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Theresa Tam

TAM-May-20

National COVID-19 Modelling Projects 4th Wave

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Canada is on the path towards concerning COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations according to COVID-19 modelling revealed by the country’s top health officials on Friday.

The loosening of pandemic restrictions throughout provinces and territories paired with slowing vaccination rates and the rapid spread of the delta variant has generated concern among health officials.

“This updated longer-range forecast shows how the epidemic trajectory may evolve through early September. It suggests that we are at the start of the Delta driven fourth wave but that the trajectory will depend on ongoing increase in fully vaccinated coverage and the timing, pace and extent of re-opening,” said Chief Public Health Officer of Canada Dr. Theresa Tam.

The seven-day rolling average for cases is 93% lower than the peak of the third wave, although a resurgence in cases has been recorded.

“Not surprisingly the majority of cases, hospitalizations and fatal outcomes are occurring among unvaccinated people,” said Tam.

“There have been relatively few cases reported in people that have received at least one dose of COVID-19 and fewer still among those who are fully vaccinated.”

Canada’s previous success battling COVID-19 has prompted many provinces to loosen their health measures, however, the recent figures suggest the changes may be too soon.

“This forecast reaffirms the need to take a cautious approach to relaxing public health measures, to remain vigilant and responsive to signs of resurgence and to continue to increase first and second dose vaccine coverage,” Tam said.

Long-term forecasts indicate a resurgence of cases is likely this Fall and Winter when restrictive measures and individual precautions are lifted.

“Canada has made great progress on increasing vaccine coverage over the last month, but we need more eligible people vaccinated.”

Tam-may-11-1

Tam Recognizes Work Of Nurses For National Nursing Week

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Canada’s chief public health officer recognized nursing staff for National Nursing Week during the daily federal update on Monday.

Dr. Theresa Tam says nurses contribute to wellness everywhere and we are all better for it.

“We all know that nurses deliver expert care with that special power of nurturing and we have been very aware of the many sacrifices they have made to be there for their patients in every area of health care during this crisis,” she said.

There are now 69,156 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Canada including 4,906 deaths.

Over 32,400 or 4 per cent of those testing positive have recovered.

In the past week, an average of 26,000 people have been tested daily, while labs across Canada have tested over 1,118,000 people with 6 per cent testing positive.

Tam said Tuesday marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale, who revolutionized the field of nursing.

“Their expertise and impact goes far beyond this, spanning every area of health services from education to the development of standards and guidelines, to delivery of public health programs like vaccination, the implementation of infection prevention and control, and contributing to research and innovation,” she said.

Tam said the nursing revolution started small with hand washing and hygiene practices to save lives and raised the standards and profile of nursing.

“So this week let’s all thank Canada’s nurses. Join a 7 pm cheer from your driveway. Draw a thank you sign for health care heroes in your community, or shine a light in a window for all nurses on Tuesday night.”

Tam-May-8-1

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.