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A study of tens of thousands of people in Scotland found that 1 in 20 people who contracted Covid19 had not recovered and a further 4 in 10 patients were still not fully recovered from the infection many months later.

The authors of the study, published last Wednesday (12) in the journal Nature Communications, attempted to identify the longterm risks of Covid by comparing the frequency of symptoms in people with and without a prior diagnosis of the disease.

People with previous symptomatic Covid infections were three times more likely than people who had not contracted Covid to report certain persistent symptoms, such as shortness of breath, palpitations and confusion or difficulty concentrating, in surveys conducted 6 to 18 months after infection. These patients also had an increased risk of more than 20 other symptoms related to heart, respiratory health, muscle pain, mental health and the sensory system.

The finding reinforces scientists’ calls for broader longterm care options for Covid patients in the United States and other countries. At the same time, it contains some good news.

The study did not identify a greater risk of longterm problems in people with asymptomatic Covid. And it turned out that in a much smaller subset of participants who had taken at least one dose of the antiCovid vaccine prior to infection, the vaccine appeared to have helped reduce the risk of some symptoms of longterm Covid, or even to eliminate .

According to the study, people with severe early Covid are at higher risk of developing longterm problems.

“The good thing about this study is that there is a control group and the scientists were able to isolate the part of the symptomatology that is due to Covid,” said Dr. Ziyad AlAly, research director of the VA St. Louis Health Care System and clinical epidemiologist at Washington University in St. Louis, who was not involved in the study.

“It reinforces the broader notion that longterm Covid is actually a multisystem disorder,” said AlAly, which is “not just in the brain, not just in the heart, but in all of those areas.”

Jill Pell, Professor of Public Health at the University of Glasgow, who led the research, said the findings reinforce the importance of patients with longterm Covid receiving support that is not limited to medical care but also needs related to Work, education, low income and physical disability.

“The study showed us that Covid can present itself differently in different people and have more than one impact on their lives,” Pell said. “Any approach to providing support must be both personalized and holistic. The answer isn’t just in the healthcare sector.”

Longterm Covid is a constellation of problems that can make life difficult for patients months or even longer after infection. Over the past 12 months, researchers have paid more attention to efforts to understand the serious aftermath as the number of Covid cases has exploded and healthcare systems have learned to better manage the early stages of infection.

The US government estimates that between 7.7 million and 23 million people in the country could have longterm illnesses from Covid.

Worldwide, the condition is “devastating people’s lives and livelihoods,” wrote World Health Organization directorgeneral Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in an article for Britain’s The Guardian newspaper. He called on all countries to give immediate and sustained attention commensurate with the scale of the problem.

The authors of the Scottish study followed 33,000 people who tested positive for the virus up to April 2020 and 63,000 people who were never diagnosed with Covid. At sixmonth intervals, these individuals were asked about symptoms such as fatigue, muscle pain, chest pain, and neurological problems, as well as difficulties in everyday life.

By comparing the frequency of these problems in infected and uninfected individuals, the scientists attempted to address a challenge faced by many other researchers who have studied longterm Covid: how to attribute less specific symptoms to Covid when these problems persist in the Generally occur population and can be spread worldwide amid a pandemic.

Some of the most common symptoms of longterm Covid identified in the study were also reported by between a fifth and a third of participants who never had Covid, the study found. But symptoms were significantly more common in people who had Covid: These participants tended to have 24 of the 26 symptoms identified by the study.

Among those who had previously had Covid, 6% said their most recent medical evaluation showed they had not recovered and 42% had only partially recovered.

Pell said he is still studying the long history of Covid symptoms in the months and years that have passed since infection. But the new study opens a small window on that question. In a group of previously infected patients, 13% of people said their symptoms had improved over time, while 11% said they had gotten worse.

“Some of the symptoms go away over time,” AlAly said, “but there are also a good number of people who remain symptomatic for a longer period of time, with varying manifestations.”

Only a small proportion of the study participants (4%) were vaccinated before contracting Covid, many of them only with a single dose.

“Today we rely heavily on vaccinations,” Pell said, “which provide some protection but not complete protection.”

Women, the elderly and people living in poorer areas face more serious aftereffects after being infected with Covid. This also applies to people with preexisting health conditions, including respiratory diseases and depression.

About 9 out of 10 study participants were white and struggling to determine how and why longterm Covid risks differ between racial and ethnic groups.

Scientists say health systems, which are still struggling to recover from recent Covid waves while taking in large numbers of patients with the flu and other respiratory illnesses, need significantly more resources to treat patients suffering from the effects of a previous infection suffer with the coronavirus.

“Our systems are not ready yet,” AlAly said.

Several commissioners responsible for evaluating the tens of thousands of asylum claims filed by migrants who entered Canada in the Roxham Road area denounced “meddling” by federal managers who would dictate who would accept in the country and who is to be rejected, while “according to an internal letter seen by La Presse, they are to enjoy full independence in the exercise of their functions.

Posted at 5:00 am

Vincent Larouche The Press

The Quebec region is a special case within the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB). The Montreal branch of this federal immigration court is particularly busy due to the influx of asylum seekers entering the country via Roxham Road in Montérégie, a unique situation in Canada. According to the Regional Program for the Reception and Integration of Asylum Seekers, since the beginning of the year, between 1,100 and 1,450 people per month have needed care after applying for refugee status in the Montreal area.

Each of these cases must be examined individually by a member who will take the time to analyze the available evidence and determine whether the applicant has reason to fear persecution in their country of origin because of their race, religion, national origin or membership of a social group or political opinion.

“Commissioners make their decisions independently,” says the Commission’s website.

However, the main players do not all agree.

Decisions contrary to their true opinion

A recent in-house union survey, the results of which we were able to see, immediately shows that in the Quebec region, 47% of commissioners say their independence has been undermined at least once, while 27% have even given an answer contrary to their actual opinion at least once in by the department responsible for asylum applications.

In an October 5 email sent to several Commission executives, a representative of the Commissioners Union cited the case of one of his colleagues who was told by his coordinator that his file was “a [décision] negative and it’s easy to do.

” [C’est] a case in point that I have heard on several occasions,” said union representative Francis Chaput. “This is a comment from a manager in a position of authority […]in the midst of a file’s progress, about the purpose of that file,” he continues.

Mr Chaput, himself a commissioner in charge of asylum applications, says in his email that colleagues at his workplace have also mentioned “veiled comments” from their superiors dictating how a case should be decided.

“In my opinion, like what I’ve heard from several Commissioners, this is perceived by us as part of influencing decision-making,” he laments.

“What worries me the most is that management doesn’t seem to see any problem with these types of comments directly impacting the Commissioners’ autonomy of decision,” Mr Chaput added in his statement.

Suspended from duty

A union source confirmed to La Presse on Monday that since the internal survey on the disruption was conducted, management has organized several training sessions to try to contain the problem. But several commissioners remain stuck.

I received testimony from a commissioner who refused to follow an order from his coordinator, who asked him to make a negative decision before hearing all the evidence. He was suspended.

I am Stéphane Handfield, immigration lawyer and former Commissioner

The suspended commissioner did not want to refuse asylum to a diplomat from an African country who feared being persecuted in her country because of her homosexuality.

“The minister must intervene to shed light on what can be described as institutional bias in the refugee protection department,” says the lawyer.

When asked by La Presse on Monday, the commission management emphasized the importance of the independence of the commissioners. However, she suggested that delays or deficiencies in the quality of decisions could sometimes justify certain managerial interventions. “Members must make their decisions independently and in accordance with IRB standards for quality and timeliness,” says Mylene Estrada-del Rosario.

“Coordinating stewards are responsible for ensuring that stewards comply with these standards without undue interference, and they receive extensive training to carry out this task,” she says.

“The IRB has processes in place, including a grievance mechanism with the Office of the Ombudsman, which allows staff to raise concerns,” the spokesman said.

Learn more

• 11,563 Number of asylum seekers served in Montreal in 2022 (so far)

‘Better than my handheld vacuum!’ Impressed Amazon buyers say this $32 handheld vacuum has powerful suction for both quick spills and larger areas

By Zoe Griffin for

Published: 1:34 PM BST, 18 October 2022 | Updated at 1:34 PM BST, 18 October 2022

SHOPPING: The products featured in this Mail Best article are independently selected by our shopping writers. If you make a purchase through the links on this page, earns an affiliate commission.

When it comes to chores, do you do it all in one day and leave the mess, or do you stick to the chore every day?

If you’re more of the latter type or wish to be, Amazon’s Oraimo handheld vacuum can make your life a whole lot easier and keep your home ready for visitors at all times. Even better – it’s currently discounted by 47 percent to just $31.99.

This handheld vacuum is perfect for spilled groceries, pet hair, when you spot crumbs on your new carpet, or just tiny dust particles running around a room at the end of the day to make your home fresher and more hygienic.

This small but mighty vacuum cleaner at a reduced price has a powerful cyclone suction function for quick cleaning.

It only takes three hours to fully charge and weighs just over a pound, making it the most convenient cleaning device you will ever own.

Pack up now and save 47 percent.

business

Spilled something on the table? Before you reach for a damp cloth and scrub, you can use Oraimo’s handheld vacuum to remove most of the dirt

This is similar performance to the average handheld vacuum, without having to push anything across the floor, and at a tenth the cost.

Not to mention a fraction of the weight as the small but mighty Oraimo device only weighs 1.39 pounds.

And if you’re concerned about battery life, you’ll be pleased to know that this clever device can be fully charged in three hours, which is less than the average handheld vacuum, and get you 20 minutes of it in full suction mode.

Because the Oraimo vacuum is so light at just over a pound, you can easily operate it with one hand, making it a useful tool for parents or the elderly

Just measure it… it can be stored under a sofa or in a closet until you need it and then it’s quickly emptied with…

Further proof that it actually works is that the Oraimo handheld vacuum is well respected by satisfied Amazon buyers, who praise the remarkable performance given the size.

One wrote: “This is my new favorite vacuum cleaner! I leave it hanging in the pantry and can grab it to quickly pick up spilled rice or popcorn, or to clean up dirt from the garden. I think the suction power is great. Very satisfied.’

Another added: “I wasn’t sure if this product would do the job but I was amazed at its suction power. Great product, great value!’

The Oraimo vacuum cleaner is suitable for both large spills such as food and small clean-ups such as computer keyboards thanks to a variety of attachments

And for $29.99, not only do you get a vacuum, you get multiple attachments too.

An attachment is super thin and will help you get stuck in corners, tidy your shoe closet and even remove dirt from your computer keyboard.

It only takes three hours to fully charge, and its cordless design means you can use it anywhere, e.g. B. in cars and mobile homes as well as at home.

But it’s advisable to hurry to Amazon to get it for $29.99, which is half price, as promotions like this can end at any time.

Frenchman Benjamin Sire reworked this song by Boris Vian to adapt it to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

A French anti-militarist anthem adapted to the Russo-Ukrainian conflict. Le Déserteur, a song written by Boris Vian in 1954, is covered in Russian by singer Daria Nelson. In direct response to the “partial mobilization” of Russian citizens announced by Vladimir Putin to be sent to the front.

“I just / Received my military papers / To go to war / Before Wednesday evening / Mr. President / I don’t want to do it / I’m not on earth / To kill poor people,” sang Boris Vian the end of the Indochina- war.

This letter from a citizen, addressed to a head of state to get him over his refusal to go and fight, spilled a lot of ink when it came out. He was even banned from broadcasting on the radio, considered unpatriotic.

A delicate text, even today

Partly because of this, French musician and journalist Benjamin Sire wanted to revise it at a time when the Russian population is afraid of having to fight. He made the arrangements and looked for a Russian-speaking artist to cover it. And “that’s when the problems started,” as he told BFMTV:

“Everyone refused. The Russians, of course, for understandable security reasons. But also the Ukrainians, because they refused to sing in Russian.”

The solution came when Benjamin Sire contacted French group Dionysus, who whispered the name of Ukrainian-born singer Daria Nelson. The song was in the box in one take.

“We are only addressing the youth who are going to fight against a brother country without any real reason,” said Benjamin Sire. “There is an intention to show the song to try to get it to Russia.”

And finally: “I know that one song will not change the face of the world. But it’s a strong message.”

Moscow, 18.10. (Prensa Latina) Russia today attacked Ukraine’s power systems, ammunition arsenals and foreign-made weapons with high-precision weapons, Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov reported.

The military spokesman said Tuesday, in his usual press intervention, that Russian forces destroyed a Ukrainian space communications station in the Odessa region and attacked three radar stations and a surface-to-air missile launcher in Donetsk. Russian troops shot down the command post of the combined Dnieper grouping of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Iskra complex radar repair shops near the city of Zaporozhye, he said.

Konashenkov also noted that the Russian units took the town of Gorobyovka in the Kharkov region as part of their offensive on Kupiansk, defeating the forces of the 1st Operational Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine.

In addition, near the settlement of Kislovka in the Kharkov region, they foiled an attempted attack by a tactical group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, reinforced with tanks, the spokesman said.

Konashenkov pointed out that Russian troops again prevented Ukrainian troops from crossing the Zherebets River towards Krasny Liman, and 46 Ukrainian soldiers, eight armored vehicles and two trucks with large-caliber machine guns were killed in the fighting.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian units on the front line from Nikolayev to Krivoy Rog tried to break through the defenses of Russian troops in the direction of the town of Bruskinskoye in the Kherson region, but the enemy attack was repelled, the military spokesman said.

According to Konashenkov, the Russian artillerymen attacked the positions of the Ukrainian troops and managed to scatter them and return them to their starting positions.

Meanwhile, Russian units destroyed two Ukrainian artillery batteries in the Kherson region and a platoon of Himars highly mobile multiple rocket launchers in Donetsk, sources said.

mem/gfa

At Düsseldorf airport, 84 of the 160 flights were canceled on Tuesday, according to the airport. Even more flight cancellations were announced for Wednesday.

The pilots’ strike at Eurowings, a subsidiary of Lufthansa, has again led to significant restrictions on flight operations at Germany’s main airports. At Düsseldorf airport, 84 of the 160 flights were canceled on Tuesday, according to the airport.

On Wednesday – the third and final day of shutdowns – even more would be cancelled, ie 100 of the 160 takeoffs and landings. At Cologne/Bonn airport, 35 of the 63 originally planned flights were canceled on Tuesday. There were also cancellations in Stuttgart, Munich and Hamburg and many passengers with Eurowings tickets had to rebook.

With the strike, the pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) wants to achieve better working conditions. Recently, the fronts had hardened. Management argues that it has already made many concessions to the union and, for example, offers ten additional days off per year. The union wants 14.

In an open letter to the workforce, Eurowings management warned on Monday of the financial consequences of the strike, which costs a double-digit figure of millions of euros a day. Jobs are at risk. Management threatened to withdraw the offer if the strike continued.

(APA)

About 30 percent of power plants across Ukraine were destroyed by Russian attacks in the last week alone, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday.

Train stations in Kyiv and in several regions of the country were bombed this morning. As a result, the country is experiencing “mass outages,” according to the Ukrainian president. In the Ukrainian capital, two people died as a result of the bombings that were carried out in the city for the second week in a row.

The attacks are part of the Russian government’s new strategy to attack the infrastructure of major Ukrainian cities in order to destabilize them. The Russian government confirmed the strategy (Read more below).

“Since October 10, 30% of power plants have been destroyed, which has led to significant cuts in the country,” said Zelenskyy. “They continue to do what they do best terrorize and kill civilians.”

In Kyiv, the operator DTEK recorded “disruptions” in the electricity and water supply on the left bank of the capital. “Engineers are making every effort necessary to restore power,” the operator said.

Ukrainian police fire on drones attacking Kyiv

More than a week ago, Kyiv, which had been relatively quiet since late March, was again the target of Russian bombing. Last week Moscow launched the worst attack on the Ukrainian capital since the war began on February 24.

The offensive is a harsh response by Russian President Vladimir Putin to the blast recorded days earlier at the bridge linking Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula illegally annexed by Russia in 2014 to the Russian occupation and captured personally by Vladimir Putin in 2018 inaugurated.

Officially, the Ukrainian government took no responsibility for the explosion on the bridge, but Kyiv expected a strong response from Russia.

Also on Tuesday, Ukraine received 2 billion euros (about R$10 million) in aid from the European Union.

• COUNTEROFFENSIVE: Russia is using Iranian “kamikaze” drones to attack the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine says

Fewer than one in five Canadians had their most recent broken or broken electronic item repaired, an analysis by the Équiterre Group shows. In a report presented on Tuesday, the environmental organization demonstrates “a declining repair practice”. To counteract this decline, the creation of a right to redress is advocated.

Posted at 5:00 am

Clemence Delfil’s The Press

Members of the Facebook group Touski s’répare, a sharing community that promotes item repair, know a lot about the difficulties of repairing damaged devices. “This is the third kettle I have had replaced. I wanted to see what was wrong, but the screws are triangular. No way ! The companies make sure we can’t fix it and have to throw it away,” laments one of the members, Jocelyne Gallien. His example is far from unique, with several members happy to share their anecdotes about irreparable washing machines or printers.

The causes of this decline are multiple and depend on both consumer habits and product evolution, the report on Repairable Home Appliances and Electronics in Canada underscores. Phone that no longer opens, immutable chips, parts that cannot be found, so many reasons that encourage owners of electronic items and household appliances to buy new ones. These facts also explain why, according to a survey by Équiterre, only 18.6% of people had their last broken device repaired.

There is a great diversification and complexity of the devices brought to the market. It increases repair costs. Devices are also less and less designed to be repaired.

Amélie Côté, Analyst at Équiterre

Consumption habits also play a role. For example, between 2020 and 2021, 50% of people surveyed by the environmental organization bought a new smartphone. According to Antoine Boutet, appliance repairer, these purchases are partly motivated by the need for technology. “Consumers prefer to buy new because of social pressure. I don’t think they’re looking for a new product rather than something new,” he explains. For Équiterre’s Amélie Côté, the reasons are more practical: “Repair brakes are the perception that the equipment is irreparable and the increase in repair costs. Depending on the subject, the question of the deadline also arises. »

However, it is still cost that most motivates consumers to repair their items, as well as environmental issues. “The motives are both economic and ecological. There is a kind of awareness of a sustainable lifestyle in Quebec,” explains Sonia Gagné, President and CEO of Recyc-Québec, a government body responsible for reclamation and recycling and a financial supporter of the Équiterre report.

Quebec does it better

According to the same report, Quebec stands out from the rest of Canada. According to Sonia Gagné, this difference is primarily a cultural one.

The repair reflex seems to be really well established with us. The image of repair is positive for Quebecers.

Sonia Gagné, President and CEO of Recyc-Québec

Amélie Côté agrees: “There has been a lot of talk in Quebec about the repair movement in recent years. There are many initiatives and a community for repair. Evidence of this are the many members of the Touski s’répare group, as well as the new repair cafes and other structures that are increasingly present in the province.

Which solutions?

After the observations the solutions. They lie above all in the definition of a right to redress, which, according to Amélie Côté herself, would make it possible to establish legislative constraints. For example, a reparability and durability index that has already been tested by Recyc-Québec but is still missing on the packaging. The report proposes other solutions, such as introducing an eco-tax or providing repair tools.

Recyc-Québec and Équiterre are not limited to promoting actions that make repairs possible. “The ultimate goal is that the objects no longer need to be repaired because we want them to be not only repairable but also more durable. It would help reduce their environmental and economic impact on households,” says Amélie Côté. A solution that Recyc-Québec also advocates: “We shouldn’t just talk about repairs. You can already return to the chain when you buy it. A repairable, durable device can be preferred,” confirms Sonia Gagné.

In 2019 MP Guy Ouellette also proposed Bill 197, which amends the Consumer Protection Act to tackle planned obsolescence and the repair of goods and was reintroduced into the legislature on 20 October 2021.