PRAIA, Cape Verde (AP) — Two patients with hantavirus and one suspected of being infected were being evacuated from a cruise ship to the Netherlands on Wednesday, the U.N. health agency said. The vessel at the center of a deadly outbreak remained off Cape Verde with nearly 150 people on board waiting to head to Spain’s Canary Islands.

Associated Press footage showed health workers in protective gear heading to the ship for the evacuation that included the ship's British doctor, who Spain's health ministry said had been in “serious condition” but has improved. An air ambulance later departed.

Three people have died, and one body remained on the ship, the World Health Organization said. Of the eight cases recorded, five were confirmed by laboratory testing.

Hantavirus usually spreads by inhaling contaminated rodent droppings and can spread person-to-person, though that is rare, according to the WHO, whose top epidemic expert said the risk to the public is low.

Let this sink in — $108,000.

That’s what GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy could cost you over 25-30 years. If you’re prescribed Ozempic “off label” for weight loss (same drug, just for diabetic treatment) it will cost you less.

But let’s do the math: Wegovy runs roughly $400-$570 per month in Canada. No provincial drug plan covers it for weight loss. Multiply that out over a few decades, and you’re looking at well over $100,000, out of pocket, over the course of your life.

I’m not anti-medication. GLP-1 drugs are genuinely impressive, and I coach people who use them effectively. But “impressive” and “magic injection” are two very different things. Before you or someone you care about commits to a drug for life, you deserve to understand what the research actually says.

Every year, right around the time Winnipeg finally starts to flirt with spring, I get some version of the same message:

“Mitch, I need to lose 25 pounds by summer. Let’s go.”

It always arrives with urgency, like fat loss operates on panic. And I get it. People want to feel better in their clothes. They want energy back. They want the belly to shrink. They want to head into warm weather with some confidence.

But there’s a problem with most weight-loss plans, and it’s not a lack of motivation.

It’s that time of year again. Your group chat’s buzzing. You’ve been eyeing your gear since August. You’ve treated the off-season worse than the old NHLers used to with a steady program of beer curls and burger raises.

Recreational-hockey season is back, and if you’re over 40 like me, that first skate is a reality check. The lungs burn. The legs give out faster than you remember. And your hands… well, they feel like they haven’t touched a puck since the Jets came back.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. As a fitness coach, I want to help you make this your best season yet.

Whether your goal is to drop a few pounds, get your wind back or just avoid pulling a groin in warm-up, this column’s for you.

This summer, Manitobans aren’t just sweating under the August sun — we’re coughing, wheezing and blinking through a haze so thick you could mistake Portage Avenue for a foggy morning in San Francisco.

Recent air-quality readings put Winnipeg at the worst in Canada, with PM2.5 levels soaring well past the “very unhealthy” threshold. Health experts aren’t mincing words: prolonged exposure to this kind of pollution can increase risks of heart attacks, worsen asthma and even impact brain function and mental health. It’s not just your lungs feeling the burn, it’s your energy, recovery and overall resilience.

And while the headlines are everywhere, the lesson isn’t: you can’t out-train bad air. The basics of health — movement, nutrition, recovery — don’t change, but how you approach them needs to adjust when the environment throws you a curveball.

Here’s how to stay fit despite the forest-fire smoke.