Chief public health officer Tam says situation will continue to escalate unless preventative measures are increased
Canada is at a "crossroads" in controlling COVID-19 and it’s up to the actions of individuals to determine whether cases continue to rise, according to the latest projections from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).
Federal health officials presented new modelling today that shows the epidemic is accelerating nationally. CBC reported PHAC as saying that if the current rate of contacts is maintained, the epidemic is forecast to resurge, but if that rate of contacts increases, it is expected to resurge "faster and stronger”.
Chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam says the situation will continue to escalate further unless both public health and personal preventive measures are strengthened. She said that because daily reporting of cases only catch transmission in the past, actions taken right now are essential to keep the virus under control.
Officials added they were aiming for a "slow-burn" scenario, in which the number of cases remains low to ensure the public health-care system can deal with the influx of patients. But they were also planning for a "reasonable worst-case scenario”, where a fall spike in infections is followed by ongoing peaks and valleys that put excessive demands on the health system.
Meanwhile, Canada has now committed more than $1 billion to buy doses of COVID-19 vaccines after securing a fifth deal with Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline.
Procurement Minister Anita Anand says Canada has a deal in place to buy up to 72 million doses of their experimental vaccine candidate, which is just starting the second of three trial phases this month.
In all, Canada has committed $1 billion to buy at least 154 million doses of vaccines from five different companies, and most of that money will not be refunded even if the vaccines never get approved.
