‘Lessons have been hard-learned’: Canadians urged to remain cautious as fourth wave of COVID-19 begins to recede

OTTAWA – The fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic shows signs of retreating nationally, but federal public health officials continue to warn that the regional outlook remains less optimistic.

The updated model released by Health Canada on Friday suggests that, nationwide, the pandemic has broken out of a nationwide growth pattern for the first time since mid-July.

“Over the past month, however, lessons have been learned in cases where measures were relaxed too much or too soon, and especially where vaccination coverage remains low, providing further warnings about relentless behavior and serious impacts of this virus, “said the chief of public. said health official, Dr. Theresa Tam, in a briefing.

More than 82 percent of eligible Canadians are now fully vaccinated.

Health Canada said Friday that new cases among unvaccinated people were 10 times higher than among fully vaccinated people, while hospitalized cases among unvaccinated people were 36 times higher.

On average, 2,500 people with COVID-19 were treated in hospitals each day for the past week, including 770 in intensive care units, and an average of 38 deaths were reported daily.

Tam warned that with the arrival of winter and the possibility of a normal resurgence of respiratory diseases, the health care system remains at risk of being overwhelmed.

“Increasing vaccination coverage is not only important to reduce the pool of susceptible people and lessen the impact of the delta wave, but also to limit the spread to children too young to be vaccinated and in schools and beyond,” he said Tam.

Last week, Pfizer submitted data from a clinical trial of its COVID-19 vaccine in children ages five to 11, and on Thursday it submitted a formal application to the US government for approval to use the vaccine in that group. old.

Pfizer’s Canadian spokeswoman said the company is working with Health Canada on final steps before such a request is made here.

“Our goal is to present this presentation in mid-October,” said Christina Antoniou.