Canada's Covid conditions worsening as cases jump to 796,630; toll at 19630

Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) on Friday said that the number of daily cases could more than triple to 30,000 if people increase their contacts

Canada will witness up to 796,630 Covid-19 cases and 19,630 deaths by January 24, as the coronavirus pandemic is worsening rapidly across the country, according to

 

authorities.

Canada has so far reported a total of 694,026 confirmed cases and 17,703 deaths, reports Xinhua news agency.

In its update report on 'Covid-19 in Canada: Epidemiology and Modelling', the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) on Friday that the number of daily cases could more than triple to 30,000 if people increase their contacts during a time of widespread community transmission.

The report also projected that if Canadians simply maintain their current levels of contact with people outside their households, case counts will still rise to roughly 13,000 a day from 7,900 now.

Unless the extent and severity of COVID-19 restrictions are further intensified, Canada will not be able to suppress the current rate of spread, Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam said here on Friday.

"We have yet to see the kind of widespread and sustained declines in daily case counts that would indicate we're bringing the pandemic under control nationally."

Addressing a press conference on Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said: "We need to keep reducing in-person contacts. For the moment that's the only way to get these numbers down.

"We've seen the kinds of impossible choices hospitals in other countries had to face when they become overwhelmed. Deciding who gets an ICU bed and who doesn't, well that's not where we want to be."

Across the country, there has been a steady increase in hospitalisations in provinces with high infection rates since October 2020, with an average of more than 4,700 people being treated on any given day, with 875 in ICUs.

This has strained the capacity of Canada's health-care system, and has exhausted health-care workers, Tam said.

Covid-19 deaths are also steadily rising and the daily totals may soon exceed the levels seen during the first peak of the virus last spring.

The daily case counts have already far exceeded the peak of the first wave.

The coronavirus's spread is still on this rapid growth path as new cases rose again after the holidays likely due to people having more contacts around Christmas and other celebrations, but also likely because people held off from getting tested until in the new year.

While the ongoing Covid-19 vaccine rollout has started in the country, Tam said it will still be months before most Canadians get access to vaccine shots and it's essential that the health-care system has the capacity to administer them on a mass scale when the time comes.

--IANS

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