidation of the power in the grocery business in Canada, that's a very interesting component in all this [in reference to Walmart Canada's notice of offsetting costs of a multi-billion infrastructure investment through charging extra fees to suppliers]."                                                                                             "Those suppliers, who are the ones who buy raw product from farmers, they're getting squeezed, so you can be guaranteed that that squeeze is going to be felt down the line [higher food costs passed on to consumers]."                                   "Anyone I know who uses temporary foreign workers on their farm, they treat their workers the way you would treat someone you want to come back to work the next day and do a good job."                                                                                                 Mary Robinson, president, Canadian Federation of Agriculture

Canada’s food supply chain under strain  CBC

According to the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council, 59,500 of 227,194 farm workers are temporary foreign workers, an increase from 2014 when 43,500 farm workers were represented by migrant labourers. About 16,500 farm jobs were left unfilled back in 2017 leading to an estimated $2.5 billion in lost sales. Representing about 13,000 workers in the agricultural sector, United Food and Commercial Workers Canada calls for changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker program, recommending union representation become a mandated condition of the program to protect the "most precarious and vulnerable worker population" in the country.

There is no lack of understanding that making changes to ensure paying the "full societal and environmental cost of food" would translate to significantly elevated wages, improving conditions under which farm workers live and work who travel to Canada yearly under the Temporary Foreign Workers Program, and that inevitably would lead to rising costs to food consumers at a time when farmers themselves operate under razor-thin margins of profit. 

Farm workers pick and pack radishes in West Windsor, Ont. Postmedia

About ten to 15 percent of the population pre-pandemic lived with food insecurity, having to make use of food banks to make ends meet their daily nutritional requirements. Inadequate access to food would ensure that the numbers struggling to put food on the table would increase. Since the onset of the pandemic, food banks have been reporting demand surges. There was a 200 percent rise in visitors to the Daily Bread Food Bank in Toronto during May and June, as an example. Leading the federal government to pledge $50 million to subsidize the purchase of surplus food Canadian farms produce for redistribution through food banks.

It is a problem of considerable proportions -- how to take action to ensure that everyone in the food system is fairly compensated without substantially increasing food costs beyond what consumers are able to manage without sending more people to food banks. "That is a massive social undertaking", commented Kirstin Beardsley of Food Banks Canada, its chief network services officer, worrying that a 30 percent increase in visitors would materialize in attempting to fairly balance everyone's recognized entitlements. The Canadian food system, points out Mr. Fraser "rewards economic efficiency" over practically every other value at each level of the supply chain -- from farmers to processors to retailers -- in its obsession with maintaining low food prices.

Reports of unsafe working and living conditions on farms along with COVID-19 outbreaks within the migrant worker community includes poor access to food, restrictions on leaving the property, and wages withheld, and then if workers complain, threats intimidate them and punishments like being sent back to their home country can arise. Complaints by workers from Mexico and the Caribbean about racism, threats, surveillance, poor access to food and dirty cramped bunkhouses have filtered through to the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change.

Migrant workers on Ontario farm. Mike Hensen/The London Free Press

Irrespective of whether workers are Canadian or migrant workers, the average wage works out to between $13 and $15 hourly; $15.05 for general workers, $14.05 for nursery and greenhouse workers, and $13.80 for harvesting labourers, according to Statistics Canada's Job Vacancy and Wage survey. Annual farm workers' salaries average between $16,701 and $24,237. Mary Robinson of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture contends that farms cannot attract sufficient numbers of Canadians at wages on offer, the seasonal jobs are short and physically demanding, so they turn to temporary foreign workers to fill the gap.

The "cost-price" squeeze; the steady rise in input costs even as commodity prices for agriculture products trend downward is one that farmers have struggled with for decades. An increase of any note in labour costs would force many farms to shut down, given that farmers are unable to pass their cost increases to the commodities market, points out Ms.Robinson. "It is a sizable investment, so I just don't understand how anybody can make that investment and then mistreat workers. It's not good business sense and it's not the human thing to do either."

A volunteer packages food at a food bank in Sarnia, Ont., in June. Paul Morden/Sarnia Observer/Postmedia Network files

The Health/Beauty Marketing Trap

Perfumed, moisturized, exfoliated. Enviromantic/Getty Images

"I don't want to tell anyone they're wrong. Some people really love beauty. If someone has the money and time, and really enjoys those cleansing rituals, that's their right. But it's nothing to do with health or preventing anything."                                "We tend to be very susceptible to marketing and advertising that associates products and brands with health, when in fact many of us are spending time and money doing things that we could try doing without."                            "I take short, quick showers that aren't hot. It gives me a rinse, makes my hair lay down, and makes me feel like there's some divide between night and day in this pandemic time, especially."                                                                                        "I wash my hands because I don't want to have disease. I'm deliberate about why I'm doing what I'm doing."                                                                                   "Teeth whitening is a great example. It's very much social, and about beauty. But it doesn't actually have to do with hygiene, and it doesn't mean your teeth aren't free of bacteria and you don't have an oral infection."                                              "There was great social value in knowing you weren't part of the people living next to the open sewage piles that were in [pre industrial era] London and elsewhere. You were part of the washed class because you could afford soap and water."  Dr.James Hamblin, preventive medicine physician, lecturer in public health policy, Yale University

Research shows that Amish people – who live a rural lifestyle and embrace traditional agricultural methods – have optimally diverse microbiomes. Photograph: Bruce Burkhardt/Getty Images

Dr.Hamblin's argument is that the public has chosen to believe all the marketing and advertising geared to persuade them that cleanliness and optimum hygiene can only be obtained by purchasing and using the products crowding the market promising better health, improved appearance and an upgraded outlook on life come complete with the use of redundant products such as moisterizers, artificial ointments and lotions that smell good and promise the world. When, in fact, all that is required to attain both health and hygiene goals is a bar of soap and running water.

In point of fact, points out Dr.Hamblin in a newly published book, Clean: the New Science of Skin, the overuse of a tangle of products that are unneeded, fail to produce a positive outcome as promised, and in the long run often disturbs the natural cleansing process our bodies themselves have acquired as a result of evolution. Applying artificial ointments, lab-produced with an encyclopedia of chemicals makes it more difficult for the natural processes that have developed to nurture our skin, the largest organ of our body.

The Demodex mite as an example, a microscopic creature which teem in huge numbers over our skin feed off discarded and dead cells, in so doing act as a natural exfoliant, superior to the microbe-ads we are persuaded to scrub on our faces. Additional mites and microbes living on our skin consume sebum which works to apprehend oily skin from developing. "They're not hygiene practices. They're recreational and social practices", Dr.Hamblin notes of the products we use to shower, to scrub and salve skin with.

Stigmatism of body odour began as an advertising strategy that helped quadruple the sales of Lifebuoy soap in the 20s. Photograph: Angela Hampton Picture Library/Alamy

The hygiene, beauty and cosmetics industry has a value of $500billion. Dead cells disappear as our skin regenerates roughly every 27 days. Dust and particulate matter from the atmosphere can be washed away with the use of water. Dr.Hamblin insists that once your body reaches a steady state after returning to normal with the removal of all chemical products commonly seen on the market, problems with body odour tend to disappear. Soap, he contends, dries out the skin, which then requires the use of moisturizers.

Dr.Hamblin uses nothing but water when he takes his regular showers, using hand soap primarily for his hands alone. And he brushes his teeth for the singular purpose of sustaining their condition: "I don't want them to rot", he says. With the original production of soap in the pre-industrial area, soap was expensive, serving as a symbol that you were elevated over those who were unable to afford a bar of soap. With the Industrial Revolution soap, like most other products was produced more inexpensively, placing it in the realm of affordable for many more members of the general public.

Dr.Hamblin is also quick to point out that showering goes beyond its daily cleansing purpose; it is a normalcy measure, a reassuring routine that gives structure to the day. You awaken, you shower, you break your fast, you leave the house and arrive at your workplace. "This is an odd time, and at times like this, it becomes important to do things that ground you. These [ritualistic] markers are important to us to maintain the rhythms of how our minds and bodies are meant to function."

Risking Student Infection in Return to School

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"As you double the class size, from eight to 15 to 30, the number of cases and also the lost student days of instruction not only double each time, they triple or quadruple or quintuple. Those losses accelerate as you go to larger and larger classes."        "[Policy makers planning for elementary school class sizes of 30 kids or more] need to immediately reconfigure their school opening plans [to switch to hybrid models of part in-person, part online]."                                                                                  "Student days are like passenger miles -- it's the number of students affected, times number of days lost. When you put mores students in a classroom there is a higher chance one of them will test positive at some point for COVID, and so you've got to close that classroom. By the time you've identified that COVID case there might be other cases in the classroom already.You get aerosol transmission and you generate more cases by the time the classroom gets closed."                    "Many people may infect only one person, or even no one, but in some cases you have a so-called super-spreader who infects a huge number of people."                   Chris Bauch, mathematician, professor of mathematics, Waterloo University

"School is going to accelerate spread of the virus if it's already in the community. This is the same thing that happened when we reopened stores and restaurants. [School reopening] is not going to create more virus, but it's going to make it easier for the virus to spread."                                                                                          "It's very possible you could see cases."                                                        Dr.Chris Labos, cardiologist, epidemiologist, Montreal

A new study undertaken by mathematics professor Dr.Chris Bauch and collaborators to determine the ideal class size in preventing COVID outbreaks affirmed through modelling that the very size classes many provinces are contemplating for their September school reopenings will predict the numbers of infections of COVID-19 certain to break out in each community. The infection numbers will be analogous to the size of classes in primary school classrooms as well as before-and-after school daycare programs.

Universally, teachers in British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec and Ontario are all making demands to their governments to mandate smaller class sizes in fear of just such scenarios unfolding with the reopening of the new school year. Students attending kindergarten to Grade 8 are set in Ontario to return to school with no reduction planned in class sizes. They are scheduled to spend the school day in a single group, limiting contact with other children in their school 'bubble'. Masks are required in grades 4 to12 only.

As a test instance, experts view what has happened in Israel as high schools reopened in May, when weeks afterward, major COVID-19 cases began spiking. In Berlin, hundreds of students and teachers from dozens of schools were infected with the coronavirus; now are in quarantine, two weeks following their school reopenings. 

Researchers who designed the new modelling study looked at the effect of different student-to-teacher ratios in a primary school class, along with school-based daycare to obtain an understanding of transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus causing COVID-19.  Despite masking, social distancing and hand washing, the model predicted an average of 53 infections in a school community of 150 students, parents and teachers in classes of 30 students.

Classes of 15, on the other hand, saw viral outbreaks of 12 infections, where students attend alternative weeks in groups of 15 students each class. For the 30-students-to-one-teacher ratio, outbreaks occurred over 40 to 60 days on average resulting in the number of student-days lost as a result of classroom closures ranging from 75 for the smallest ratio to 1,000 for the largest. 

The larger the class the greater number of students affected; the more students to a classroom the more difficult social distancing becomes to achieve.

According to the modelling, the teacher occasionally would be the first to become infected, though more generally it would be a student "because there are more of them. They bring it in somehow and we model what happens -- where they spread it in their household and where they spread it in school." It remains unclear as yet how efficient children are in spreading the virus causing COVID-19. 

As for childcare, the 15 children to two teachers ratio appeared the worst across all possible scenarios. Childcare optimally would be operating on a seven or eight children per room model, according to Dr.Bauch's mathematical reasoning, which would see siblings grouped together in daycare. 

Students at a Berlin high school practise hand disinfection, August 10, 2020. Researchers have explored how different combination of class sizes and time in class could affect potential COVID-19 outbreaks. Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters

Taking the Bite Out of Mosquitoes

"With all the urgent crises facing our nation and the State of Florida -- the COVID-19 pandemic, racial injustice, climate change -- the administration has used tax dollars and government resources for a Jurassic Park experiment."            Jaydee Hanson, policy director, International Center for Technology Assessment and Center for Food Safety

"It’s gone extremely well. We have released over a billion of our mosquitoes over the years. There is no potential for risk to the environment or humans."                 Kevin Gorman, Oxitec scientist 

"The mosquitoes created in a lab have not gone through a natural selection process, in which only the fittest survive and mate. Once they are released in the natural environment, will they be as fit as the naturally occurring males and able to outcompete them for mates?"                                                                                "An ecosystem is so complicated and involves so many species, it would be almost impossible to test them all in advance in a lab."                                                    Max Moreno, expert in mosquito-borne diseases, Indiana University

A biologist in Brazil releases mosquitoes to combat a Zika outbreak   Getty Images

A project is underway in Florida, approved by authorities, to test if a genetically modified mosquito acts as an improved alternative to insecticides to control the spread of Aedes aegypti, the yellow fever mosquito. Known to bite to obtain blood to mature her eggs, the female mosquito spreads a number of exotic diseases like dengue fever, zika and chikungunya. 

A British-based lab, Oxitec, which created the mosquito named OX5034, succeeded in altering female mosquitoes to produce female offspring destined to die in their larval stage, thus preventing them from hatching and maturing to the point of biting for blood and successfully reproducing. Male mosquitoes, which are not disease carriers, have been programmed as well, to kill female mosquitoes.

The aim is to reduce the population of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes Getty

The company's promotions have emphasized that the genetically altered mosquitoes will not bite, despite which a public backlash against the experiment has arisen fiercely opposed to the experiment, with some residents stating they will not be treated as "guinea pigs" with the "Robo-Frankenstein" mosquito.

The concern among environmental activists is that a massive population of mosquitoes released for any purpose could result in a detrimental effect on wildlife, endangering bird species, insects and mammals that feed on mosquitoes. 

This is not the first occasion when Oxitec's altered mosquitoes have been put into action for the purpose of battling mosquito-borne disease.

The first such tests with the altered mosquitoes took place in May of 2018 when the mosquitoes were released within four communities in the city of Indalatuba, Brazil.There, success was realized when the outcome resulted in a reduction in the numbers of Aedes aegypti of 95% in a trial conducted in an urban area of Brazil.

"This is an exciting development because it represents the ground-breaking work of hundreds of passionate people over more than a decade in multiple countries, all of whom want to protect communities from dengue, Zika, yellow fever, and other vector-borne diseases."                                                                                      Oxitec CEO Grey Frandsen