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An Increase in Reckless Driving in Ontario Due to COVID-19

An Increase in Reckless Driving in Ontario Due to COVID-19

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According to a recent newsletter from CAA Niagara, concerning information was found from a poll of 2,824 Canadians conducted from June 5 to June 16, 2020. Their findings from this survey revealed that, although 76 percent of the surveyors said they were driving less frequently due to COVID, another 53 percent had noticed an increase in speeding and 34 percent reported a spike in aggressive driving. 

More Mid-day Recklessness

With less traffic on the road, we have heard more incidents of street racing and other reckless behavior on our streets and highways. While most of this type of behavior typically happened at night when there was less congestion pre-COVID, it is now more commonly occurring in the middle of the day during our current pandemic. 

More Incidents of Racing and Dangerous Driving

OPP’s annual Festive RIDE program last November saw a huge increase in not only impaired driving but also reckless driving. From the end of November until mid-December, there were 146 drivers charged with street racing and stunt driving, while another 70 drivers were charged with dangerous operation or evading police. 

Safe Driving During COVID-19

Despite our roads being less congested, it is still imperative for drivers to follow the rules of the road on our highways. Safe driving requires

  • Avoiding driver distraction — Regardless of the number of cars on the road, any driver distraction can be deadly. The Canadian Council of Motor Transport Administrators defines distracted driving as “the diversion of attention from driving, as a result of the driver focusing on a non-driving object, activity, event, or person.”
  • Obeying the speed limit — 27 percent of all traffic fatalities in Canada are the result of a speeding driver. 
  • Distancing yourself from reckless driving — as much as possible, distance yourself from any erratic driver and report a reckless driver to 911 when it is safe to do so.
  • Keeping watchful for pedestrians, cyclists, and others who use the roadways — In accidents involving cars and pedestrians or bicyclists, the more vulnerable pedestrian or cyclist will be the loser.

If you have been injured in a car accident, getting skilled legal advice is critical. Call the personal injury attorneys at Hilborn and Konduros for a no-cost consultation at (519) 658-6341 to understand your rights.

November Covid 19 Cases Waterloo Region

November COVID-19 Cases in Waterloo Region Exceed 1400

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More than 1,400 new COVID-19 cases have been registered this month in the region of Waterloo.
 
The Waterloo Public Health Area announced 73 new cases on Monday November 3oth, taking the total for the month to 1,432. There have been 3,586 cases since March, which means that 37 percent of all cases reported were reported this month.
 
There are 554 active cases in the area with 27 patients in the hospital and eight of those in the intensive care unit.
 
The Details We Know:
 
There are 22 active outbreaks in Waterloo region. Two are at long-term care homes where one outbreak involves two staff members who have tested positive. The other outbreak is one staff member at another home. No one living at either home has tested positive for the virus.
 
The outbreak at Village Manor in St. Jacobs continues, with a total of 30 cases: 10 in staff members and 20 in residents of the assisted living facility. One person’s death has been linked to that outbreak.
 
There is also an outbreak in the 5S medicine unit at Grand River Hospital in Kitchener and on the wing B level 4 medicine unit of Cambridge Memorial Hospital.
 
Other outbreaks are:
  • One at a congregate setting with one case.
  • One at a racquet sports-related facility with 24 cases. The region has not named this location.
  • One that is hockey related with nine cases.
  • One that is dance-class related with two cases.
  • One at a food and beverage service workplace with two cases.
  • Two outbreaks are at manufacturing workplaces: one with two cases and one with three cases.
  • One outbreak at a construction workplace with two cases.
  • One outbreak is at a food processing workplace with 10 cases.
  • One outbreak at a automobile sales and service workplace with three cases.
  • One outbreak at an industrial equipment sales workplace with nine cases.
  • One at a trades workplace with three cases.
  • One outbreak at a child care centre with two cases.

 

Covid 19 related brain damage

COVID-19 After Effects Can Include Long Term Brain Damage

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It’s no secret that COVID-19 has been claiming lives. However, the discussion and discovery of long term health effects is just beginning. Doctors in a large Chicago medical center found that more than 40% of patients with COVID showed neurologic manifestations at the outset, and more than 30% of those had impaired cognition. Sometimes the neurological manifestations can be devastating and even lead to death.

New evidence is now indicating that long-term neurological effects could exist in those who survive infections with COVID and may be effecting more than seven million Americans and another 27 million people around the world. Increasing evidence that there may be moderate, but very significant, brain damage that occurs in many survivors is extremely alarming, causing pervasive yet subtle cognitive, behavioural, and psychological issues.
 

How the virus damages the brain

COVID may trigger encephalitis and affect the brain, which can have devastating or even subtle effects.  In one British sample of 12 encephalitis patients, one had a total recovery, 10 had a partial recovery, and one died. This research also showed that strokes were suffered in a majority of patients with COVID. COVID-19 is actually considered a risk factor for strokes.
A group of Canadian physicians discovered that people over 70 years of age were especially at high risk of COVID-related stroke, but even young adults are seven times more likely to experience a stroke from COVID-19 than a typical flu virus.
 
Autopsy evidence from COVID patients in Finland shows that lack of oxygen is another significant source of brain injury. It is especially worrisome because during the process of their COVID infection, some of the patients who were autopsied did not exhibit any symptoms of brain injuries, and all had brain damage. There was loss of taste in one patient and “minimal respiratory distress” in two, but neither of these patients were known to have any brain injury when they were alive.

Potential Side Effects of COVID Infection

In survivors of intensive care unit (ICU) stays, one-third of people display such a profound degree of cognitive disability that output on neuropsychological testing is equivalent to those with mild traumatic brain injury. Long-term psychological consequences of ICU stays that are frequently seen, include anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is expected that the effects due to COVID ICU stays will be comparable.

What about less severe infections, do they still have the same potential for brain damage or harm?

A Chinese group of doctors and researchers examined several aspects of cognitive function in 29 individuals who were thought to have fully recovered from COVID infection. They found persistent impairment in sustained attention — the ability to attend to important information for as long as it is relevant.

The Take-Away

It is clear and unfortunate that COVID infection frequently leads to brain damage — particularly in those over 70. While sometimes the brain damage is obvious and leads to major cognitive impairment, more frequently the damage is mild, leading to difficulties with sustained attention. It is definitely something to continue to educate ourselves about and continue to do our due diligence to stay safe and stop the spread of COVID-19.