Canada’s COVID-19 outlook continues to improve as cases, hospitalizations drop

Canada’s top doctor shared some encouraging words on Wednesday, saying “all indicators of COVID-19 disease activity and severity continue to decline” this week in Canada.

Speaking during a press conference on Wednesday, Canada’s top doctor, Theresa Tam, said the seven-day average for COVID-19 cases has dropped below 1,800 cases daily for the first time since the fall of 2020.

An analysis of data compiled by Global News found the seven-day average as of Wednesday was 1,645 cases, the lowest number recorded since Oct. 1, 2020.

Hospitalizations, too, have dropped.

Tam told the conference that the latest seven-day average of those seeking treatment in hospital for COVID-19 dropped more than 55 per cent since the peak, with under 2,000 patients daily.

Less than 850 are being treated in intensive care units, which marks a 40-per cent drop since the peak, she said.

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The average number of daily deaths is also down almost 40 per cent to 32 fatalities reported daily.

“I know we’re all eager to do more things we miss,” she said. “And as the provinces and territories accelerate second dose programs over the coming weeks, we are moving ever more quickly towards this.”

However, Tam said, “public health measures and individual precautions continue to be important, while COVID-19 is circulating widely.”

“While we can all breathe a little easier knowing that most of us have received our first dose with COVID-19 still circulating, we’re all advised to continue following public health advice and keep up individual precautions until more of us are fully vaccinated and COVID-19 infection rates are low.”

Health officials across the country reported 1,388 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, and confirmed 52 more people have died after testing positive for the virus.

Wednesday marked the fifth consecutive day that the number of new daily cases was under 2,000.

To date, Canada has seen 1,396,798 cases of the novel coronavirus, and 25,843 people have died.

By Wednesday, 1,695 people remained in hospital seeking assistance for the disease.

New cases in the provinces

Health authorities in Ontario reported 411 new COVID-19 cases and said 33 more people have died.

Meanwhile in Quebec, 178 more people have fallen ill, and eight more fatalities have occurred.

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In Atlantic Canada, 29 more people have fallen ill.

New Brunswick and Nova Scotia each saw 13 new cases, while Newfoundland and Labrador added three new infections.

None of the Maritime provinces, or Newfoundland and Labrador added any new fatalities on Wednesday.

Manitoba, which has has been hit hard by the third wave of the pandemic, saw 250 new COVID-19 infections and two more deaths.

In Saskatchewan, 57 more people have contracted the virus and one more person has died.

British Columbia health officials said 148 more people are sick and three more people have died.

Meanwhile in Alberta, 313 new cases and five new fatalities were reported.

Yukon added two new COVID-19 cases and confirmed two others which had previously been considered to be “probable” infections.

Neither Nunavut or the Northwest Territories saw a new case or death associated with the virus on Wednesday.

Vaccines

So far, 27,244,309 doses of the approved COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Canada.

That means 62.71 per cent of the Canadian population has received at least one dose, according to Vaccine Tracker Canada.

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Nine per cent of the population has now received two doses of a COVID-19 shot.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Canada’s Procurement Minister Anita Anand said, to date, 31 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been delivered to the provinces and territories.

Anand said based on confirmed deliveries alone, Canada is set to receive at least 55 million doses by the end of July.

“To be clear, that is the minimum number of doses that we anticipate receiving in that timeframe,” she told reporters, adding that the ministry is “continuing to press suppliers to accelerate doses, as we have from day one.”