Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - May 09, 2020, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A14 A 14 SATURDAY, MAY 9, 2020 ? WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COMNEWS I COVID-19 PANDEMIC Donate to our COVID-19 fund today BECAUSE TOGETHER, WE ARE DEER LODGE. DEERLODGECENTREFOUNDATION.COM Women's Fashion and Footwear Boutique SIZES 0-14 . SELECTION & SERVICE Tues - Sat 11-5 . 918 Grosvenor Ave. www.girlcandyshop.com GIFT CARDS AVAILABLE IN STORE OR CURB SIDE PICKUP 204-975-4605 "The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you will go." -Dr. Seuss OTTAWA - The federal government has suspended shipments of N95 res- pirators from a Montreal supplier after about eight million of the masks made in China failed to meet specifications. The office of Procurement Minis- ter Anita Anand said Friday that of the nearly 11 million masks received from the distributor, about one mil- lion met federal standards and an- other 1.6 million masks are still being tested. N95 masks used to protect against COVID-19 are so-named because they are supposed to screen out 95 per cent of small particles. Anand's office said none of the ap- proximately eight million masks that fell below federal standards was dis- tributed for medical use, though assess- ment is ongoing for other uses. It declined to name the distributor, citing ongoing discussions about reim- bursement or discounts, or both, for the masks in question. Early this week, the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa said one million faulty N95 masks that arrived in Canada from China last month were the result of a "contrac- tual" issue that had since been resolved. Canada, however, had no comment on the matter until Friday. The federal government has con- tracts with several suppliers for 135.5 million masks. It says Canada has received 23 plane- loads of personal protective equipment and medical supplies, including more than 33 million surgical masks. "We are working with a range of sup- pliers and distributors, and we have strong processes in place to help en- sure that the supplies we receive meet all necessary standards," Anand's of- fice said. In particular, the Public Health Agency of Canada "conducts stringent testing of items such as masks before they go out to provinces and territor- ies." The large majority of the products re- ceived have met the agency's standards for use, Anand's office added. It said that while Canada continues to receive significant shipments of pro- tective equipment from international manufacturers, it is also getting or- ders from domestic manufacturers for gowns, face shields and hand sanitizer, among other products. This includes an agreement with Medicom, based in Pointe-Claire, Que., for production of 20 million N95 res- pirator masks and 24 million surgical masks per year for the next 10 years, starting this summer. - The Canadian Press JIM BRONSKILL Eight million masks made in China rejected ADRIAN WYLD / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Procurement Minister Anita Anand LONDON - Almost all ethnic minor- ities in Britain are at greater risk of dying with the coronavirus, and black men and black women are nearly twice as likely to die than white individuals, according to an analysis by the national statistics agency. The Office of National Statistics looked at the virus-related deaths in England and Wales from March 2 to April 10. Since ethnicity and race are not recorded on death certificates, re- searchers linked the mortality informa- tion to 2011 census data. The analysis found that along with black Britons, people of Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Indian, and mixed ethnicity have a significantly heightened risk of COVID-19-related death compared with those who identified themselves as white. After adjusting for factors such as age, social-economic background, health and disability, the study showed that black people were 1.9 times more likely to die with the coronavirus than whites in Britain, while Bangladeshi and Pakistani men were 1.8 times more likely to die than white males. The Office of National Statistics said ethnic Chinese and those of mixed ethnicity have risks for virus-related deaths similar to white people. The office said that a substantial part of the variation among ethnic groups in COVID-19 mortality can be explained by socioeconomic factors, noting that "other causes are still to be identified." The report's authors said their model did not include some potentially rel- evant social-economic characteristics, such as employment. Bangladeshi and Pakistani individuals are more likely to work in public transit than any other ethnic group, and are therefore at high- er risk of infection, they said. The findings echoed data from Eng- land's National Health Service and other studies. The British Medical As- sociation says 90 per cent of the doctors who died after becoming infected with the coronavirus belonged to ethnic min- ority groups. In a statement, it agreed with the statistics office that the analysis left "an unexplained part of the difference in mortality rates that needs more de- tailed investigation. "We have always said there are likely to be multiple factors behind this... We know that black, Asian and minority ethnic people are more likely to experi- ence deprivation and live in overcrowd- ed housing, which impacts their health, and that a greater number are in key worker roles, which lessens the chance of being able to socially distance." - The Associated Press Virus-death risk twice as high for black Britons J OHANNESBURG - The coronavirus could "smoulder" in Africa for years and take a high death toll across the continent, the World Health Organiza- tion has warned. The virus is spreading in Africa, but so far the continent has not had a dra- matic explosion in the number of con- firmed cases. More than 52,000 confirmed infec- tions and 2,074 virus-related deaths have been reported by African coun- tries, according to figures released Fri- day by the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The total num- ber of cases has risen by more than 42 per cent in the past week. The disease appears to be spreading more slowly across Africa than in Eur- ope, the WHO report said. Officials say that could be due to poor surveillance or less developed transport links. "While COVID-19 likely won't spread as exponentially in Africa as it has else- where in the world, it likely will smoul- der in transmission hot spots," said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO's regional dir- ector for Africa who is based in Braz- zaville, Republic of Congo. She said outbreaks would likely peak about one month after the virus starts spreading widely in communities. "COVID-19 could become a fixture in our lives for the next several years unless a proactive approach is taken by many governments in the region. We need to test, trace, isolate and treat," Moeti said in a video call. The WHO estimated that if no containment measures are taken, COVID-19 could cause deaths ranging from 83,000 to 190,000 people in Africa in the first year of the pandemic. As many as 44 million of the continent's 1.3 billion people could be infected during the same period, the UN health agency estimated, based on its prediction mod- el of 47 African countries. But the projected number of infec- tions and deaths is based on the assump- tion that no containment measures are taken. In fact, 43 African countries have implemented measures to reduce the spread of the virus, ranging from nationwide lockdowns to restrictions in major cities to curfews, closed schools and banned public gatherings. Africa, which has most of its popula- tion under 20 years old, may be experi- encing a slower rate of transmission, less severe cases and fewer deaths be- cause the virus is known to affect the elderly at a much deadlier rate. But Africa could see a more pro- longed outbreak that lasts a few years, the study said. Algeria, South Africa and Cameroon as well as several small- er African countries are at high risk if containment measures are not priori- tized, it said. As many as 5.5 million Africans could require hospitalization for COVID-19, which would severely strain the health resources of many countries, said the study. Africa has an average of nine inten- sive care unit beds per 1 million people, a recent WHO survey found. These would be "woefully inadequate," the new report said. "The importance of promoting effect- ive containment measures is crucial, as sustained and widespread transmission of the virus could severely overwhelm our health systems," said Dr. Moeti. "Curbing a large-scale outbreak is far costlier than the ongoing preventive measures that governments are under- taking to contain the spread of the virus." Social distancing and frequent hand washing are key virus containment measures in Africa. - The Associated Press Disease spreading more slowly than in Europe Virus could 'smoulder' in Africa ANDREW MELDRUM THEMBA HADEBE / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS A woman with her son listens to a heath worker explain the process of getting a sample for coronavirus testing in Johannesburg, South Africa, Friday. A_14_May-09-20_FP_01.indd A14 2020-05-08 10:46 PM ;