Federal health officials have announced that Canada is making good progress in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.
But we are also “far from out of the woods”, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said during his daily address on Tuesday.
The Public Health Agency of Canada has released new projections for the virus’ trajectory, showing that the curve has flattened in many provinces, largely due to the ongoing physical distancing measures that are currently in place, say health officials.
At the same time, Trudeau warns that the country should remain cautious when it comes to lifting restrictions that have devastated the economy and created financial hardships for almost all.
“The measures we’ve taken so far are working. In many parts of the country, the curve has flattened,” Trudeau said at his daily briefing. “If we lift measures too quickly, we might lose the progress we’ve made.”
Health Canada officials announced today that Canada’s epidemic growth is slowing, with new cases doubling every 16 days, as opposed to when they were doubling every three days at the start of the pandemic.
Canada is currently closing in on 50,000 known cases of the virus, of which more than 2,700 have been fatal.
According to government projections, the worst-case scenario is that total cases of COVID-19 across Canada could reach 66,835 by May 5th, or in the best case scenario, it could be low as 53,196.
The number of projected deaths could reach 3,883 by May 5th under the worst-case scenario, and 3,277 in the best-case.
Dr. Theresa Tam says that so far, 740,000 COVID-19 tests have been conducted in Canada, with about 20,000 people being tested daily. Seven per cent of these people have tested positive for the virus.
The country’s numbers are largely made up of cases in Quebec, Ontario and Alberta. There are currently no cases in Nunavut, and no community transmissions in PEI, NWT or Yukon.
The median age for an infected person is presently at 52, with 55 per cent of cases being female, and 45 per cent male.
17.1 per cent of patients require hospitalization, and 5.5 per cent of cases result in death.
As of April 28th, there are 49,025 confirmed and presumptive cases in Canada.
- Quebec: 24,982 confirmed (including 1,599 deaths, 5,517 recovered)
- Ontario: 15,381 confirmed (including 951 deaths, 8,964 recovered)
- Alberta: 4,696 confirmed (including 75 deaths, 1,664 recovered)
- British Columbia: 1,998 confirmed (including 103 deaths, 1,137 recovered)
- Nova Scotia: 900 confirmed (including 24 deaths, 509 recovered)
- Saskatchewan: 365 confirmed (including 5 deaths, 288 recovered)
- Manitoba: 261 confirmed (including 6 deaths, 205 recovered), 11 presumptive
- Newfoundland and Labrador: 258 confirmed (including 3 deaths, 219 recovered)
- New Brunswick: 118 confirmed (including 111 recovered)
- Prince Edward Island: 26 confirmed (including 24 recovered)
- Repatriated Canadians: 13 confirmed (including 13 recovered)
- Yukon: 11 confirmed (including 8 recovered)
- Northwest Territories: 5 confirmed (including 5 recovered)
- Nunavut: No confirmed cases
Total: 49,025 (11 presumptive, 49,014 confirmed including 2,766 deaths, 18,664 recovered)
