Sunday, 28 July 2024

COVID-19

Danny Cavanagh: How to learn from the pandemic and build a better future

Danny Cavanagh: “In Canada, we have weathered the pandemic by sticking together and supporting each other. Economic recovery cannot mean listening to the same old voices that led us to an economy with a widening income and gender gap, heightening rates of poverty and homelessness, increasing violence and inequality, and poorly underfunded and inadequate public and community services. We need investments in new ways of doing things.”

Kendall Worth: Christmas in October

Kendall Worth: “You may think it a bit weird for me to talk about Christmas in October but many people on social assistance are already starting to develop a bit of anxiety thinking about how they are going to prepare for Christmas this year.”

Teachers, retail and long term care workers deeply affected by pandemic, preliminary results of study show – More participants still welcomed

A group of researchers from Acadia University are studying work and health during COVID-19 through the experiences of grocery and retail workers, long-term care workers, and teachers in Nova Scotia. Although the study is ongoing, the preliminary findings offer insight into the daily struggles of Nova Scotia’s retail and grocery workers, teachers, and long term care workers, as well as the pandemic’s impact on their mental health and stress levels.

Large class sizes during the coronavirus pandemic are a triple whammy

Questions around the relationship between the spread of Covid and class sizes caused these mathematics professors to run some simulations. The model made a very surprising prediction: as class sizes go up, the negative impacts of COVID-19 go up exponentially faster. The worst scenario, by a wide margin, was the 30:1 ratio in the primary school setting.

Kendall Worth: Preparing for a second wave of COVID-19

Kendall Worth: it is safe to say that 80% of income assistance recipients live a life of loneliness and social isolation. Many do not have good relationships with their families, and many of them do not even talk to their families. COVID-19 made this so much more worse, but we can do something about it.

Fired for quarantine

Lisa Cameron reports how a server at a popular Halifax restaurant was fired after she went into quarantine, even though earlier she was told her job would be waiting for her. That is against the law and also infringes on the worker’s human rights, she writes.

Back to school in a pandemic – Safety means smaller classes

School has started, but it’s not too late for governments to listen to the experts (teachers, medical professionals, parents) and make plans to transition to smaller classes now before a second wave hits us and forces us to shut down schools entirely, writes Molly Hurd.