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Canada Public Health

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Tam Says Illnesses Have Health Consequences Beyond Themselves

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The Chief Public Health Officer called attention to a Statistics Canada report on excess deaths in Canada in relation to COVID-19.

Dr. Theresa Tam said this is a measure of the additional deaths over and above the expected number based on trends from previous years.

“It is an important way for us to understand the full impact of an extraordinary event like COVID-19 against expected mortality,” she said.

There are now 71,486 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Canada with 5,209 deaths.

 

Tam said these illnesses can have health consequences beyond themselves.

“Such as increased illness and death associated with mental health issues, problematic substance use or delayed health-seeking for acute and chronic health conditions,” she said.

Tam said delays in seeking care for life-threatening illnesses or chronic disease management can affect death rates.

“Likewise delayed or missed appointments for prevention visits to maintain routine vaccinations, increases the risk of infectious disease outbreaks and associated illness and deaths.”

Tam said it is vital to maintain health visits for everything from prevention and vaccines to mental health and chronic disease management and not delaying getting immediate attention for life threatening health and mental health concerns.

She said healthcare providers have implemented a range of precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and ensure patient’s safety.

“Speak with your healthcare provider to see what options are available for you and your family to safely have your health needs met.”

34,496 or 48 per cent of people in Canada have recovered from COVID-19.

1,169,000 people have been tested for COVID-19 with 6 per cent testing positive overall.

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COVID-19 Testing Clarified By Chief Public Health Officer

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Canada’s chief public health officer gave some clarification regarding COVID-19 testing in Canada.

Dr. Theresa Tam, says when talking about current lab capacity, it’s about building up the ability to determine a surge in cases when public health measures are relaxed.

“Specifically a robust testing capacity is a vital component of our case finding, contact tracing, isolation and quarantine approach to rapidly corner the virus,” she said.

Tam says we know we’re testing enough by the percentage of tests that come back positive.

“The lower the percentage of positive tests, the better your surveillance is. When the positive tests are really high, you’re missing a lot of infections.”

There have been over 1,032,000 people tested in Canada so far, with 65,399 confirmed cases of COVID-19, or 6 per cent testing positive.

Tam said the World Health Organization benchmark is to aim for a percentage positive rate of 10 per cent or below.

“Canada has maintained a percentage positive rate below ten per cent throughout the epidemic. Most encouragingly our average weekly percent positive rate has been declining from 9.8 per cent in early April to about 4 per cent in early May.”

There have been 4,471 deaths from COVID-19 and 45 per cent of COVID-19 cases have recovered.

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Pandemic A Challenging And Shape-shifting Event For Physicians

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Canada’s chief public health officer is calling the COVID-19 pandemic the most challenging and shapeshifting event in a physicians’ career.

Dr. Theresa Tam says doctors are doing important work across the county and around the world.

“Some are working tirelessly to care for and save the lives of patients with COVID-19. Others are working despite the challenges of COVID-19 to maintain the best level of care for their patients in all other areas,” she said.

There are 53,657 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Canada.

Deaths increased more than a thousand from the beginning of the week, now totalling to 3,223.

Labs across Canada have tested 837,000 people so far with roughly 7 per cent of those testing positive.

Tam took a moment to recognize doctors on National Physicians’ Day.

“I would like to acknowledge the leadership, support and wisdom of my provincial and territorial colleagues. Their collaboration has made us all stronger in leading Canada through the rough terrain of COVID-19,” she said.

Tam said citizens should speak with their healthcare provider to see what options are available to have health needs met.

“Health care providers are there to address your health issues. Virtual appointments may be possible and a whole range of precautions have been put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in health care settings.”

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Canadians Asked To Curb Their Enthusiasm

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Canadians are being asked to curb their enthusiasm despite the flattening of the COVID-19 curve.

Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam says we’re getting excited about the flattening of the curve a little too soon.

“This week, things have been a little flat. COVID curve flat that is and that has got us all excited about what that means for getting out of our houses,” she said.

There are 52,057 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Canada including the first reported case in Nunavut. There have been 3,082 deaths from the virus.

800,000 Canadians have been tested for the virus with about 7 per cent of those testing positive.

“We have to be very cautious going down the side of the epidemic curve. It would be a whole lot easier if this was a well-trodden path with many who have gone before us,” she said.

Tam said she’s also concerned about increasing numbers of COVID-19 in indigenous communities in several provinces.

“Already on this path, we’ve seen some worrisome transmission events emerging. Having learned a lesson about vulnerabilities in long term care homes, we’re now tackling introductions and spread in certain work settings and congregate housing,” she said.

Tam said there are plans to ramp up testing and contact tracing to find where chains of transmission are occurring.

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Pandemic Exposes Fragility Of Vulnerable Populations: Dr. Tam

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Canada’s chief public health officer says the pandemic is exposing the fragility of vulnerable populations.

Dr. Theresa Tam says if we are to end increased disease and death rates in vulnerable populations, we need to make things right now.

“So when I think about where we are right now, with outbreaks, and vulnerable settings and underserved populations driving the epidemiology of COVID-19, I am reminded of the critical importance of addressing inequities,” she said.

Tam said we need to look beyond the health system and expand to include the social, cultural, and economic fabric of our society.

“This pandemic has exposed the fragility of some of our populations especially those living in long term care homes, group housing, those experiencing homelessness, or vulnerable indigenous communities.”

Tam said we need to adapt our daily lives to include physical distancing, handwashing, and other control measures so we are managing COVID-19 and it’s not managing us.

“This is not just someone else’s problem or someone else’s sorrow, inequities touch us all. They affect the health and social wellbeing of all Canadians just as they diminish our humanity.”

Tam said we need to build protective supports into our social fabric to provide long term protection against future waves of COVID-19 and future pandemics of emerging disease.

Tam reported 47,327 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 2,617 deaths.

She said labs across Canada have tested over 717,000 people and 7 per cent of those tested were positive for COVID-19.

Tam said we will all get through this by being stronger together.