Rachel Aiello Ottawa News Bureau Online Producer
Published Friday, November 20, 2020 4:26AM EST Last Updated Friday, November 20, 2020 2:22PM EST
OTTAWA -- Canada is far from flattening the COVID-19 curve, and the severity of the pandemic has now far surpassed the peak of infections during the first wave of the national health crisis, prompting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to implore Canadians to “really tighten up” their precautions and stay home as much as they can.
“It’s the future of our country” that’s at stake, Trudeau said Friday, speaking to the nation once again from outside of Rideau Cottage, resuming what was a nearly daily routine during the first five months of the pandemic as the country battled, and ultimately flattened the first wave.
Now, new national modelling shows that Canada on track to see thousands of new cases and hundreds of new deaths in the days and weeks ahead.
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“I don’t want to be here this morning, you don’t want me to be here this morning, but here we are again. The cases across the country are spiking massively,” Trudeau said Friday.
“We’re really at risk of seeing caseloads go up and hospitals get overwhelmed, and more loved ones dying. So we need to do everything we can, right now, to slow the spread of COVID-19, to stop this spike in its tracks,” he continued.
Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam said Friday in presenting the new projections that there’s “urgency” to get the situation under control.
The grim new projections show that if people increase their contacts — such as gathering for Christmas — the country could see upwards of 60,000 new daily cases in December. And, in the short term, Canada is projected to hit between 366,500 to 378,600 total cases, and between 11,870 to 12,120 deaths by Nov. 30.
“The national epidemic curve shows that case counts have far surpassed peak levels seen during the first wave,” Tam said. “An average of about 4,800 cases are now being reported daily. Moreover, epidemic growth is continuing at rapid pace, and about 15 per cent more daily cases are reported this week, compared to the last.”...
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