Canada Covid-19: Variants likely replaced original virus in many parts of the country, say health officials

Canada Covid-19: Variants likely replaced original virus in many parts of the country, say health officials

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“This is not the news any of us wanted, but hospitalizations are on the rise, ICU beds are filling up, variants are spreading and even people who have convinced themselves they do not have to worry are getting sick,” the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at a news conference on Tuesday, adding it was a ‘very serious’ third wave of the pandemic.

The intake of intensive care units has risen by 18% in the past week, and the new variant puts hospital capacity a “big pressure”, the Public Health Agency of Canada said.

“With increasing infection rates, we are seeing a greater number of younger adults being treated with Covid-19 in the hospital,” said Dr. Theresa Tam, head of public health officials in Canada, said. She added that so far more than 15,000 cases have been found, of which the vast majority are the B.1.1.7 variant first detected in the UK.
In many provinces now experiencing a third wave, public health chiefs report that younger patients become seriously ill with Covid-19, and many of the cases have been tested positive for variants, according to Tam.

“A lot of them weaken fairly quickly and need to be admitted to the ICU right away. Then they spend a lot of time in the ICU, which means there is also an impact on capacity,” Tam said.

Although hospitalizations have not increased dramatically, more of the admitted patients now need critical care as variants make them more seriously ill.

In Toronto, public health officials have ordered all primary and secondary schools to stop and switch pupils to remote learning, which takes effect on Wednesday, as they try to stem an increase in infection the province is currently facing. said Toronto Public Health.

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Ontario, with the capital of Toronto, is debating new and more restrictive measures, including a stay-at-home order, as ICU capacity is increasingly strained.

According to the guidelines issued on Tuesday, the order will be valid from 7 to 18 April and can be extended.

“The current circumstances require difficult decisions to be made locally to protect everyone in our school communities, including students, teachers and staff,” Toronto Public Health said.

British Columbia has moved to close the Whistler ski resort and further restrict rallies in the province, which can now also deal with the outbreak of the virus among NHL hockey players with the Vancouver Canucks.

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The province of Alberta has also confirmed that it is dealing with new groups of cases concerning the P.1 variant.

This week, Canada has surpassed 1 million Covid-19 cases since the pandemic began. Tam calls this milestone a ‘strong memory’ of everything Canadians have been through.

While the B.1.1.7 variant has now probably become the dominant variant in Canada, Tam said that her team is also keeping a close eye on a significant outbreak of the P.1 variant, which was first detected in Brazil and is now in some Western Canadians are rising. provinces.

On Monday, the British Minister of Health said that the number of cases of the P.1 variant in his province had almost doubled during the Easter holiday weekend.

“The most transferable variant of Covid-19 is finally going to take over,” Adrian Dix said in a Monday update.

Elizabeth Stuart of CNN and Theresa Waldrop contributed to this report.

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