October

UBC research reveals fears that have arisen among the general public about coming into contact with health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. One in four people surveyed went so far as to agree that the freedoms of health care workers should be restricted. The study is believed to be the first on stigmatization of health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Steven Taylor, PhD, a professor of psychiatry in UBC’s Faculty of Medicine, is lead author of the study, published by the Journal of Anxiety Disorders.

Doctors with community offices in BC have invested time and expense to re-open their practices in a way that ensures safe in-person care. To help offset some of the associated costs, the Joint Collaborative Committees are reallocating funds to provide a $1000 grant to each eligible physician who has implemented a COVID-19 safety plan in their community practice. Eligible physicians are those who:

A team from Lawson Health Research Institute and Western University has made significant steps in understanding COVID-19 through two back-to-back studies published in Critical Care Explorations. In one study, the team identified six molecules that can be used as biomarkers to predict how severely ill a patient will become. In the other study, they revealed for the first time a new mechanism causing blood clots in COVID-19 patients and potential ways to treat them.