(Fighting against New Coronary Pneumonia) Canada's Chief Public Health Officer admits to falling into a new wave of epidemics
China News Agency, Toronto, April 13 (Reporter Yu Ruidong) Canada's chief public health officer Tan Yongshi admitted for the first time at a press conference on April 12 that Canada is in the midst of the sixth wave of the new crown epidemic.
She also called on the public to continue to wear masks and get booster shots.
Tan Yongshi said that with the relaxation of public epidemic prevention measures, the spread of the Omicron BA.2 subtype mutant strain, and the weakening of population immunity, it is not surprising that the epidemic has rebounded across Canada.
Community wastewater testing shows that the epidemic in many parts of the country has shown a sharp upward trend.
The cumulative number of reported cases in Canada has reached nearly 3.58 million, and there are currently more than 197,000 active cases. The average daily test positive rate in the past seven days is 18.9%.
But officials admit that most provinces have limited virus nucleic acid testing capacity, leading to an underestimation of the actual number of cases.
Tan Yongshi made three suggestions to the people of the country: regardless of the local public epidemic prevention measures, inject booster shots, wear masks and improve ventilation conditions.
When asked by the media whether the definition of "sufficient vaccination" of vaccines would be changed from two shots to three shots, Tam said this was under discussion.
But she believes Canada's vaccine booster rates are still low.
At present, more than 83% of the elderly in the country over the age of 70 have been injected with booster shots.
But only 61% to 75% of people aged 50 to 69 received booster shots.
As a medical expert advisory body that provides guidance to the Canadian government on the use of various vaccines, the National Immunization Advisory Committee of Canada issued new guidance on the same day, "strongly recommending" all people over the age of 18, and those with low immunity from 12 to 17 years old. "Adolescents should be injected with booster shots; at the same time, 12- to 17-year-olds can also get booster shots.
A week ago, the committee recommended that the elderly be given a second booster dose of the new crown vaccine as soon as possible, which is the fourth dose of the full dose of the two-dose vaccine.
Earlier, Quebec, Ontario and other provinces have admitted to entering the sixth wave of the epidemic.
The chief medical officer of Ontario, Canada's most populous province, told the media on the 11th that it is "strongly recommended" that people continue to wear masks in all indoor places, and should be three-layer or medical-grade masks.
The province just lifted the mandatory mask-wearing order in schools and most public places in late March, and plans to lift the mandatory mask-wearing order in all places, including hospitals, nursing facilities, and more, in late April.
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