Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Theresa Tam says that a steady increase in the average number of new coronavirus cases being reported daily in Canada is a cause for concern.
Dr. Theresa Tam said in a statement on Labour Day, that unfortunately, COVID-19 has not been taking a rest over the long weekend. She said, “There have been 131,895 cases of COVID-19 reported in Canada, including 9,145 deaths. 88.2% of people have now recovered. Over the past week, close to 46,000 people were tested daily, with 0.9% of people testing positive. An average of 545 new cases have been reported daily during the most recent seven days.”
She went on to state that this summer, Canadians by-and-large followed public health guidance and as a result, nationally, Canada has been able to keep COVID-19 under manageable control, allowing us to carefully resume activities that are important to our social and economic wellbeing. With this said, the average daily case count has been increasing in recent weeks.
Dr. Tam said, “This is a concern and a reminder that we all need to maintain public health measures to keep COVID-19 on the slow-burn path that we need.”
Dr. Tam said anyone thinking of attending an event or gathering — particularly indoor ones — should assess their own personal risk, the risk of those in their household or personal bubble and the location of the event before agreeing to attend.
People should ask if the host has made changes to the event location to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19 and if it’s possible to step away if the event becomes too crowded, Dr. Tam said.
She said that anyone who has symptoms, even mild ones, should stay home and get tested.
