Canada hits over 10,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread throughout several parts of Canada, the country hit 10,113 confirmed cases on Thursday.

Ontario announced 401 more cases on April 2, putting the total for country at over 10,000 cases. That’s a stark increase compared to where the country was on March 1, with only 24 confirmed cases at that time.

The provinces of Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec have the highest numbers of COVID-19 cases.

Canada’s total death toll also surpassed 130 this week.

There also continues to be ongoing concern for Indigenous communities along with retirement homes and correctional facilities, where vulnerable people are in close quarters with others. So far, Canada outbreaks and deaths in some of these spaces, said Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer at a press conference on March 31.

Multiple provinces including B.C., Alberta and Ontario have seen a string of COVID-19-related deaths stemming from outbreaks at nursing homes and long-term care facilities, raising concerns about how protected residents and care workers in those facilities are.

The chart below only includes confirmed cases, not presumptive cases. To see all the presumptive cases in the country, see Health Canada’s chart here.

Understanding the current cases and increase

The Public Health Agency of Canada reports that community transmission applies to 64 per cent of Canada’s COVID-19 cases, meaning those people were infected without travelling or being close to someone who has a confirmed case.

The extent of community spread cases can be difficult to track based on testing rates and if some people are asymptomatic, they know they are carrying the illness.

Thirty-six per cent of the cases are due to travel or a person being exposed to a traveller returning to Canada. So far, this data applies to 4,183 confirmed Canadian cases, according to the Public Health Agency.

As Canada’s total case count surpasses 10,000, Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam says what the new numbers don’t show is the point in time when people became sick, she said at a recent press conference.

“What you’re seeing today is what happened to someone when they were symptomatic at least two weeks ago,” she said.

Finding context in cases and the source of outbreaks can be difficult for public health agencies to discern and it will take some time to analyze whether social distancing and closures have made an impact in the last few weeks, she explained.

This week, however, is “crucial” to see whether these protocols have had any effect.

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“There are still outbreaks connected to a number of high-risk settings in Canada, particularly in long-term care facilities. So there’s still an urgent need to double-down on precautions,” she said.

“While many cases occur in younger adults, it really is people over the age of 60 who account for 60 per cent of the hospitalizations and 90 per cent of deaths. The high-risk population needs to take every precaution.”

More Canadians continue to be tested

Testing efforts have also ramped up across the provinces, with more than 222,000 Canadians having been tested as of March 30. However, Ontario has faced criticism for their backlog of tests that had grown to just under 11,000 as of a week ago.

Questions about COVID-19? Here are some things you need to know:

Health officials caution against all international travel. Returning travellers are legally obligated to self-isolate for 14 days, beginning March 26, in case they develop symptoms and to prevent spreading the virus to others. Some provinces and territories have also implemented additional recommendations or enforcement measures to ensure those returning to the area self-isolate.

Symptoms can include fever, cough and difficulty breathing — very similar to a cold or flu. Some people can develop a more severe illness. People most at risk of this include older adults and people with severe chronic medical conditions like heart, lung or kidney disease. If you develop symptoms, contact public health authorities.

To prevent the virus from spreading, experts recommend frequent handwashing and coughing into your sleeve. They also recommend minimizing contact with others, staying home as much as possible and maintaining a distance of two metres from other people if you go out.

For full COVID-19 coverage from Global News, click here.

— With files from Emerald Bensadoun,  Patrick Cain, Hannah Jackson and Amanda Connolly. 

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