Health Canada’s latest reports show a total of 85,100 Canadians have tested positive for COVID-19 to date, with the death toll exceeding 6,400 deaths.
The agency’s head says more than 44,000 Canadians or 52-percent of the country’s cases have now recovered. According to Dr. Theresa Tam, labs across Canada have tested just under 1.5-million people for the virus with about five-percent coming back positive.
Tam says in the past week, the country has been testing an average of around 22,300 people daily. Tam also recognized this week is Paramedic Services week, with this year‘s theme being aptly named “Pandemic Paramedics on The Frontline”.
In the Cabinet Committee’s daily update, Dr. Tam was asked how ready the country is for a second wave of COVID-19 infections.
Dr. Theresa Tam said the second wave could be worse than the first wave which warrants extreme caution. She said with the collective efforts of all Canadians, the nation successfully avoided overwhelming its health system when coping with the first wave. Tam says even with no reports of shortages in Intensive care unit or ventilator capacities, provinces are continuing to ramp up supplies of ventilators, personal protective equipment as well as other non-PPE supplies.
Tam says the key feature of the current pandemic is long-term care and seniors, highlighting the work that needs to be done in that area as some are still dealing with an active outbreak. She says one of the main areas of improvement will be the capacities for infection prevention control in some of these higher-risk settings, including shelters and correctional facilities.