Most people N.B. quietly removed from its COVID death totals had the virus when they died
CBC
New Brunswick health officials retroactively removed 46 people from the province's COVID death totals last week, even though records show 31 had the virus listed as a "cause of death" on their official death registration forms.
Moreover, they would still be counted as COVID-related fatalities in other jurisdictions.
The removals came after health officials in March significantly narrowed the definition of what qualifies as a COVID death in New Brunswick, as fatalities in the province rapidly climbed to alarming levels.
The change "was not announced publicly at the time," according to Department of Health spokesperson Adam Bowie.
New Brunswick last week disclosed that its actual death toll from COVID-19 was higher than it had previously reported, following an epidemiological review that raised the pandemic death toll to 572. The review found 125 deaths between March 1, 2020, and May 31, 2022 should be added to the toll, while 46 previously reported COVID-related deaths should be removed.
The quiet change in definition of a COVID death concerns Gary Myles, whose wife Wendy of 55 years died in March two weeks after catching COVID-19 in the Saint John Regional Hospital. She was initially admitted for a hernia operation.
Myles was told the death was the result of "massive failure of organ function," and he worries that might mean she is not counted among New Brunswick's COVID deaths even though everything went wrong for her after getting the virus.
He doesn't like hearing about the province narrowing definitions and pulling COVID deaths from its totals, including the removal of five deaths from March, the month when his wife died.
"The government is not pushing to help the public realize COVID is still a problem out there and to me being that close to it COVID is still a problem out there," said Myles.
"They're keeping the count down to a minimum."
New Brunswick officials had adopted a semi-broad definition of what constituted a COVID-19 death as recently as January, citing "a desire to be transparent," according to then Health Department spokesperson Bruce Macfarlane.
At the time, the provincial policy was to count every person with COVID-19 who died as a COVID-19 death, "unless there is a clear alternative cause of death, such as a car accident."
That is in general line with long-standing recommendations of how to record COVID deaths by the Public Health Agency of Canada and similar to how records are kept in other countries.
Because the virus can be especially lethal to those with serious pre-existing health conditions, when a person contracts COVID and dies of a flareup of a secondary health problem, there is a general assumption COVID was involved in causing the death, even if not the direct cause.
London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) is getting rid of unlimited mental health benefits for staff, blaming ballooning costs and former administrators for implementing it without proper due diligence or oversight.
Netflix has agreed to buy Warner Bros. Discovery's TV and film studios and streaming division for $72 billion US, a deal that would hand control of one of Hollywood's most prized and oldest assets to the streaming pioneer that has upended the media industry.
CBC Calgary kicks off its annual Make the Season Kind campaign this morning at Fratello Coffee Roasters.
CBC Newfoundland and Labrador is kicking off its annual holiday campaign, helping to raise money to support local food banks.
If all goes according to plan, at 6 a.m. AT on Saturday people working at the IWK Health Centre will become the test case for a generational change to Nova Scotia’s health-care system.
One month after Prime Minister Mark Carney announced what he called "generational" military spending, New Brunswick’s defence ecosystem is on high alert.
Miranda Mirlycourtois, 34, looks directly at the camera and makes a confession.
Saskatoon city hall says police spending is projected to be $2.6 million over budget this year. That pushes the city into a $1.2-million deficit position, according to a report that will be considered by city council next week.
Students at the University of Regina are days away from deciding whether a newly formed student association should become their official representative body.
All public schools on P.E.I. are closed Friday and thousands of Maritime Electric customers are without power as strong winds create hazardous travel conditions across the province.
Prince Rupert, B.C., residents are celebrating the holidays this year with coastal flair.
In the four years Chelsey Simmonds has worked at the Eva Rothwell Centre, she has seen the need increase every year at the centre’s community food pantry.
CBC is once again looking to make the holiday season kind in Windsor-Essex.