Canada publishes deadliest day of coronavirus pandemic since June as vaccine hopes rise – National

Newly identified cases of the novel coronavirus rose again past the 6,000 mark in Canada on Wednesday as the country identified its highest increase in COVID-19 deaths since the beginning of June.

The new cases, which totaled 6,302, brought Canada’s workload to 389,436. Health authorities have also reported an increase of 114 deaths, although only 80 of those deaths have occurred in the past 24 hours.

The last time cases exceeded 110 was on June 4, which saw 139 deaths reported as being caused by the virus.

Canada’s death toll from COVID-19 now stands at 12,325, while more than 309,000 patients have since recovered and another 14.8 million tests have been administered so far.

As Canadian communities continue to face spikes in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths, the Canadian public health officer said the priority list of people to get the coronavirus vaccine should be further refined, due to of the six million initial doses enough to inoculate them all.

As of now, Canada will receive four million doses from Pfizer and two million from Moderna by the first quarter of 2021. The amount would only be enough to vaccinate three million people, however, as one person would need two doses of the vaccine for it to be effective.

Tam hinted that variety and dose supply is expected to increase soon due to Canada having contracts for three more vaccines that are in advanced clinical trials, having said that “it means we will have more flexibility as time goes on.” , and more and more vaccines come on board. “

“We expect it in the second quarter. Depending on the vaccine approvals, we will have different quantities, but that is when the supply will become more and more abundant, ”Tam said Wednesday during a virtual speech at the 2020 Canadian Immunization Conference.

The Canadian health minister also said Wednesday that the revision of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine “should be completed soon” – comments coming shortly after news from the UK officially approving the vaccine.

“The news that the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine has been approved in the UK is encouraging. Health Canada’s review of this candidate is ongoing and should be completed shortly, ”said Patty Hadju.

“Making sure a COVID-19 vaccine is safe before approving it is Health Canada’s priority, and when a vaccine is ready, Canada will be ready.”

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During the conference, Tam also revealed Canada’s Public Health Agency plans to fight the rise in misinformation surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine using online webinars. According to her, the webinars would include different topics such as the different types of vaccines available, how to run immunization clinics, and guidance on how to use vaccines.

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“Due to social media and the age of the internet, we have even more challenges to face than anyone else in dealing with past pandemics,” said Tam, who also noted the importance of Canadians knowing how they are developed. vaccines

The federal government also introduced a new COVID-19 spending bill on Wednesday, just days after revealing the country’s economic update.

The bill, which would actually determine how billions of dollars would be spent on new pandemic-related aid, would follow the measures proposed in Monday’s fall economic statement.

On Wednesday, several provinces across Canada reported spikes in new coronavirus cases, with Ontario, Alberta, and Quebec reporting over 1,500 new infections reported.

Ontario added the highest increase of 1,723 cases, pushing its total case load to 119,922. Another 35 deaths were also reported by the province, which now has 656 people in hospital due to COVID-19.

Alberta added 1,685 more infections on Wednesday and 10 additional deaths. The new data also comes following Prime Minister Jason Kenney’s announcement that the province expects its first doses of the coronavirus vaccine to arrive by January 4.

“While we can’t control when these vaccines arrive in Alberta, we can make sure that when we get them, we’re ready to roll them out as quickly as possible,” Kenny said at a press conference Wednesday afternoon. To date, Alberta has recorded a total of 61,169 virus cases and 561 deaths.

Quebec added another 43 deaths on Wednesday, of which only nine occurred in the past 24 hours. The victims bring the province’s death toll to 7,125, while health authorities reported a further 1,514 cases on Wednesday.

British Columbia also added 830 cases, bringing the province’s case count to 34,728. A total of 338 cases are considered “epi-linked”, which are cases that show symptoms and were close contacts of confirmed infections, but have never been tested.

Saskatchewan announced 237 cases and Manitoba another 277, bringing their total case figures to 8,982 and 17,384, respectively.

In Atlantic Canada, New Brunswick added six more cases while Newfoundland and Labrador reported only one. Nova Scotia reported an increase of 17 cases on Wednesday, pushing its total infections to 1,332.

The Yukon added another case on Wednesday, while Nunavut added 11 more. The Northwest Territories did not report any additional cases.

On Wednesday the Nunavut government also lifted the two-week lockdown everywhere except the coastal town of Arviat, of which all 11 new cases have been reported by the province. To date, Nunavut has seen 193 cases of the novel coronavirus, the highest among Canada’s territories.

Coronavirus cases have since surpassed 64.4 million according to a tally held by Johns Hopkins University. A total of 1,491,000 people have also died from the virus, with the United States, Brazil and India leading in both cases and deaths.

– With files by Emerald Bensadoun of Global News and The Canadian Press

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