COVID-19 cases declining across Canada, but not as quickly as before

The Public Health Agency of Canada says the country is bending the curve on the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, but progress has slowed recently and Canada could still see some "bumps" over the next few months.

"Now is not the time to let our guard down. We could still be in for a challenging winter," Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam told a briefing Friday.

"We may still be in for a bit of a bumpy ride all through the winter season in Canada. I envisage that there are bumps on the road because there are regional differences and there could be an upsurge in cases in pockets of under-immunization."

Tam said that while she expects to see fewer large upswings in the caseload, public health officials will need to keep a close eye on the data as the winter unfolds to prepare for sudden changes. 

"We are still preparing at the federal level and also the provincial level to provide surge capacity to certain hotspots in areas that need them," she said.

Tam welcomed the high level of vaccine coverage across Canada and said some regions are seeing very low COVID-19 activity.

"I think it is really encouraging and absolutely amazing — kudos to Canadians for rolling up their sleeves — that we got such a high vaccine coverage and, in fact, higher than that of the United States," she said. 

"But many areas of the country haven't seen much COVID activity, so I think that the level of immunity in some populations in Canada can be low."

Tam said the virus has proven to be adaptable and Canada must remain vigilant against new variants.

For the first time, reported cases nationally are now most commonly children under the age of 12 who do not qualify to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Tam said the largest number of outbreaks in September and October in Quebec and Ontario involved children under the age of 12, with children aged five to 11 making up the overwhelming majority of the cases.

Tam said it could have been much worse. 

"Ongoing monitoring indicates that most outbreaks among young children have been small, involving fewer than four cases, which suggests sensitive detection and rapid response controlled spreading," she said. 

Tam said outbreaks in schools and daycares have been smaller during the current wave, which suggests they are being closely monitored.