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home / 世界杯决赛2022

covid-19: federal officials 'cautiously optimistic' about covid trajectory

“however,” cautioned chief public health officer dr. theresa tam, “severe illness trends are still elevated.”

by taylor blewett

nov 5 2021
read time 4 minute read
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the trajectory of the covid-19 epidemic in canada continues to move in the right direction, with public health officials saying the daily case count at the national level is now about halfway down from the peak of the fourth wave, and the trend lines for the most severe covid-19 outcomes are starting to decline as of late.
“however,” cautioned chief public health officer dr. theresa tam, “severe illness trends are still elevated.”
“as we head into the winter months with a strained and fragile health system in many areas of the country, we must remain vigilant, particularly in areas with lower vaccination coverage.”
unique to the fourth wave of covid-19 is that national incidence rates are highest in the under-12 age group, officials noted, for whom vaccines aren’t currently available (though the pfizer vaccine may be approved before the end of the month).
increasing community vaccination coverage is critical for this reason, they said. though covid-19 cases among kids typically don’t involve severe illness, peripheral vaccine protection can help keep them in school and keep routines disruption-free.
overall, the message shared at a epidemiology and modelling briefing with tam and her deputy, dr. howard njoo, is that there’s reason to feel positive, but we’re not out of the woods yet.
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“although we are cautiously optimistic about our longer-range trajectory, it is still too soon to fully ease public health measures. if we were to do so, we could expect to see a rapid rise in cases,” said tam.
she encouraged individual canadians to get their covid-19 vaccines and flu shots, and to follow local public health advice.
taking questions from reporters, tam explained that localized surges are more of a concern now, rather than massive, widespread waves of infection (although health officials have to monitor for variants). there are still preparations happening at the federal and provincial levels to provide surge capacity to places that may need it.
“we may be in still for a bit of a bumpy ride all the way through the winter season in canada,” said tam.
meanwhile, covid-related border policies are being actively examined, said tam, particularly what testing measures should be in place for people taking shorter trips.
“so just to reassure everybody … we are looking at that quite carefully.”
currently, anyone crossing into canada needs to provide a recent, molecular test that shows a negative result for covid-19.
at a cost of $150 to $300 per test, that can be a pricey proposition, particularly for families
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critics have been especially frustrated with the policy for short trips across the u.s. border, which allows travellers to get tested in canada before spending up to 72 hours in u.s. and then presenting their negative canadian test to re-enter the country.

latest covid-19 news in ottawa

a third outbreak has been reported at the ottawa hospital civic campus friday, this time involving three patients in unit a1. there are ongoing outbreaks since october at the a5/b5 unit, with nine patients and five staff involved, and the a2 unit, with with eight patients and one staff member infected.
ottawa public health reported 39 new cases of covid-19 friday, bringing the number of confirmed cases since the pandemic began to 30,994.
there were no new deaths and the total remains 604 people.
oph is aware of 220 active cases in ottawa.
there are 14 patients in hospital with covid-19 related symptoms, none of them in intensive care.

latest covid-19 stats in ontario

ontario reported 563 new covid-19 cases friday, with 314 cases in people who were not fully vaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown, and 249 in fully vaccinated people.
the seven-day average for new cases now sits at 404, up from 355 a week earlier, and down from 551 at the same time last month.

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those in hospital testing positive for covid-19 numbered 225, while the number of people in icu due to a covid-related critical illness was 129 (including 22 patients from saskatchewan), dropping to 109 if you include just those still testing positive.a week ago, those totals were 211 and 100, respectively, for hospitalizations and those in icu testing positive.
five more covid-19 deaths were reported in ontario in the previous 24 hours.
in terms of active cases, the five most affected public health unit regions in ontario as of friday were sudbury & district (94 cases per 100,000 people), haldimand-norfolk (59.6), kingston, frontenac and lennox & addington (43.7), simcoe muskoka (42.5), and niagara region (39.6).
ottawa, comparatively, had 21.4 active cases per 100,000 people.
in health unit regions near the capital, the case count rose by 15 in kingston, frontenac and lennox & addington, seven in eastern ontario, four in leeds, grenville & lanark and hastings prince edward, and two in renfrew county and district.

latest covid-19 news in quebec

quebec reported 571 new cases of covid-19 and one new death on friday.
there was a net decrease of hospitalization to 240 patients, while six fewer patients were in intensive care, for a total of 57.

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the province administered 14,683 vaccine doses over previous 24 hours.
since the beginning of the pandemic, quebec has reported 428,631 cases and 11,511 deaths linked to covid-19.
-with files from postmedia

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