People walk in the Eaton Centre shopping mall
TORONTO, Sept 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Canada reported zero COVID-19 deaths in the past 24 hours for the first time since March 15, according to public health agency data released late on Friday.
Canada’s death toll from the pandemic stood at 9,163 as of Sept 11, the same as the number of the deaths reported on Sept 10, government data showed. But the number of positive cases rose by 702 to 135,626 on Sept 11 from the previous day, the data showed.
With most provinces easing lockdown restrictions and as schools reopen for in-person classes, Canada’s infections have seen a mild pick-up in recent days. Authorities have been on high alert to avoid fresh outbreaks, and provinces including British Columbia have imposed new curbs to tackle the spread of the virus.
Still, Canada’s situation looks relatively healthy compared to its southern neighbour. Across the border in the United States, more than 190,000 people have died from the pandemic and more than 6.38 million people have been infected.
Canada’s experience dealing with SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, helped health officials be better prepared. SARS killed 44 people in Canada, the only country outside Asia to report deaths from that outbreak in 2002-2003.
Canada’s first recorded case of coronavirus was in Toronto, on Jan 25. Both Ontario, the country’s most populous province, and neighbouring Quebec turned into the hot spots for COVID-19 infections.
Both provinces struggled with outbreaks in long-term care homes. Canada’s first COVID-19 death was reported on Mar 9 at a British Columbia long-term care facility.
As COVID-19 cases began to spike in mid-March, Canada shut its international borders to all foreign nationals and ramped up tests in an effort to isolate infected patients. Ontario and Alberta faced outbreaks among temporary foreign workers on farms and meat-processing plants, which slowed reopening in certain regions.
Canada’s minister of public services and procurement said the country is “aggressively negotiating” with drugmakers on delivery schedules for potential COVID-19 vaccines and shipments would begin early in 2021 under existing deals.
The Canadian government has announced four vaccine purchase deals and is negotiating more, while also funding local projects that are less advanced, and building new vaccine manufacturing capacity at a facility in Montreal.
The exact timing of deliveries depends on the result of clinical trials, regulatory approvals and manufacturing capacity, the minister, Anita Anand, said. Should approvals come earlier than expected, the government will negotiate earlier deliveries, she added.
“Make no mistake, suppliers are reserving manufacturing capacity to supply doses to Canada based on those aggressively negotiated delivery schedules,” Anand said in a phone interview.
Canada has agreements with vaccine makers Moderna, Pfizer, Novavax and Johnson & Johnson. Anand did not say which company was scheduled to deliver first, but the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine candidates are among the most advanced. — NNN-AGENCIES
