News

COVID-19 in Canada: Cases and deaths in 2020, 2021 – CTV News

Published

3 years ago

December 29, 2021

As Canadians celebrate their second holiday season amid the COVID-19 outbreak, CTVNews.ca is taking a look back at how the pandemic has progressed.

CTVNews.ca looked at COVID-19 pandemic data released by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) back in December 2020, and compared it with recent figures, to see where the country stands when it comes to infections, deaths, hospitalizations and vaccinations.

Here’s a look at how the two years of the pandemic compare.

CASES

By Dec. 23, 2020, there were a total of 528,353 confirmed COVID-19 infections across the country, according to PHAC data.

In comparison, by Dec. 23, of this year, there were a total of 1,945,753 cases of the novel coronavirus, meaning more than 1.4 million cases were reported in the span of a year.

A total of 20,693 new COVID-19 infections were detected on Dec. 23, 2021, with 87,227 cases reported over the previous seven days in Canada.

The case rate of COVID-19 in Canada was 5,087 per 100,000 population as of Dec. 23, 2021.

As of Dec. 21 2021, the moving seven day average of per cent positivity of COVID-19 in Canada was 8.5.

By Dec. 23, 2020, a total of 521,509 COVID-19 cases had been detected across the country.

A total of 7,379 new cases were reported on Dec. 23, 2020. The seven-day average for that week was 6,769.

DEATHS

The first COVID-19 related death was reported in early March of 2020. Between March 8, 2020 and Dec. 23, 2020, there were a total of 14,642 COVID-19 related fatalities reported, according to the PHAC data.

In comparison, this year, the PHAC data shows that between Jan. 1, 2021 and Dec, 23, 2021, a total of 14,344 people died after contracting the disease

The most recent PHAC data shows that on Dec. 23, 2021 there were eighteen new COVID-19 related deaths.

What’s more, a total of 236 fatalities had been reported in the last 14 days in Canada, as of Dec. 28, 2021.

As of Dec. 23, 2021, there were a total of 30,131 COVID-19 related deaths in the country, since the pandemic began.

The majority of COVID-19 related fatalities in Canada over the course of the pandemic have occurred among those 80 years of age and older.

VACCINATIONS

By Dec. 26, 2020, 46,156 people in Canada had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the PHAC data.

Canada, lacking domestic vaccine manufacturing capabilities, has relied solely on vaccines from outside of its borders.

The first COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer-BioNTech was green-lit for use in early December, but doses didn’t arrive in Canada until Dec. 13, 2020.

In December 2020, the first doses that landed in Canada were administered to those at the highest at risk of severe illness from COVID-19, including the elderly, those living in long-term care homes and the immunocompromised.

A year later, 81.79 per cent of the country’s total population have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

The latest data released by PHAC on Dec. 23, 2021 shows that as of Dec. 18, 2021, a total of 31,280,780 people had received at least one shot.

What’s more, 76.49 per cent, or 29,253,025 people were fully vaccinated as of Dec. 18, 2021.

Vaccination efforts are continuing across the country, as health officials work to administer third doses to boost the public’s immunity as the new Omicron variant spreads.

HOSPITALIZATIONS

The data released by PHAC says that on Dec. 23, 2020, a total of 2,888 people were hospitalized across Canada with COVID-19.

Of those people, 699 were in an intensive care unit, while 364 individuals were on a ventilator.

The most recent available data from PHAC says that between Dec. 13 2021, and Dec. 20, 2021, the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 increased from 1,085 to 1,201.

The numbers of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units and on ventilators also increased from 451 to 468, and 229 to 242, respectively.

Charts by CTVNews.ca’s Deena Zaidi

Adblock test (Why?)

Source link

News

Olympic champion Maggie Mac Neil announces retirement from swimming

Published

8 mins ago

September 26, 2024

Anne Joseph

Olympic champion Maggie Mac Neil announced her retirement from swimming Thursday.

The gold medallist in the women’s 100-metre butterfly at Tokyo’s Summer Games in 2021 made the announcement in an Instagram post alongside a photo of her swimming as a child.

“The little girl above would have never dreamed this is where her love of swimming would take her,” Mac Neil wrote. “I am so grateful for all the memories, people, and places I have gotten to experience just through swimming.

“I’m excited to begin the next chapter of my life journey, as I embark on discovering who I am outside of swimming.”

The 24-year-old from London, Ont., earned a complete set of medals in Tokyo after helping relay teams to silver and bronze medals.

Mac Neil’s five gold medals at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, were the most by a Canadian athlete at a single Pan Am Games.

She was fifth in butterfly and was a member of two women’s relay teams that finished fourth at the recent Olympic Games in Paris.

“Anyone who I crossed paths with never, ever told me I couldn’t achieve my goal of going to the Olympics,” Mac Neil wrote. “It’s still surreal to be able to say I’m a two-time Olympian.”

She completed her master’s degree in sport management at Louisiana State University this year.

Born in China and adopted by Dr. Susan McNair and Dr. Edward MacNeil, Mac Neil’s mother wanted her to take swimming lessons for safety reasons because of the family’s backyard pool.

Mac Neil’s 2017 diagnosis of sport-induced asthma — which can be triggered by the swimming staples of heat and chlorine — forced a switch from longer distances to sprints.

Mac Neil became Canada’s first world champion in the women’s 100-metre butterfly two years later.

The nearsighted Mac Neil, who doesn’t wear contacts or prescription goggles, has seen multiple times a meme of her squinting hard at the scoreboard in Tokyo as she tried to decipher her result.

“I like to think it helps because I can’t see where other people are and I’m able to focus on my own race,” Mac Neil said before the Olympic Games in Paris. “That was definitely the case in Tokyo.

“I got that meme sent to me at least three times in January even though it’s been three years since.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2024.

Source link

News

Fairness for every generation: more than an empty slogan, not yet a reality

Published

13 mins ago

September 26, 2024

Press Release

Fairness for every generation: more than an empty slogan, not yet a reality

New Report Card shows more progress required to achieve federal budget promise

This week, the United Nations enacted the Declaration on Future Generations.

The Declaration obliges all nations to govern as Good Ancestors, stewarding what we hold sacred now and forever. It delivers a vital antidote to the cynical, short-term thinking that plagues the politics of too many countries.

Canada endorsed the Declaration, as our Prime Minister just affirmed to the General Assembly. To support its implementation here at home, Generation Squeeze prepared Canada’s first ever

Report Card on our federal government’s commitment to generational fairness.

There is good news and bad news.

It is good news that Ottawa re-organized the national budget around the promise of “fairness for every generation.” This is a big reason why our report card does not assign any failing grades. We would have done so in past when generational fairness was not on the political radar.

The bad news is that much work remains before Ottawa will earn excellent marks.

Our lowest grade – a D – signals that spending plans in budget 2024 do not invest fairly in young and old alike. Investments in Old Age Security (OAS) and medical care for the aging population dwarf investments in the Canada Child Benefit, child care, housing and postsecondary.

This indefensible gap will only widen if the Bloc Quebecois gets its way. The Bloc is threatening to hold the Trudeau government hostage to its demand to accelerate OAS at pace that will leave investments in younger people even further behind.

Ottawa earns C for its efforts to avoid leaving unpaid bills to younger and future generations. Canada currently has the lowest net debt/GDP ratio of any G7 country, which is a strength. But Canada also faces a structural mismatch between revenue and spending as a result of poor planning for population aging. This mismatch is driving the $40 billion federal deficit.

Despite enacting the most comprehensive federal housing policy we’ve witnessed in decades, the government still only earns a C+ for reducing intergenerational tensions in Canada’s housing system. Since the National Housing Plan never mentions the word “wealth”, it ignores that many older Canadians have benefitted from the rising prices that now inflict unaffordability on their kids and grandchildren.

We award the Government of Canada a B for its efforts to steward the planet for younger and future generations. Mr. Trudeau now leads the only government in Canada that defends the principle “If you make a mess, clean it up.” Consumers should pay for our carbon pollution so we pollute less, and pay to clean up our mess. Otherwise we betray our kids.

Canada earns its top grade – a B+ – for organizing its budget around the promise of fairness for every generation. But we are not yet among the world’s leaders in implementing the UN Declaration. Wales has a Commissioner for Future Generations. The EU has a Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness. Canada needs one too.

Canada needs an Act to safeguard the wellbeing of present and future generations, because a single budget isn’t enough to disrupt the short-term thinking that seduces the present to colonize the future. Only by enshrining intergenerational fairness into machinery of government will we safeguard what is sacred – a healthy childhood, home and planet.

A link to the full report is available here: Are We Good Ancestors? A Report Card on the Government of Canada’s Commitment to Generational Fairness

News

Rourke: Lions need ‘sense of urgency’ entering final stretch of CFL season

Published

20 mins ago

September 26, 2024

Anne Joseph

VANCOUVER – Quarterback Nathan Rourke says the B.C. Lions “have to have a sense of urgency” as they prepare for their final four games of the CFL season.

“There’s a lot of importance in these last four games,” Rourke said after practice this week. “We’ve got to get it going.”

The Lions (7-7) want to get back on track when they face the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (5-9) at B.C. Place Friday night. B.C. is coming off an embarrassing 33-17 loss at home to the Toronto Argonauts two weeks ago that left them in second place in the CFL West.

Across the country, a three-game winning streak has put the Tiger-Cats back in playoff contention in the East.

Defensive back Jamal Peters said the Ticats never stopped believing in themselves, even when they started the season with five losses.

“We kept the faith,” said Peters, who leads the team with four interceptions. “We kept believing in one another and kept working. We knew we wouldn’t ever be out of it.”

The Lions started the campaign 5-1 but are 2-6 in their last eight games. They head into the weekend two points behind the first-place Winnipeg Blue Bombers and one ahead of the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

After looking strong in beating Ottawa and Montreal by a combined score of 75-35, the Lions managed just 222 total yards against Toronto. Rourke was pulled after completing six of 12 passes for 110 yards and no touchdowns.

“We’re trying to piece it together ourselves,” Rourke said in trying to explain why the Lions can be ferocious one game, then kittens the next. “At the end of the day it comes down to being able to play a complete game.

“That’s what all the good teams around the league do. They are able to play four quarters and have their offence help their defence.”

Rourke is 2-3 in the five games he has played since returning to the CFL after failing to land a job in the NFL. The Canadian-born quarterback has completed 79 of 126 passes for 1,099 yards, four touchdowns and seven interceptions. In the last two games Rourke has no touchdown passes and has thrown three interceptions.

Coming out of a bye week, Rick Campbell, B.C.’s head coach and co-general manager wanted to stop any talk of a quarterback controversy in Vancouver by saying Rourke remains the Lions starter.

“I don’t want to create any confusion,” said Campbell. “Right now this is what we’re doing. I want there to be clarity and not a debate going on.”

Veteran Vernon Adams Jr. was an early candidate as the league’s outstanding player before sustaining an injury and the return of Rourke. Adams was four of seven for 75 yards, no touchdowns and threw an interception when replacing Rourke against the Argos.

For the season Adams has completed 171 of 266 passes for 2,544 yards, 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

“We can win with either one of these guys,” said Campbell. “We’re going to go with the continuity Nathan has been playing with the last several weeks. We think we have room to improve and grow.”

One reason for the Hamilton turnaround has been Chris Jones joining the team as a senior defensive assistant after being fired as Edmonton’s head coach and general manager.

In the 10 games before Jones arrived, Hamilton allowed an average 33.4 points a game and gave up 3.5 touchdowns. In the four he has been a coach, the Ticats have given up 26.5 points a game and allowed 2.25 touchdowns.

Quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell also leads the CFL with 4,044 passing yards (322 completions on 473 attempts) and 24 touchdowns.

Campbell knows Hamilton comes to the West Coast riding a wave of confidence.

“We always know we’re going to get their best shot,” he said. “Our job it to focus on us and make sure that they get our best shot.

“When they get our best shot, we’re pretty good. We need to direct all our energy and focus on ourselves.”

HAMILTON TIGER CATS (5-9) at B.C. Lions (7-7)

Friday, B.C. Place

ORANGE SHIRT DAY: The Lions celebrate their fourth consecutive Orange Shirt Day Game to pay respect to Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Players will wear special Orange Shirt Day warmup jerseys, which will be raffled off in support of the Orange Shirt Society and Indian Residential Schools Survivors’ Society (IRSSS).

HOMESTREACH: The Lions play three of their final games at home. After Friday they host Calgary Oct. 4 and Montreal Oct. 19 before finishing the season with a bye. B.C.’s lone road game is an Oct. 12 visit to Saskatchewan.

BYE BYE: The Lions are 4-2 in their last six games after a week’s rest.

DOING THE STREAK: Hamilton is looking for it’s first four-game win streak since 2022.

THREE-PEAT: Lions running back William Stanback needs just 41 yards to reach 1,000 for the third time in his career.

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS: The two teams have split their last six games at B.C. Place, with five of them decided in the final three minutes.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2024.

Source link