COVID-19

An open letter: Please support our youth in rewriting our narrative

The state of mental wellbeing of the young adult demographic poses a public health concern, and yet it seems that this group – our future leaders – are being neglected by current systems.

Sick Days, everything is fine, quarantined fear

Everything is fine, you claim with tired eyes, baggy underneath with full exhaustion, with keeping up with the world still collapsing.

My COVID Experience

I got packages from school when I was in Grade 5; I missed going to school. I did not like the packages; I liked the school environment better.

Outgrowing the growing pains

But to be a young disabled person amidst the pandemic is to be left to decay until your body does not respond to conservative treatment.

Blue

The fire’s less hot when you’re used to its inferno. When the heat gets unbearable, it shifts to a numb blue that no painting or Pantone catalogue could ever convey.

They said

They said stay inside, it will keep you safe.They said go home, assuming we had one. They said get online, it will be the same. They said stay inside, but some were not safe.

Lost Things

I've lost myself many times, but I was always able to find her again. The last time I lost myself, however, was March of 2020, and I haven't been able to find her since.

The pandemic tales – striving through despair

When the pandemic began, I was finishing my third year at the University of Toronto. I had finally come out of my shell that I had been locked into for my first three years.

Fear of that life inside a bubble

Scary. If there is a word I could use to describe the way I felt when lockdown was first announced, it would be exactly that. Scary.

The little things

This is the kind of poem you write when you don’t know what to write anymore, when hours feel like days and days feel like weeks and weeks feel like months. because you’re terrified, everyone is terrified and unsure of tomorrow/

A message of appreciation

I came to the conclusion that COVID has had a very negative influence on our lives, but also some positive ones.

Fill in the funding gaps

I came to the conclusion that COVID has had a very negative influence on our lives, but also some positive ones.

Reflection of the effects of the pandemic

The pandemic and has transformed me in ways that were mental, physical and emotional in nature.

Even a child can see collaboration is essential to save the Canadian health-care system

Everything is related; solutions must once again be aligned, locally scaled and human centred. We need a more stable, unified approach in health care. We need more transformative models moving forward. Above all, we need primary care and public health to join forces to prepare us for the next big challenge – climate change.

The war raging in your body: These little-known immune cells may prevent severe COVID

Infectious diseases were once the greatest threat to human survival. Today it is not necessarily the infection itself but rather the immune system’s response to the infection that dictates the survival of the fittest.

Groundbreaking research into ME/CFS a pandemic ‘silver lining’

ME/CFS is a misunderstood complex chronic illness affecting more than 600,000 Canadians. For decades ME/CFS patients have been left without proper medical support. But now, with the wave of new post-viral illnesses from the COVID-19 pandemic, ME/CFS patients might finally see some answers.

To mask or not to mask. The sequel

Canada’s provincial medical officers of health are resisting calls for mask mandates despite pressures on our health care system from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), COVID-19 and influenza. But the question remains: Should we return to mandatory masking in indoor spaces?

The ongoing race in health care. Who will win?

In the race to change health care, there are two participants: Health-care improvement and burnout. Who will win?

What to know about bivalent vaccines

Health Canada authorized the most recent bivalent vaccine to date, a Moderna booster, to target multiple strains of the COVID-19 virus. But what exactly is a bivalent vaccine? And is it safe? Here's all you need to know.

The Faces & Phases of COVID-19

The Faces/Phases Project is a portrait of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. Through a series of data visualizations, we cover the first two years of the pandemic.