“It’s like going to Disney but for a vaccination.” That was a comment from one of the thousands of grateful community members who received their COVID-19 shot this spring at the U of G vaccination clinic run in partnership with the Guelph Family Health Team (GFHT).

Not that the clinic, which opened in the University Centre courtyard March 16, was offering the thrill of an amusement park ride, but that it was operated with efficiency and friendliness.

By mid-April, the U of G clinic had vaccinated 12,500 people, helping Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health reach its goal of providing at least one dose of a vaccine to 25 per cent of eligible residents in the region by that point.

By then, the clinic was vaccinating about 600 people a day, with plans to reach at least 800 daily injections into the summer months, says Ed Townsley, executive director of Hospitality Services and vaccination clinic manager. He expected total vaccinations at the U of G clinic to reach about 60,000 people by the end of June.

The weekday clinic is staffed by members of the GFHT and U of G’s Hospitality Services along with University and community volunteers.

About 200 students, staff, faculty, retirees and community members have since assisted regularly. Says Townsley: “They really believe it’s the right thing for the University of Guelph to do.”

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We couldn’t recap the past year without mentioning You Know What. After all, it changed the world and the work and personal lives of all of us. Over the past year, U of G members did some amazing things to help us all understand and mitigate COVID-19, helping to improve life even in the midst of a global pandemic.

University of Guelph researchers have repurposed innovations, conducted cutting-edge research and provided their expertise to provincial, national and global pandemic efforts.

Confronting the virus was at the same time one of the University’s greatest challenges and one of its greatest moments, says Dr. Malcolm Campbell, vice-president (research).

“We recognized how vitally important our effort would be, how life-saving it could be,” he says. “The faster we could get projects up and running, the better it would be for our world. What we’ve achieved is truly remarkable.”

Well over 100 U of G researchers have contributed their expertise to responding to the pandemic. Here are just a few examples:

Searching for a vaccine

A team in the Department of Pathobiology received $230,000 in provincial funding to develop potential COVID-19 vaccines, adapting research into using vaccines as cancer therapies. The technology uses a proven testing platform of viruses already used to develop cancer vaccines.

By using live vectors to deliver the vaccine directly into cells, the approach ensures an appropriate immune response. The team expects a viable vaccine based on the technology to be ready for Health Canada approval in 2021.

Modelling the spread of COVID-19

Dr. Amy Greer, an infectious disease modelling expert in the Department of Population Medicine, began tracking the spread of the new virus early in the pandemic. Her lab group created a website that illustrates the virus’s spread across Canada (COVID-19 in Canada) by monitoring COVID-19 cases and deaths and tracking changes in case numbers.

Greer also worked on other pandemic-related projects, including a $300,000 federally funded effort to forecast the near-term course of the COVID-19 pandemic and a project that modelled the spread of the virus based on relaxing physical distancing measures in Ontario.

SARS-CoV-2 in pets

In early 2020, some animals were found to be infected with COVID-19, and pathobiology professors Dr. Scott Weese and Dr. Dorothee Bienzle set out to understand why. In April, they embarked on a first-of-its-kind study to examine what risk COVID-19 in humans poses to pets and why some animals become infected while others do not.

The researchers recruited pet owners with COVID-19 symptoms or a positive test for the disease and tested their animals for the virus. They determined transmission of the virus to pets is not uncommon. The team also discovered the first dog in Canada with an active COVID-19 infection.

The pandemic and vulnerable populations

The pandemic has disproportionately impacted vulnerable populations worldwide, including women and girls with disabilities. Dr. Deborah Stienstra, Department of Political Science, is leading a $2.5-million, federally funded research project to increase the global inclusion of women and girls with a range of physical, mental health, intellectual and other disabilities.

The seven-year project is initially focused on the effects of the current pandemic on this largest minority of women in Canada and around the world. It will bring together academics, agencies and governments in Canada, Haiti, South Africa and Vietnam to work with policy makers.

Agri-food and COVID-19

The University’s food and agriculture experts were significant contributors to a special edition of the Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics, focused on challenges faced by the Canadian agri-food industry during the pandemic and what the future holds.

Dr. Alan Ker, professor in the Department of Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics, co-edited the edition and seven of the 18 articles were written by U of G experts. Drs. Brady Deaton, John Cranfield, Getu Hailu, Alfons Weersink and Mike von Massow examined the pandemic’s effects on the pork, beef, grain and fresh produce industries.

They also examined how pandemic shutdowns have affected the food service, retail and processing industries, food security, the food supply chain and labour issues.

Artistic innovations for challenging times

More than 150 artists from more than 20 countries participated in U of G’s successful IF 2020: Improvisation Festival. Held in August 2020, the 24-hour event garnered some 2,500 viewers worldwide.

Festival director Dr. Ajay Heble, a professor in the School of English and Theatre Studies and director of U of G’s International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation, organized the “global community” event at a time when many arts and music events had been cancelled.

In another arts project, enabling musicians to reflect on the pandemic and to showcase their work is the goal of A Sonic Tapestry, a nearly hour-long video curated by Dr. Alyssa Woods and Dr. Kimberly Francis, professors in the School of Fine Art and Music.

The video’s musical compositions and a virtual roundtable discussion comment on the impact of COVID-19 on the music industry.

“Our hope was to highlight the widely varied experiences – whether physical, emotional or creative – of Guelph artists, while allowing their music to draw us together to reflect, grieve and support one another through the pandemic and beyond,” said Francis.

Ethics of immunity passports

Vaccine passports for COVID-19 are intended to help curb the spread of the disease, but are they ethical? Dr. Andrew Bailey, a professor in the Department of Philosophy, is leading a study looking at immunity passports, which might encourage more people to get the shot.

But the idea might lead someone who’s vaccine-hesistant to “purposefully try to get the virus and go through the sickness in hopes to become immune.”

Not everyone who contracts COVID-19 gains immunity, so this strategy poses a health risk not only to the individual but also to others.

COVID-19 and heart health links

Treating or preventing heart damage caused by COVID-19 infection is the goal of biomedical sciences researcher Dr. Glen Pyle.

He also aims to tease out why male-female differences exist in heart injury and potential links to the coronavirus.
He says the problem may arise when infection causes the immune system to go into overdrive and cause life-threatening inflammation.

“Viral infections do increase your risk for cardiovascular disease. Just because you recover from COVID doesn’t mean you’re free and clear. There can be long-term complications.”

Pinpointing the cause of the damage could help in developing drugs and other therapies to treat the heart or the immune system.

Impact of the pandemic on the workforce

Dr. Nita Chhinzer, a professor in the Department of Management, has consulted widely with media on labour force topics during the pandemic, including the challenges of the massive work-from-home shift, the ethics of layoffs through Zoom and paid sick days.

Chhinzer, who has been appointed as advisory board member for Canadian HR Reporter, has also written commentaries for national publications on how the pandemic has impacted the workforce.

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Smart Contact Tracing, a smartphone app, ensures greater accuracy and privacy than other systems while identifying recent contacts infected with COVID-19 and reminding users to maintain physical distancing, says engineering professor Petros Spachos.

“The application we developed could be very useful as an upgrade to any contact tracing application available,” he says.

Apps perform well on phones that are “visible” to each other but lose accuracy when the devices are in a pocket, purse or backpack. The U of G app uses machine learning to improve accuracy in “hidden phone” scenarios from about 56 per cent to 87 per cent.

The app also “learns” to distinguish when the user is at home or in another private space and stops recording contact information there.

The researchers have worked with a Toronto wireless communication firm on development of the app.

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U of G provided $4 million in new funding to support international students and reduced student compulsory fees during the COVID-19 pandemic.

New one-time tuition credits and bursary and scholarship support for international students followed enhancements to emergency bursaries made in the winter and spring 2020 semesters.

The University provided residence spaces to international students who were unable to leave the country when the pandemic started, and offered counselling, wellness and accessibility services.

“We recognize the challenges that many of our international students are facing during this crisis and so we are taking these further actions to help them continue their studies,” says Stuart McCook, assistant vice-president (international).

The University reduced fall semester compulsory fees by 30-40 per cent and pursued innovative ways to provide quality student services online and through alternative platforms.

For new and returning students, the University provides programs and supports ranging from health services to academic and career services.

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This fall brought a new semester – and new ways of learning – for students of all ages, from primary classrooms to virtual university lecture halls. Although COVID-19 has been a first in our lifetime, earlier outbreaks on and off campus offer potential lessons for today, from quarantining and curtailing group activities, to keeping kids safe at school, to wearing personal protective equipment.

Since COVID-19 was officially declared a pandemic on March 11, many people have referred to “unprecedented times.” But Graham Burt, a former archival assistant at U of G’s McLaughlin Library, says while the current pandemic is unparalleled in our lifetime, it’s hardly unprecedented. He explains why in an article published previously by U of G. Here’s an abridged version of his account:

Beginning near the end of the First World War, the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918-20 killed about 55,000 Canadians and at least 50 million people worldwide. Among them were at least 15 students and faculty members at the Ontario Agricultural College (OAC) and Macdonald Institute, two of the founding colleges of the University of Guelph.

“It soon became evident that Macdonald Hall must be its own hospital, as one after another the students showed symptoms of the malady and were ordered to stay in bed.” – OAC Review, November 1918

On Oct. 2, 1918, OAC students and staff learned that a student, Geoffrey Howard Scott, had died. Training with the Canadian Engineers that summer in Quebec, the 20-year-old entered hospital in late September after appearing “very ill and delirious.” Flu led to bacterial pneumonia, and he died five days later.

A Pandemic Sweeps Through Campus

By mid-October, half of the student body of 300 people had fallen ill. Those with serious symptoms were sent to hospital, but most were tended on campus. The whole of “Upper Hunt” in Moreton Lodge (the predecessor building to Johnston Hall) and a few rooms in Macdonald Hall were converted into hospital rooms, with patients assessed by doctors and nurses from town.

OAC president George Creelman cancelled lectures for a week. Healthy students were either sent home or quarantined in residence. A few Macdonald Institute students volunteered as nurses and cooks in city hospitals. Campus events, including student-run concerts, plays, dances and athletics, were cancelled or postponed.

Within a few weeks, students and faculty returned to campus, and classes and events resumed. Reporting on a postponed sophomore dance finally held in mid-November, an article in the OAC Review said, “Not only was the flu a thing of the past, but the war’s end came with such a grateful relief that we could well afford to make merry.”

The relief was short-lived.

The flu returned in early December, coinciding with the annual provincial winter fair held in Guelph. After several OAC members began showing symptoms, Creelman again cancelled classes, postponed exams and sent students home early for the holiday break.

That winter, the flu claimed three OAC members.

Roy Lindley Vining, a 1914 OAC graduate, had been wounded overseas with the Canadian forces. In fall 1918, he became a dairy specialist and lecturer in animal husbandry with the college. On Dec. 19, a week after attending the winter fair, the 31-year-old died of the flu at Guelph General Hospital.

That month, Walter Herbert Scott, a 1916 OAC graduate and physics professor on campus, had volunteered to tend students with flu symptoms. Scott died on Jan. 8, 1919, leaving his wife and seven-month-old daughter.

The final OAC victim of the first flu wave was student Harold “Lindsay” McLaughlin, who died on Feb. 14, 1919.

By mid-February, it seemed that the flu had passed for good.

“At first it was rumoured and then it became only too true: the ‘flu’ was with us again.”

– OAC Review, January 1920

In January 1920, an article in the Guelph daily newspaper reported the death from pneumonia of Murray Fallowdown, an OAC short-course student. Four days later, another college student, George James Tocher, also succumbed to pneumonia. Doctors realized that their pneumonia was only a contributory cause of death. Influenza was back.

Campus Turned Hospital

Writing about Macdonald Hall on campus, the OAC Review reported that “the drawing room was quickly commandeered and in a few hours was completely transformed into a hospital. When more cases were discovered, the library was used as a ward.”

Unlike in 1918, both Macdonald Institute and OAC remained open. Lectures and exams continued, and even OAC’s annual Conversat ball was held.

On Jan. 30, Macdonald Institute lost its first and only student to the pandemic. Sophomore Kate Morton Sinclair was admitted to hospital after developing double pneumonia and died Jan. 30.

John “Walter” Rutherford Dawson, a short-course OAC student, was also admitted to hospital, where he developed acute pneumonia and died Jan. 31.

Between Feb. 1 and Feb. 2, four more OAC members died: students Roy “Victor” Wood, Lorne Victor McGee and Douglas Edward Petty-piece; and Walter Lawton Iveson, a professor of chemistry and geology.

Oscar Wilbur Bennett, a 1916 OAC grad, had also been wounded overseas before returning to Canada, where he became a lecturer in the poultry department. He contracted flu and then pneumonia and died Feb. 4.

Within almost two weeks, seven students and two faculty members in OAC and the Macdonald Institute died during the second wave of the Spanish flu. In all, the pandemic claimed the lives of 15 students and faculty, ranging in age from 17 to 32.

Compared with the influenza pandemic of 1918-20, wrote Burt, COVID-19 has been met with improved medical research, health care and medicine. Scientists have a better understanding of how viruses act and spread – knowledge that has led to improved medicine, hygiene practices and general preventive measures. As well, technological advancements give us up-to-date news and instant communications and the ability to continue to learn and work at home.

Although no two pandemics are the same, lessons from yesterday can inform today. History warns us to be proactive against epidemics. Viruses may be invisible to us, but they can be fatal and must be taken seriously. Pandemics can overwhelm hospitals and medical professionals. Protective measures must be implemented early. Halting the spread is a shared responsibility.

The 1918-20 pandemic discussed in Burt’s account was hardly the last outbreak of infectious disease to upend lives on campus and off in the following century.

Not The First Closing Of Public Amenities

In an article published this year in The Conversation, U of G history professor Tara Abraham wrote about how Ontario’s worst polio epidemic in summer 1937 prompted school closings and left Toronto playgrounds and beaches deserted.

Polio typically struck during the summer, meaning students lost just a few weeks; COVID-19 affected schooling for weeks earlier this year, with potentially more disruptions to come.

In 1937, parents feared children risking infection. Today, parental anxiety over COVID-19 stems partly from infection fears (albeit much lower than polio infection in children) and partly from work-life stress over caring for and homeschooling their kids.

“Mask-wearing was embraced by the American public as ‘an emblem of public-spiritedness and discipline.’”

Catherine Carstairs

As with earlier disease outbreaks, wrote Abraham, back-to-school this fall has required parents to balance their sense of collective responsibility for ensuring public health and their personal responsibility for their own mental health and the health of their children.

For kids returning to the classroom, masks are now as much a part of the back-to-school ensemble as backpacks and lunch bags. Mask-wearing has also become a fact of life for many of their parents in workplaces and other public spaces.

Mask-wearing Is Nothing New

Again, that’s nothing new. In another article this summer in The Conversation, history professor Catherine Carstairs wrote that medical mask-wearing has a long history – going all the way back to the 17th-century plague. During the 1918 flu epidemic, cities around the world passed mandatory masking orders.

Wrote Carstairs, “Historian Nancy Tomes argues that mask-wearing was embraced by the American public as ‘an emblem of public-spiritedness and discipline.’” That view was hardly universal in 1918-20. Many Canadians were reluctant to wear masks and questioned their effectiveness. At the same time, Japanese embraced mask-wearing during the Spanish flu and again in the early years of this century with outbreaks of SARS and avian influenza.

In Canada today, controversies over masks continue, with complaints over lack of comfort and perceived ineffectiveness or concerns that masks impede communications for some people. As a visual representation of the threat of COVID, wrote Carstairs, masks can make people more fearful.

Still, she said, support for mask-wearing appears to be growing in Canada. If earlier outbreaks from the 1918-20 flu pandemic to the 1937 polio crisis teach us anything, it’s that we all must be proactive and that we all have a part to play in ensuring health – our own and that of others around us.

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As I begin my role as president and vice-chancellor this fall, I have been impressed and humbled by the support that our community members have provided to each other under new and often very difficult circumstances.

As we emerge from this crisis – and we will emerge – we will draw upon U of G’s tremendous strengths. This institution enjoys an excellent reputation as a top comprehensive and research-intensive university that prioritizes the whole student experience, student success and student well-being. We also benefit from strong and long-standing relationships with government partners, donors, alumni and the broader community.

Guided by our overarching mission – to Improve Life – I plan to focus on four key areas that will further build on those strengths.

First, we will continue to strive for excellence in research, in teaching and learning, and in student success. We will continue to build international relationships, including attracting top international students. For all our students, we will emphasize experiential education that provides real-world opportunities to enhance their learning and research.

Second, we must ensure the financial sustainability of the University today and into the future. Fundraising will continue to be a top priority for faculty support, capital projects and student awards.

I will also emphasize the importance of collaboration and interdisciplinary thinking as one of our deep strengths that can spark innovation in academics, research and operations.

A deep commitment to equity and diversity is foundational to our commitment to excellence. I aim to build a diverse and inclusive community through numerous initiatives including anti-racism training for students; a new Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Fund; fundraising for scholarships for students from Black, Indigenous and people of colour communities; and a new EDI Action Plan. This work will be supported by a new president’s advisory committee focused on anti-racism and by Indira Naidoo-Harris, our AVP diversity and human rights.

In pursuing these priorities, I will rely on our strong connections with community members, including our Gryphon alumni. While we may be apart for now, together we will remain united in improving lives.

Dr. Charlotte Yates
President and Vice-Chancellor

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U of G researchers aim to test waste water to detect levels of the SARS-CoV-2 virus – released in human feces – from student residences. Detecting higher levels of the virus in the sewer system may help prevent outbreaks on university campuses, says food science professor Lawrence Goodridge.

He’s working on the project with other U of G researchers and scientists at Laval University and the Public Health Agency of Canada.

“We appear to be the first in Canada to test a campus residence and use the data to try to make the campus safer.”

Previous research shows that the virus appears in waste water roughly a week before it shows up in a population, says Goodridge, director of the Canadian Research Institute for Food Safety at U of G.

“If we find evidence of the virus in waste water, it’s an indication that there is potentially a problem coming up. With that information, we can then take steps to take early action against that potential problem.”

Engineering professor Ed McBean and student research assistants are now taking waste water samples at East Residence.

By identifying the virus in communities, says McBean, the research could help target individual testing more efficiently.

It could also reinforce public health practices from mask-wearing to handwashing, says Goodridge. “We appear to be the first in Canada to test a campus residence and use the data to try to make the campus safer.”

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“COVID-19 was and continues to be a complex, rapidly changing situation,” says Daniel Atlin, vice-president (external). “It makes planning and decision-making incredibly challenging.”

U of G – along with universities across the province – had to re-evaluate its approach for this fall semester. From late spring until classes began Sept. 10, faculty and staff created a hybrid model of instruction, with most courses being delivered remotely and only limited in-person classes and labs, all following public health and safety protocols.

As a result, there are far fewer people on campus. About 1,000 students are living in residences and in family housing, compared to more than 5,000 in a typical year. Another 10,000 students are estimated to be living in the greater Guelph area.

Some buildings are open only to students and faculty involved in face-to-face classes. However, the campus is open for all students wishing to study, with spaces designated in the University Centre and the library, following appropriate physical distancing and capacity limits.

While it’s a quiet campus, there’s a buzz in new online learning environments and virtual communities.

Numerous innovations were launched to ensure at-home, high-quality learning through new platforms and learning tools intended to offer a vibrant and varied educational experience. Faculty and staff in every college have embraced remote, interactive, multimedia models of online instruction to deliver engaging course material.

“We’ve broken down the walls of the classroom and taken that experience to their computer,” says Prof. Janet Beeler-Marfisi, Department of Pathobiology in the Ontario Veterinary College.

The University also boosted efforts to safeguard student health and well-being, including launching an innovative and interactive safety campaign and developing protocols and guidelines.

Student Wellness is offering vital health and wellness supports, both remotely and in-person, and Student Life has initiated numerous programs to engage and support students.

“We were disappointed that we could not physically welcome most of our students back to campus,” says Carrie Chassels, vice-provost (student affairs).

“However, we worked extremely hard to ensure that there are plenty of opportunities this fall for students to be supported, to get involved and to stay connected.”

For more information go to our Remote Learning at U of G page.

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The researchers found that when parents are under stress, household rules about screen time often go out the window. Moms and dads are not equal: mothers who reported high stress said they were more likely to use devices in front of their children and less likely to monitor or limit their kids’ screen use, unlike high-stress fathers, who were more likely to limit children’s screen time.

Lead author Lisa Tang, a PhD student in the Department of Family Relations and Applied Nutrition, says, “We found parenting stress does indeed affect how parents manage screen time but influenced mothers and fathers differently.”

NEWS: Expert Offers Tips on Maintaining Family Routines

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If hospital patients couldn’t meet family members face-to-face, she thought, they should at least be able to see their loved ones virtually.

Luo, who graduated this past spring with a bachelor of science degree, co-founded Frontline Connect Canada, a campaign to collect donated tablets and smartphones to help patients and their physicians communicate with families during the pandemic.

“A close friend and I started a GoFundMe campaign to donate personal protective equipment to our local hospitals and other health-care facilities after seeing the shortage in supplies,” Luo said. “I actually reached out to several of my past professors during our campaign, who were so supportive and willing to share or donate. I’m always so amazed by the sense of Gryphon community.”

Through that GoFundMe campaign, Luo connected with like-minded entrepreneurs and doctors who were passionate about making a difference during the pandemic.

This initiative has helped keep families united with their loved ones, whether it is in the emergency room or at the end of life.

Several of the doctors faced a new challenge caused by visitor restrictions. Normally, family members provide information about the patient, advocate for them and provide emotional support, she said.

“Obviously, this changed with COVID-19 infection control measures,” she said. “These doctors had to use their own phones to call family members or put family members on FaceTime so they could speak with their loved ones before they were intubated. As such, our group came up with a way to use donated devices and virtual communication apps like Zoom.”

With her own plans disrupted by the pandemic, Luo used her time to do something that could truly help the community.

“I loved this project because it’s such a simple solution to a huge need,” she said. “If I can use Zoom to attend my university lectures online, why can’t patients and physicians do that to connect with families?

“I imagine it must be an amazing feeling for patients and their family members to stay connected, even though they can’t be there in person. This initiative has helped keep families connected with their loved ones, whether it is in the emergency room or at the end of life. It’s been so rewarding to be a part of it.”

As of midsummer, about 300 donated devices had been placed in four hospitals and 63 other care facilities, all free of charge.

“We are continuing to work hard to collect donated devices and connect them with other care facilities in need, with no plans to stop anytime soon,” Luo added.

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