'There’s so much that we don’t know': Funding allows U of S researchers to examine long COVID
Money from the Government of Canada will enable researchers at the University of Saskatchewan (U of S) to look more into long COVID.
The $20 million announced on Friday was directed at the Post COVID-19 Condition Research Network, of which the U of S is a part, according to a U of S news release.
“There will be a substantial increase in long COVID research capacity within Saskatchewan,” Dr. Gary Groot, professor of community health and epidemiology, and surgery at the USask College of Medicine, said in the release. “We are probably going to really punch above our weight.”
Groot is also the co-leader of population health and modelling research for Long COVID Web.
He said that long COVID has a variety of symptoms that are experienced for three months or longer in those who have had COVID-19.
“It impacts at least 200 different body systems,” Groot said. “It’s emerging [that] there are at least three clusters of symptoms—neurological symptoms, respiratory symptoms, and cardiac symptoms—and people can be in more than one cluster, and there’s also the mental health aspect due to the illnesses associated with long COVID.”
Other universities in the network include the University of Toronto, University of British Columbia, Université de Sherbrooke and over 250 researchers and collaborators, according to the U of S release.
The U of S said the money will go to research on long COVID, which includes hiring graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and researchers.
“Long COVID will affect a significant percentage of the population, and then there's so much that we don't know,” said Groot. “Anything we discover and learn in the [Long COVID] web, I will be able to take directly to the Saskatchewan Health Authority and to the Ministry of Health.”
About 15 per cent of people who have had COVID-19 report having long COVID symptoms, which is about 1.4 million people in Canada, the release said.
A recent report called Post-COVID-19 Condition in Canada: What We Know, What We Don’t Know and a Framework for Action was completed by a task force that included U of S professor Nazeem Muhajarine.
“We are still at a very, very early stage of doing work in long COVID in Canada,” said Muhajarine. “The report really sets up the work that we need to do.”
The paper suggests ways to address long COVID-19 as well as changes to socio-economic policy, and changes in infrastructure and systems responding to chronic conditions around the country, the release said.
“Much like with COVID itself, for us to see progress in this area quickly, there needs to be a co-ordinated and concerted effort across the research landscape,” Groot said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING B.C. NDP poised to win 2024 election, with judicial recounts increasingly likely
Incumbent B.C. Premier David Eby’s NDP appears poised to win the province’s nail-biting 2024 election – and could potentially retain the party’s majority, by the narrowest of margins.
'We promise to be better': N.S. firefighter club criticized after group in KKK costumes attends Halloween dance
A group of Cape Breton firefighters are apologizing after four people showed up at a Halloween dance dressed in what appeared to be Ku Klux Klan costumes.
'Nobody wants to blow up the party': Trudeau staying, despite resignation calls
Several Liberal MPs are calling for a secret ballot vote on Justin Trudeau's leadership after he made clear he isn't going anywhere in spite of the calls from within his caucus to step down.
Previously unseen photos of Prince William with his mother Diana visiting homeless charity released
Prince William has opened up about how a powerful childhood experience with his brother and late mother helped shape his work in combatting homelessness.
Next CPP payment coming on Tuesday for Canadian retirees
Here's how retirees will get their funds from the federal benefit.
Ont. couple accused of human trafficking plead not guilty as complainant testifies
Marred by several delays, the trial of alleged human traffickers Lauriston and Amber Maloney finally got underway on Monday in a Bradford courtroom, with a woman who worked and lived with the couple testifying.
Google exempt from Online News Act for 5 years, must pay news outlets $100M: CRTC
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has granted Google a five-year exemption from the Online News Act, ordering it to pay $100 million to Canadian news outlets within 60 days.
'Pieces of wood': Gummy candies recalled, Canadian Food Inspection Agency says
A recall has been issued for gummy candies due to pieces of wood, according to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
'Bob's Burgers' actor sentenced to 1 year in prison for role in Capitol riot
An actor known for his roles in the television comedies “Bob's Burgers” and “Arrested Development” was sentenced on Monday to one year in prison for his part in a mob's attack on the U.S. Capitol nearly four years ago.