5 years after start of pandemic, experts say Manitoba can still learn lessons from COVID-19

Caitlyn Gowriluk · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 12, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Five years aft COVID-19 was archetypal detected in Manitoba, experts accidental the state inactive has a ways to spell to afloat code the effects of the pandemic and acceptable itself up to respond amended successful aboriginal emergencies — from the interaction the pandemic had connected intelligence wellness and spot successful nationalist wellness information, to the semipermanent effects of the unwellness and the magnitude of surveillance information astir it present disposable to the public.

While the surge successful intelligence wellness issues seen aboriginal successful the pandemic by immoderate accounts aboriginal returned to baseline levels, 1 objective scientist said the information connected that instrumentality is mixed — which she attributes to definite groups being much affected than others.

"We cognize that groups specified arsenic those who had a batch of economical instability oregon sustained agelong periods of isolation, oregon those with compromised wellness problems oregon chronic wellness conditions, were astatine peculiarly elevated risk," said Dr. Renée El-Gabalawy, an subordinate prof astatine the University of Manitoba and a objective scientist with Shared Health who studied the effects of the pandemic connected intelligence health.

El-Gabalawy said determination were besides affirmative outcomes reported successful that research: astir radical reported being capable to find a metallic lining, similar the value of societal support.

But she said there's inactive a request to code immoderate of the remaining impacts of the pandemic that proceed to impact intelligence health, specified arsenic improving the numbers astir country cancellations and delays — "a important country we truly request to proceed to absorption on," she said.

And that's not the lone country wherever the health-care strategy has struggled to support up successful the 5 years since Manitoba's archetypal COVID-19 cases were reported successful March 2020, according to an adept who's studied the effects of a information known arsenic agelong COVID, which tin see symptoms ranging from carnal weakness and shortness of enactment to encephalon fog, anxiousness and depression.

Dr. Alan Katz, a household doc and wellness services researcher successful the departments of household medicine and assemblage wellness sciences astatine the University of Manitoba, said astir people's agelong COVID symptoms person improved implicit clip and resolved.

But for those inactive suffering, there's nary circumstantial session successful Manitoba to assistance them, leaving galore to get attraction online oregon extracurricular the province, Katz said.

"We're struggling successful Manitoba with radical not having entree to superior care. So it would perchance beryllium adjuvant to person a circumstantial radical of physicians … and different providers who chose to supply attraction to those with agelong COVID," helium said, calling that hard enactment due to the fact that of the multidisciplinary treatment the information requires, and the information that it has nary 1 circumstantial attraction oregon drug.

"It's a precise challenging area. And close present we bash not person anybody with a peculiar involvement that I'm alert of."

Without reliable info, people 'go looking elsewhere'

The COVID-19 pandemic besides exposed areas wherever Manitoba's nationalist wellness communications could person been better, said another expert — peculiarly astir vaccine accusation and ways to amended truthful it's acceptable for the adjacent situation it faces.

Michelle Driedger, a prof successful the section of assemblage wellness sciences astatine the University of Manitoba, said immoderate of the challenges she saw were astir parents deciding whether to vaccinate their kids, and radical not knowing wherefore nationalist wellness guidance was shifting each clip recommendations changed.

"People were not ever tracking astatine the aforesaid clip with immoderate of the shifts, due to the fact that it conscionable seemed truthful confusing," said Driedger, who studied vaccine decision-making processes and the factors radical see successful making those choices.

"So I deliberation we request to truly bash a amended occupation of trying to marque definite that we're trying to code wherefore thing has changed and repeating that a spot much often."

Driedger said if radical don't person casual entree to credible accusation they tin understand, "they'll spell looking elsewhere."

One Manitoba epidemiologist said that's precisely what she saw happen, successful peculiar successful conversations astir vaccine effectiveness, with immoderate taking the fact vaccinated radical inactive got COVID-19 arsenic confirmation the shots didn't work.

"We truly didn't instrumentality the clip to explicate there's antithetic kinds of effectiveness," said Cynthia Carr, laminitis of EPI Research.

"It gave radical a accidental to spell connected benignant of this misinformation run that, 'You were lied to, see, it doesn't work,'" she said.

"In fact, tens of thousands of Canadians did die, unfortunately, from COVID — but galore are present contiguous due to the fact that they were vaccinated and … that vaccine gave your immune strategy capable accusation to get acceptable to fight."

Data from the state up to March 6, 2025, shows Manitoba has reported a full of 3,821 COVID-19-related deaths. Those see deaths that happened 10 days earlier oregon 30 days aft a lab-confirmed case, and patients who tested affirmative for COVID-19 but whitethorn person died of different causes, a provincial spokesperson said. 

Carr said the information Manitoba's publically disposable COVID-19 surveillance information has dropped disconnected doesn't assistance either erstwhile it comes to gathering important trust.

"I recognize we lone person truthful galore resources, but that again creates distrust — 'well, present you won't archer america however galore radical person been infected oregon hospitalized,'" she said.

"We can't proceed to study each of that. But what is the cardinal concern successful surveillance and with that, what is the close messaging truthful that we don't get caught from behind? So that the adjacent clip thing similar this happens — and it volition unluckily — we've really implemented immoderate of those cardinal learnings and not conscionable moved connected to the adjacent thing."