The latest data available on COVID-19 in Canada is cause for some optimism.
But Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, warns it must be cautious optimism.
“In late March when the growth rate was the fastest, we saw case rates doubling every three days,” says Tam, “…in recent days, we’ve observed a doubling time of over 10 days, which means the epidemic is slowing down.”
Despite that, she explains that defeating COVID-19 is a marathon, not a sprint.
“Coming down from the epidemic curve will be like making our way down a mountain in the dark. We can’t rush, or let go of our safety measures, or else the fall will be hard and unforgiving.”
She says that we need to closely monitor cases and growth trends so that health officials can quickly respond to new cases and growth clusters.
Tam says that we also need to maintain physical distance, and adds that we need to maintain our resolve, as any break in it could slow down our effort to as she says, crush the curve.
As of Thursday morning, there are more than 28,000 confirmed cases in Canada, including at least 1,010 deaths.
