Ottawa distributing 140 million rapid tests across Canada
Ottawa will be sending 140 million rapid tests to provincial and territorial governments to assist with overwhelmed PCR testing capacities nationwide.
COVID-19
Lack of leadership is to blame for Omicron surge
People eagerly come together during the holiday season to celebrate. However, as COVID-19 cases surged across the world, many were forced to change their New Year’s plans yet again. Amid the rising COVID-19 cases due to the Omicron variant, Canadians were not the exception. While the federal government recommended citizens avoid foreign travel without establishing travel bans, provincial governments established various restrictions to reduce the transmissibility of the virus in their jurisdictions. Lack of preparation has defined most governments’ responses to the new variant.
Finish the year remotely, or offer the option to do so
Whether or not classrooms indeed open for a general return come Feb. 28, the U of M should consider additional options for keeping students and faculty safe and, moving forward, should aim to be better prepared for setbacks like the one our province and country have experienced in recent months.
U of M returning to in-person classes in January
After almost two years of mostly remote learning, U of M students will be returning to in-person classes for the winter semester.
U of M should accommodate hybrid classes
Mixed emotions struck University of Manitoba students this week after the administration announced the campus will open its doors to in-person classes again for the first time in years. In a frenzy of excitement, I reminisced about the last time I was on a full campus — in regular fashion, I was getting a beer with friends at the Daily Bread Cafe when I read campus was closing due a new virus health experts were calling SARS-CoV-2. It would be open again in a couple weeks, I reassured myself. Now, here we are, a couple years later.
NDP demand inquiry into province’s pandemic response
As part of the official opposition’s alternative throne speech, Manitoba’s New Democratic Party (NDP) is requesting an independent inquiry into the provincial government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on the government’s approach to health care.
UMSU briefs
Unvaccinated students to be excluded from in-person classes Students that remain unvaccinated will be unable to register for in-person classes for winter semester. At the…
U of M team awarded grant to study long COVID-19
A team of U of M researchers have been awarded a $202,005 grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to study the effects of long COVID. Alan Katz, director of the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy and professor of community health sciences and family medicine, is one of the principal investigators for the project.
CRB, wage, rent subsidies replaced with reduced benefits
The federal government is scaling down a number of COVID-19 financial programs that were set to expire last week, including the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB). The programs will be replaced with reduced benefits, although due to parliamentary delays, these benefits may not be accessible until late November.
A letter from a travel-weary student returning to Winnipeg during global lockdowns
After my two-year hiatus in India, in which I had to tend to my ill parents, I finally decided to travel back to Winnipeg, where…