“Bend it like Canadians.” That from Dr. Theresa Tam on Friday when giving an update on the recent surge of COVID-19 cases across Canada.
Tam says 80-percent of the new second wave cases in Canada are coming from “hotspots” in Ontario and Quebec. While she says the goal of minimizing severe illnesses and deaths has remained steady hospitals are seeing on average 500 cases on any given day over the last week and they are at risk of becoming overwhelmed as they work to clear a backlog of surgeries, delayed because of the pandemic. She says hospitals may be faced with making tough decisions to further delay surgeries in the future if the second wave curve is not bent in a downward slope.
“This time we have to bend it like Canadians. We’ll need to give it the old double, double by layering personal risk assessment and prevention practices and reconfiguring and downsizing our in-person contact bubbles within the realities of our personal and family circumstances.” Tam continued, “It’s time to step up and get in the game.”