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DEVELOPING Jasper wildfire burns buildings, while poor air quality forces some fire crews out
A fast-moving wildfire has hit Jasper, Alberta, destroying buildings and chasing some wildland firefighters away with dangerously poor air quality.
The first COVID-19 diagnostic test, which identifies chemical components in breath samples unique to the coronavirus, received emergency use permission from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday.
According to the FDA, the test takes less than three minutes to get results and can be administered by a certified, trained operator under the supervision of a health-care physician who is licenced or permitted by state law to prescribe tests.
The test can be carried out at doctor's offices, hospitals, and mobile testing sites; where a patient’s samples can be both collected and analysed.
The InspectIR COVID-19 Breathalyzer is roughly the size of a carry-on bag and was used in an extensive study of 2,409 people, both with and without COVID-19 symptoms, to validate its performance.
The test was shown to have 91.2 per cent sensitivity (the per cent of positive samples accurately recognized by the test) and 99.3 per cent specificity in the research (the per cent of negative samples the test correctly identified).
The study also found that the test had a negative predictive value of 99.6 per cent in a community with just 4.2 per cent of people positive for the virus, indicating that those who obtain a negative test result are most likely really negative in locations with low disease incidence.
In follow-up clinical research focused on the Omicron variant it was found that the test had equal sensitivity.
“Today’s authorization is yet another example of the rapid innovation occurring with diagnostic tests for COVID-19,” said Dr. Jeff Shuren, director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, in a release.
“The FDA continues to support the development of novel COVID-19 tests with the goal of advancing technologies that can help address the current pandemic and better position the U.S. for the next public health emergency.”
The InspectIR COVID-19 Breathalyzer employs an instrument called gas chromatography gas mass spectrometry (GC-MS) to separate and identify chemical mixtures and quickly detect five Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) linked with the COVID-19 infection in exhaled breath.
According to the Centre of Public Environmental Oversight, the GC-MS is one of the most accurate tools for analyzing environmental samples.
When the VOC markers are detected by the InspectIR COVID-19 Breathalyzer, a presumptive positive test result is returned, which should be confirmed with a molecular test.
The FDA notes, however, that negative results should be interpreted in light of a patient's recent exposures, medical history, and the presence of clinical signs and symptoms consistent with COVID-19, as they do not rule out SARS-CoV-2 infection.
“(Results) should not be used as the sole basis for treatment or patient management decisions, including infection control decisions,” the FDA said in a release.
InspectIR aims to be able to create around 100 instruments each week, each capable of evaluating around 160 samples per day.
A 2021 study by researchers at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center concluded that the use of breathalyzer technology to rapidly diagnose patients with respiratory infections has the potential to greatly improve the ability to rapidly screen both patients and asymptomatic people.
A fast-moving wildfire has hit Jasper, Alberta, destroying buildings and chasing some wildland firefighters away with dangerously poor air quality.
Alberta has called in the Canadian Armed Forces to help assist with the worsening wildfire situation in the province.
U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday delivered a solemn call to voters to defend the country's democracy as he laid out in an Oval Office address his decision to drop his bid for reelection and throw his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris.
Staff at a Barrie child care centre say they are frustrated by what they call a local MPP's inadequate response after a car crashed through a window in one of the toddler rooms.
More than 25,000 people have been displaced from Jasper National Park since wildfires started to threaten the picturesque corner of Alberta Rockies on Monday, but the mayor of its namesake municipality says not everyone received an evacuation alert when it was sent out.
The North American Aerospace Defence Command (Norad) intercepted two Russian and two Chinese bombers flying near Alaska Wednesday in what appears to be the first time the two countries have been intercepted while operating together.
An analyst and an assistant coach with Canada Soccer are being removed from the Canadian Olympic Team and 'sent home immediately,' according to the Canadian Olympic Committee.
After a handful of Australian water polo players tested positive for COVID-19 this week, questions have emerged around how the spread of the disease will be mitigated at the Summer Olympic Games in Paris.
A B.C. man who was hired to help a non-profit build a food hub but instead spent the money on personal expenses – including travel, restaurants, booze and cannabis – has been ordered to pay more than $120,000 in damages.
A local First Nations elder and veteran is helping to bring the Ojibwe language to a well-known film for the first time.
A cat who fled her Montreal home nearly a decade ago has been reunited with her family after being found in Ottawa.
A woman in Waterloo, Ont. is out thousands of dollars for a car crash she wasn’t involved in.
A swarm of bees living in a lamppost in Winnipeg’s Sage Creek neighbourhood has found a new home for its hive.
Around 100 acres of Manitoba Crown Land near the Saskatchewan border is being returned to the Métis community.
Nova Scotia is suspending the licensed Cape Breton moose hunt for three years due to what the province is calling a “significant drop” in the population.
A well-known childhood prank known as 'nicky nicky nine doors,' or 'ding dong ditch,' has escalated into a more serious game that could lead to charges for some Surrey, B.C. teens.
It's been more than a month since their good friend was seriously hurt in an accident and two teens from Riverview, N.B., are still having a hard time dealing with it.
Halifax bridges have collected thousands of coins from around the world.