There are growing concerns that Canada has hit a new milestone in the COVID-19 pandemic amid rising cases of more transmissible variants.
The Ontario Hospital Association issued a stark warning on Monday, saying that the province had now entered into a third wave, citing a sharp increase in new variant-of-concern (VOC) cases and rising admissions to intensive care units (ICUs).
While some experts say the country as a whole is not in a third wave yet, other provinces are closely watching their COVID-19 trends.
Nationally, average daily cases remain high and the country is seeing an increase in new infections, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).
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“Everywhere on the globe and here in Canada we are seeing the same rise in cases due to variants of concern, which is generating this third wave,” said Gerald Evans, an infectious disease specialist at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont.
As of March 15, a total of 3,618 confirmed cases of “variants of concern” had been reported across all 10 provinces, with the B.1.1.7 variant accounting for more than 90 per cent of these cases. The B.1.1.7 variant was first detected in the United Kingdom in mid-December.
2:33 Ontario has entered into third wave of pandemic: Experts
Ontario has entered into third wave of pandemic: Experts
In a news conference on Tuesday, Canada’s top doctor, Theresa Tam, noted that Ontario was not alone in seeing an uptick in cases.
“There are other areas of the country where we’re beginning to see some beginnings of an increase,” she said.
In British Columbia, as of March. 15, the seven-day average for new COVID-19 cases stood at 543, up from a low of 408 on Feb. 17.
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But in Quebec, since January 2021, daily new cases have been on a steady decline, according to data from the province’s public health institute.
Meanwhile, in Alberta, leading indicators such as new cases, positivity rate and growth rate have stabilized after a slight rise a few weeks ago.
1:54 Percentage of COVID-19 variant cases on the rise in Alberta
Percentage of COVID-19 variant cases on the rise in Alberta
Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Deena Hinshaw said they are keeping a close watch on the trends.
“If we see those new cases start to go up … essentially that could mean that we’re entering another growth phase and, of course, that would cause some concern about whether or not a third wave could be possible.,” she said at a news conference in Edmonton on Monday.
Nazeem Muhajarine, an epidemiologist at the University of Saskatchewan, told Global News if health officials don’t immediately implement additional measures, case numbers “could quickly escalate into a third wave.”
The Ontario government has not officially declared a third wave in the province, with David Williams, the chief medical officer of health, saying on Monday that the magnitude is still to be determined.
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Dr. Howard Njoo, Canada’s deputy chief public health officer, called Ontario’s situation “an inflexion point” or a “little blip.”
“There’s not really an accepted definition of what constitutes a new wave of disease,” said Ashleigh Tuite, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the University of Toronto.
With some provinces showing signs of a plateau and continued low case counts, Tuite does not think that the entire country is seeing a third resurgence yet.
“As has been the case throughout this pandemic, the response has been highly variable across the country and there are many provinces and territories that have managed to suppress cases,” she told Global News.
1:58 Coronavirus: Spring brings hope for return of sports in Quebec
Coronavirus: Spring brings hope for return of sports in Quebec
In recent weeks, several provinces have gradually eased COVID-19 restrictions and reopened businesses.
A stay-at-home order for most of Ontario was lifted earlier on Tuesday.
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Peter Jüni, who serves as the scientific director to the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table and is a professor of medicine and epidemiology with the University of Toronto, said another strict lockdown will be needed to bring the cases down.
“If we want to keep the third wave under control, we need to control the new variants,” he told Global News.
Experts predict the third wave will different than the second or first.
Jean Paul-Soucy, an infectious disease epidemiologist and PhD student at the University of Toronto, said vaccinations in long-term care homes will mean there will be fewer deaths there, but a larger percentage of fatalities among the older adults who haven’t been vaccinated.
1:49 Worries of a third wave
Worries of a third wave
Colin Furness, an infection control epidemiologist and assistant professor at the University of Toronto, said the size of the wave will depend on how much we loosen restrictions, but the rate of vaccinations will shorten its duration.
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“Restrictions work on the variants,” he told Global New in a previous interview.
“It’s a question of whether we want a big wave or a small one.”
“We can expect much lower mortality in April because our most vulnerable people are getting the shot first.”
Jüni said provinces will need to stay on top of the variants and continue to monitor the trajectory of their spread.
“If we would just let our guard down completely, then we’re really talking again about thousands of cases per day and it could be considerably worse than what we’ve seen during the second wave.”
— With files from Global News’ Heather Yourex-West and Allison Bamford
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.
The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.
Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.
“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”
The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.
A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.
Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.
“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.
Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.
The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.
“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.
Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.
The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.
“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.
Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.
Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.
A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
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