Some good news (potentially)
https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/mmr-vaccine-may-protect-against-covid-19-researchers-suggest-1.4988673
A pair of American researchers propose that a clinical trial be conducted to test their hypothesis that the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine offers extra protection against COVID-19.
But in the meantime, Dr. Paul Fidel and Dr. Mairi Noverr from Louisiana suggest that nursing home residents, health-care workers and others at higher risk of catching the virus get an MMR vaccine as an added precaution. “If we are right in our hypothesis, terrific, these people would have the added benefit of potentially not getting the worst of the sequelae if they got infected with COVID-19. But if we're wrong — and we could be wrong — OK, you’ve got new antibodies to measles, mumps and rubella.”
The researchers outlined their early findings in an article for the journal mBio and suggest that the MMR vaccine could help reduce septic inflammation associated with COVID-19 infection. A growing body of evidence suggests that live attenuated vaccines like the MMR vaccine, which contain a weakened form of the germ that causes a disease, may go beyond providing immunity to the targeted pathogen and can potentially bolster the body’s response to unrelated future infections.
It won't stop infection but could make the impact of the disease less severe. Another reason to not skip the flu shot this year.
The flip flop stance on face masks continues, from it being pointless or even harmful, now we're going for making it mandatory in many places.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/should-wearing-a-mask-in-public-be-mandatory-1.4990964
As Canada gradually reopens, should wearing a mask be mandatory in public? That’s the recommendation of a group of Canadian doctors and scientists who are urging lawmakers to make wearing a mask a requirement in busy public spaces, including schools, shops, crowded parks and public transit. But other experts say making masks mandatory may not be the right solution.
Dr. Amy Tan, a family doctor in Calgary supporting the Masks4Canada campaign, says the group wants to see 80 per cent of Canadians wearing masks in public, a figure that research suggests can significantly reduce infection rates.
Polling suggests Canada is falling short of that 80 per cent figure, Tan says, pointing to a recent Leger survey that suggested 48 per cent of Canadians are wearing masks in public.
The only place where I see half the people using masks around here is in the line up for the LCBO (liquor stores), anywhere else masks are still a rarity as with my chiropractor visit where I was the only one wearing a mask.
Research suggests these rules could be beneficial. A recent study published in Proceedings of the Natural Academy of the United States of America found that mandatory face masks prevented more than 78,000 infections over a month’s span in Italy and prevented more than 66,000 infections during a three-week span in New York City.
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