news // no. 4 Here2Talk is here to help >» BC announces service to aid in students’ mental health Atiba Nelson Staff Reporter n American College Health sociation survey of Canadian post- secondary students found that roughly 60 percent of respondents felt things were hopeless sometime within the last twelve months, and more than 60 percent of respondents felt overwhelmed by anxiety over the same time period. And this was in 2016, before COVID-19 disrupted the academic term. To help combat the loneliness due to We're here to talk Image via Here2Talk.ca Cat catches COVID » Tiger testing positive dissipates myth that animals cannot catch the virus Morgan Hannah Life & Style Editor f you find yourself with a fever, dry cough, and a sore throat, you may not have enough of a case to get tested for the coronavirus. The reason? There’s a lack of test swabs available. Unless you've been in direct contact with someone who recently travelled or has already tested positive, you likely won't meet the criteria for being tested yourself. According to Global News, provinces such as Ontario, Alberta, and BC have limited who can get tested for the virus due to a shortage of available swabs and the chemicals from labs required to complete the tests. It’s well-known that the United States—the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic at the moment—is also limited on the number of available tests. Yet, an unlikely candidate was tested for the virus. Nadia the tiger lives in the Bronx Zoo with her sister Azul. The two tigers developed a persistent dry cough near the end of March, soon after taking little interest in their meals. In total, seven of the Bronx Zoo's big cats seemed to be exhibiting symptoms of illness—two Amur tigers and three African lions also. The worried zookeepers decided to take action. “Nadia was not coming around and was getting a little worse, so we anesthetized her in order to treat her,” Bronx Zoo Veterinarian Paul Calle said. “We did x-rays and ultrasounds. We did blood work. We ran lots of tests, panels for normal domestic cat infectious diseases.” With nothing unusual coming up, the team of zookeepers acted on a hunch—a lot of people living in the Bronx Zoo area had been hit hard with the virus... was it possible that the animals in the zoo had been hit too? There were no known previous cases of animals in the United States catching COVID-19, so it seemed dubious. Nadia was tested nonetheless and was made famous as the first animal in North America to have been both tested and coming up positive. The headlines of a tiger being tested when so many people cannot be tested caused some agitation—why was a test used on an animal if there's a clear lag in tests available for people? The veterinarians involved in Nadia’s case were quick to illuminate that the tests used on the animals in the Bronx Zoo were specifically designed for animals. “We used a similar molecular test as the human test,” said Leyi Wang, the veterinary virologist in charge of creating the test used on Nadia. Wang also stated it was against policy to use these animal tests on humans, though in theory, they could work similarly. social distancing and the anxiety created by uncertain times, the BC government launched HerezTalk, a free counselling and referral service for post-secondary students that is open 24 hours, seven days a week. HerezTalk services can be accessed by app, phone, or online chat. Callers can speak to a counsellor by phone, toll- free at 1-877-857-3397 or 604-642-5212, additionally, the service is even available to Canadian post-secondary students outside of the country— at +1-604-642-5212. “Until now, post-secondary students have never had access to 24/7 provincewide mental-health support services, [but have] advocated for years to fill the gap in available mental-health counselling services in British Columbia,” said Melanie Mark, Minister of Advanced Education, Skills, and Training at the press conference debuting Here2Talk. She continued on saying, “with the advent of COVID-19 and the increased stress it puts on students, we doubled down to get students the supports they so desperately need.” The debut of Here2Talk was heralded by the British Columbia Federation of Students (BCFS), who say that the daily stressors students face has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. “Many students struggle to access mental health supports on campuses and in their communities; this has only been made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic. The early implementation of this service is going to help so many people struggling Testing animals that show symptoms of the virus is vital in figuring out the science behind human-to-animal transmission of the coronavirus. Such studies can illuminate how frequent transmission is and what role animals can play in spreading the virus. Officials theotherpress.ca right now, and in the future,” said Tanysha Klassen, Chairperson of the BC Federation of Students. “Even though there are support services on some campuses and in the community, they’re not always easy to access and some students feel uncomfortable asking for help. Here2Talk’s chat, phone, and online services will make it much easier for students to reach out for help when they need it.” The Toronto-based human resources company Morneau Shepell created and administers the Here2Talk service building off their experience of delivering employee and family assistance programs, and another technology-based mental wellness app: WellCan. “As the largest and the most fulsome provider of mental-health and well-being services in Canada, including for post- secondary students, we are excited to work with the government of British Columbia on this important partnership. We applaud its leadership in supporting the mental health of every student in this province through this program and are honoured to have been chosen to help provide it, especially now with anxiety related to COVID-19 impacting large sections of the population, "said Norah Joyce, Canada Chief Commercial Officer and Executive Vice-President for Morneau Shepell. The Here2Talk app is available for download on both Android and Apple iOS platforms. Illustration by Morgan Hannah say that there is no reason to panic about human-to-animal transmission, and instead the public should use Nadia’s irregular case of contraction as an important reminder to heed caution and implement the same protective measures around our pets as we would each other.