[ad_1]
OTTAWA – The new national pandemic model to be released on Friday shows that on almost all parameters, the COVID-19 crisis is getting worse, according to a copy of projections obtained by CTV News.
In the short term, Canada is expected to reach between 366,500 and 378,600 total cases by the end of the month and between 11,870 and 12,120 deaths by November 30.
Projections also indicate that if Canadians increase their current number of contacts, the country could see more than 60,000 cases per day, and even with current contact rates as of December the country could see 20,000 cases per day.
The model shows that instead of flattening the curve, the national daily case count “increases significantly” and rapid growth is occurring in several provinces because each new case in Canada is spreading the infection to more than one other person. .
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau held a closed-door meeting with his opposition counterparts, where they received a briefing from top Canadian public health officials on Thursday afternoon, taking a first look at the model projections.
“Canada is facing an ongoing increase in cases and that it is critical for Canadians to continue to follow all public health measures, including physical distancing, proper hand washing and limiting close contacts,” said L ‘Prime Minister’s office in a statement summarizing Trudeau’s meeting. .
According to Canada’s Public Health Agency, the numbers have not been defined, but as Dr. Theresa Tam, Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, Chief Public Health Officer reported earlier this week, the updated modeling will be publicly released Friday morning at 9:00 am ET.
Starting with the previous national modeling cycle at the end of October, the advice to Canadians was to cut their contacts by 25% in order to curb the spread. Since then, the case count has continued to set records instead of flattening out as hoped, forcing new rounds of restrictions.
Based on the model presentation prepared by Canada’s Public Health Agency for tomorrow’s announcement, more high-risk adults and seniors are contracting the virus at higher rates; the number and size of outbreaks are increasing, including in long-term care homes and indigenous communities; and hospitalizations and deaths are increasing.
Signaling a possible change in the federal government’s communications strategy, Trudeau’s office said that on Friday morning Trudeau will deliver a speech to Canadians about COVID-19 from Rideau Cottage, his residence where he gave almost daily press conferences in the early months of the health crisis.
OPPOSITION LEADERS RAISE THE ALARM
After meeting with Trudeau and the doctors, the leaders of the opposition party began to sound alarms. Without offering details, the comments made indicated that they were concerned about the path this country is on.
Green party leader Annamie Paul said she will call for an emergency debate in the House of Commons to discuss what the federal government can and should do more to help keep the pandemic under control.
“What I heard was very disturbing,” Paul said in an interview with CTV’s Power Play.
“This is an incredibly urgent situation, it’s a situation that we don’t have control over,” he said.
Conservative leader Erin O’Toole said what “struck” him from the meeting was that, as we approach a year from Canada, being aware of the new coronavirus threat, “we as a country are worse off than we were at the beginning of the pandemic. “
O’Toole now asks Trudeau to implement rapid testing and home testing; find more effective targeted measures to protect and isolate people with COVID-19; explain how, when and where Canadians will be able to obtain a vaccine; and share more information on the places and sources of dissemination of the community.
“Things look tough,” NDP leader Jagmeet Singh said as he walked out of the meeting in the prime minister’s office in the West Block.
The PMO statement said Trudeau “stressed that the health and safety of all Canadians transcends political interests and that each party must work together to protect Canadians from COVID-19.”
DOSE DISTRIBUTION CONFUSION
The Prime Minister’s office also confirmed that vaccines, long-term care, schools, rapid tests and travel between provinces and territories emerged during Tuesday’s meeting.
The vaccine distribution conversation was expected to arise during Trudeau’s interview with opposition leaders, as preliminary but promising news from both Moderna and Pfizer caused a whirlwind of questions about how many vaccine doses the federal government will send. to the provinces. and when it will happen.
Although officials from both Ontario and Alberta are claiming a specific number of early doses of the vaccine, federal officials continue to say it’s too early to have the pinpointed details on how many vaccines each province will receive once they are approved by Health Canada and how much quickly the doses could reach each province once that happens.
“A lot of preliminary discussions are underway about our plan to… launch vaccines and distribute them across the country. We know there is still uncertainty as to when those vaccines will be produced, they are all still in various stages of testing and although they have signed contracts around delivery dates, we know there are still a lot of uncertainties to come, “Trudeau told reporters. Thursday.
“The goal we have as a government is to ensure that when these vaccines arrive and are safely approved by health authorities, they are delivered as quickly as possible to vulnerable Canadians as a priority and then to all Canadians. We are working closely with the provinces to determine what they are, but these discussions are still in a preliminary phase. “
On Wednesday, Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott said the province plans to receive 2.4 million combined doses of Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines during the first three months of 2021, with more to follow later.
Speaking Wednesday at CTV’s Power Play, Parliamentary Health Secretary Darren Fisher went so far as to say that he “didn’t know” where Elliot got his numbers.
Asked Thursday if Elliot was wrong in stating the figures he made, Trudeau just said there are “a lot of numbers out there” and it’s too early to confirm this, despite Ontario Premier Doug Ford backing Elliot.
Ford said the figures shared by his government came from senior federal officials, although sources from the Prime Minister’s office told CTV News that Ottawa has just asked the provinces rough estimates of how many priority residents they would like to vaccinate with the first round. of vaccines.
Coming out of Thursday’s meeting, Health Minister Patty Hajdu said that: “with everything, we work out an agreement with provinces and territories on how to best share the resource in a fair way, whether it be personal protective equipment or and that’s exactly what we will do with vaccines as well. That work is ongoing and we will have more to say when it is completed. “
With files by Annie Bergeron-Oliver and Nicole Bogart from CTV News
.
[ad_2]
Source link
