“Honestly, it’s scary to see cases rise at home and around the world, day in and day out,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said during a press conference in Ottawa on Friday, where he asked Canadians to follow health guidelines while rolling out vaccines around the world. . Country.
“Quantities of both Pfizer and Moderna will increase in February,” he said. “Remember, Canada has the largest number of guaranteed vaccines per capita in the world, which means that by September, we will have enough vaccinations for every Canadian who wants a vaccine.”
Some county leaders said federal authorities have not yet provided sufficient doses to meet the vaccination demand for priority groups such as health care workers and long-term care center residents.
The concern about vaccinations comes at a time when the second wave of the epidemic in Canada is causing heavy losses in hospitals, with the number of admissions now exceeding hospital admissions during the first wave.
According to Public Health Canada, the country’s average 7-day period for new daily cases is around 7,600. There are currently more than 4,300 people in hospital and more than 800 patients in critical care – a record high.
The provinces are closing in on an increase
Canada is experiencing a surprising rise in the post-holiday period, although most Canadians have been told not to gather with anyone outside of their family for the holidays.
Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, has warned that its hospital system is on the verge of collapse and it may soon become necessary to move patients from one district to another as beds fill up.
“There’s going to be a wake-up call, a real wake-up call,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said during a press conference on Friday.
Ford suggested Ontario be the next step, saying people need to “stay home to save lives”.
“If these basic measures continue to be ignored, the consequences will be more dire. The lockdown will not end at the end of January and we will have to consider more extreme measures,” he said.
Manitoba province, like most other Canadian provinces, extended its two-week lockdown on Friday, citing 355 new cases of Covid-19 linked directly to holiday gatherings. The officials indicated that these positive cases could have infected more than 1,900 other people, as some revealed that they were in gatherings with more than twenty people.
For the first time during this pandemic, Canadian health officials in several provinces are starting to deplete excess hospital capacity, with Ontario in particular struggling to create more ICU beds.
“Today’s numbers are frightening, frankly, they’re going in the wrong direction,” said Dr. Barbara Yaffe, Associate Medical Director of Health in Ontario, during a press conference on Friday, as Ontario broke a one-day record for new cases.
“We have more and more people in the hospital, and more and more people are on ventilators. Hospitals are beginning to scale back surgeries and other important procedures that require the intensive care unit. We have more and more outbreaks in group care, especially long-term care.” We have increased rates of positivity, even among children now. “
CNN’s Dakin Andoni contributed to this report.