Warnings continue from national
Canada’s chief public health officer is warning that the vast majority of Canadians are still susceptible to COVID-19, and she’s urging everyone to follow public health restrictions.
Doctor Theresa Tam says infection rates are rising in all age groups, but especially in the elderly, who are also most at risk of the severest outcomes.
Tam adds she’s “deeply concerned” that the number of infections is also climbing rapidly in more remote areas of the country, where medical facilities are not equipped to handle serious cases.
She says, even though vaccines are on the horizon, we can’t let up on maintaining precautions, especially with the holiday season approaching.
A look at the numbers from Sunday
It was another record-setting day in Ontario, with 19-hundred and 24 new COVID-19 diagnoses reported yesterday
Once again, Toronto led the way with 568 new cases, but there were also 249 reported in York Region, which now has the highest infection rate in the province.
York is currently in the Red zone of the province’s five-level restriction program, just one step short of the Grey-Lockdown zone.
There were also another 15 deaths announced, more than half of them, residents in long-term care homes.
Health Minister Christine Elliott says the spread of the coronavirus has reached a “critical point,” and everyone needs to do their part to prevent further infections by following public health advice.
Vaccines to arrive in the UK this week
The UK will become the first country to begin inoculating its citizens with one of the leading vaccines.
Almost 900-thousand doses of Pfizer’s vaccine are ready to go, with vaccinations to initially begin in hospitals tomorrow.
People over the age of 80, front-line health care workers, and those working in long-term care homes will be first on the list.
The UK has ordered 40-million doses, enough to vaccinate 20-million people….about 30 per cent of its population.
Pfizer officials say Canada’s first vaccines will arrive 24 hours after government approval.
That approval could come this week.