Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, expressed “concern” over the country’s rising case trend.
Instead of holding a press conference Monday, Tam released a statement to warn Canadians of their COVID-19 situation. Over the last week (Aug.30- Sept. 6), Canada reported an average of 545 cases a day, up by 25 per cent compared to the week before when 435 cases were reported daily. Two weeks prior, there were 390 daily cases.
“The average daily case count has been increasing in recent weeks,” said Tam in her press release. “This is a concern and a reminder that we all need to maintain public health measures to keep COVID-19 on the slow-burn path that we need.”
With the fall months approaching, Tam is warning Canadians to be more mindful of events they attend, especially as the colder weather shifts activities indoors.
“While I know we are all eager to gather with our extended family and friends for the holidays, indoor gatherings may not be right for every Canadian or every family,” said Tam in a press release that includes a list of questions you should ask yourself before attending an event.
In the last week, some of Canada’s biggest provinces have seen their concerning case trends continue to grow. Some health officials have linked the rise in cases to an increase in gatherings, primarily among young people.
In British Columbia’s final update of the week, it announced its second largest ever case increase since the start of the pandemic. The 121 new cases on Friday were only behind the 124 cases it had reported a week prior, but the update still led to a record-high active case count of 1,233. Officials continue to ask B.C. residents to check the growing list of public exposure warnings as part of contact tracing efforts.
Alberta finished the week with 1,433 active cases. According to Alberta Health Services, it marks the highest number of currently patients the province has had since May 10.
Ontario recorded a triple-digit case increase each day of the last week. In early August, the province was able to stay under triple-digits on seven-straight occasions, as it made a habit of reporting fewer than 100 cases. On Sept. 5, health officials also announced 169 new cases, which marked the largest spike in daily cases the province has recorded since July 24.
In Quebec, health officials also recorded over 100 cases on each occasion throughout the past week, as part of a 10-day stretch of recording a triple-digit increase. Before the recent stretch, it had recorded fewer than 100 cases on 14 of its last 18 occasions. On Sept. 6, Quebec reported 205 new cases of COVID-19, which marked its largest single day spike since June 7. On Friday, the province also announced that 46 of its schools had at least one case of COVID-19 within the first week of classes.
Saskatchewan and the Atlantic provinces have seen their COVID-19 case trends remain stable. But in the last week, Prince Edward Island did record three cases, after all of its other patients had recovered by Aug. 31.
In Manitoba, the province’s active case count is no longer hitting record-highs, which was common throughout the second-half of August. On July 14, the province came very close to having no active cases. That day, after all of its initial patients had recovered, health officials diagnosed five other people. Since then, Manitoba has seen its curb trend upwards. On Aug. 12, for the first time, the province surpassed 200 active cases. On Aug. 26, it hit the 400-mark, which it hasn’t been able to fall under since.
