Canada’s chief public health officer says COVID-19 case counts in our country have far surpassed levels seen during the first wave.
Dr. Theresa Tam says if people don’t follow the rules and without a sufficient reduction in contact rates, Canada is careening towards a surge of more than 20,000 cases per day by the end of December, which will put even more strain on the health-care system in some regions.
She says informal gatherings continue to be to blame for rising case numbers and it’s not just the elderly dying from the virus anymore.
Tam said, “Recently a few deaths have occurred among individuals in their 30’s, serving as a reminder that young adults may also experience severe outcomes of COVID-19. As more people become infected, we will observe increasing numbers of these rare events. ”
Tam adds, “Our best protection for ourselves, our families, and communities is to limit errands and outings to the essentials, keep in-person social activities to your existing household, and strictly and consistently follow public health measures.”
To read the complete report from the Public Health Agency of Canada, please click here.
To read a full statement from Dr. Theresa Tam, please click here.
Meanwhile, Ontario health officials are reporting 1,418 new cases of COVID-19 today, which pushes the province over 100,000 total cases since the start of the pandemic.
Eight more deaths related to the virus has also been reported.
For the latest details from Public Health Ontario, please click here.
We’ve just seen the latest projections from Dr. Tam and Dr. Njoo. The situation is serious. Tune in to my Friday update for the latest COVID-19 developments: https://t.co/ostwzEAfL9
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) November 20, 2020
1/2 To date, labs across 🇨🇦 have tested 10,669,262 people for #COVID19, w an average ~2.9% positive overall, for a rate of 283,838 people tested per million population in Canada. https://t.co/jrZH3tHRUo
— Canada's CPHO (@CPHO_Canada) November 20, 2020
Today’s #COVID19 #Epidemiology in Canada Daily Update: https://t.co/2586g1O35R pic.twitter.com/dfLrb7A6Ib
— Canada's CPHO (@CPHO_Canada) November 20, 2020