Canadian health authorities have warned the country could be on the cusp of a fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, driven by the Delta variant.
Canada’s chief public health officer Dr Theresa Tam said that their latest modelling, which was released on Friday, “suggests that we are the start of a Delta-driven fourth wave”.
Canada recorded 462 new cases of Covid-19 infections on Friday, an increase of over two-third over the numbers recorded two weeks earlier.
Tam cautioned that the country was in a “precarious period”, having to maintain the fine balance between vaccination levels and reopening.
Overall, 81% of the eligible population in the country has received one dose of a vaccine, while 66% are fully jabbed. But the more transmissible Delta variant means that those numbers may have to climb further to avoid the fourth wave.
Cumulative cases could reach 1,441,610 on August 8, from the current 1,430,046, according to the modelling. The modelling document stated Delta is the “most transmissible variant to date” and Canada has recorded a five-fold increase in proportion of Delta cases in June.
It also stated that the majority of Delta cases in Canada were in unvaccinated or partially vaccinated people and two vaccine doses were “needed for strong protection against variants of concern.
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