Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer says there are “early” signs COVID-19’s fifth wave may have peaked.
Dr. Theresa Tam says since last Friday’s modelling update, daily case counts, test positivity, and wastewater surveillance trends have all been on the mend.
However, Tam says daily hospital and intensive care numbers are still going up fast and many hospitals across the country are under “intense strain”.
“Over the past week an average of over 10,000 people with COVID-19 were being treated in hospitals each day, surpassing peak daily numbers for all previous waves of the pandemic,” she said. This includes over 1,100 people in intensive care units which Tam says is higher than all but the third wave’s peak.
Meanwhile, the debate continues whether the definition of fully vaccinated should be changed to include a booster shot. Tam commented on data from a recent CDC study showing significantly lower hospitalization rates among those with a booster shot.
