> “This study suggests that HEPA air cleaners, which remain little-used in Canadian hospitals, What, they are "little used"? I'd assume that's the first place that would have adopted them. So strange how some hospitals operate.
I suppose the cost of installation outweighed the minor inconvenience of colds and flus spreading in the past. Only now that we have a deadlier virus does it make sense.
Unlike other nations like Germany and Estonia, Canada's healthcare system is fully dependent on the provincial government to exist and be funded. If I'm not mistaken, in the two countries I mentioned, clinics can get private funding while providing universal access in most cases, which means they have a larger buffer between the political whims of the state, and their ability to provide service. If the state under-provides, the clinics can seek investors to cover the new costs, all the while maintaining universal coverage.
That's not something Canadians can do. Talk of any private involvement, or restructuring in general, in Canada's healthcare system is often very politically charged and not particularly honest, so change is not happening any time soon.
I suspect the issue here is that the hospitals know that having HEPA filters would be a good idea, but political will isn't there to give them what they need. Canadian politics on both sides lately has been more about the appearance of progress through large gestures, rather than careful consideration of long term solutions. It's very unfortunate.