Remarks from the Chief Public Health Officer, May 20, 2022
Speech
May 20, 2022Ottawa, ONPublic Health Agency of Canada
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to create stress and anxiety for many Canadians, particularly those who do not have ready access to their regular support networks. Through the Wellness Together Canada online portal, people of all ages across the country can access immediate, free and confidential mental health and substance use supports, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. PocketWell, a free companion app to the WTC online portal, provides another way to help Canadians access online mental health and substance use resources, and measure and monitor aspects of their mental well-being.
Though SARS-CoV-2 is still circulating across the country, COVID-19 disease activity indicators including daily case counts, lab test positivity and wastewater signals are continuing to decline. Currently, hospitalisations remain elevated and variable, but there are signs that severe illness trends are declining as well. Sadly, last week we were reminded of the serious impact of this pandemic when we surpassed more than 40,000 deaths related to COVID-19 in Canada. To all those in the circle of family and friends who are grieving a loss, we offer condolences. This is a reminder that our efforts are still needed to prevent every death we can.
One of the things we've learned about the use of public health measures for COVID-19 in the past two years is that they were also very effective at reducing the prevalence of other infectious diseases. So, our reduced contact rates may have interrupted transmission of other infectious diseases, such as influenza. When most population public health measures, like closures and capacity limits, were removed, we saw COVID-19 transmission rates rebound. And now we're seeing influenza activity increasing up to the seasonal threshold, despite the opposite trend being expected at this time of year.
We remain cautiously optimistic that the warmer weather months will give us some reprieve from high transmission rates. Nevertheless, personal protective habits help reduce the spread of COVID-19 as well as other respiratory infections that we haven't seen for some time. While some measures, like masking, are in use in high-risk settings, the more people who maintain masking in indoor public spaces or crowded areas, the better they will work to reduce overall transmission of respiratory diseases. Masks continue to be an important layer of protection for ourselves while also helping to protect our loved ones, especially those at high risk of serious illness.
There is still uncertainty with the COVID-19 trajectory and variants and we still have much to learn about post COVID-19 condition, also known as long COVID. Maintaining a Vaccines Plus approach can keep us better prepared and better protected against serious illness and other complications of COVID-19 infection, including long COVID. This means keeping our COVID-19 vaccinations up-to-date, remaining aware of disease activity in your local area and continuing to take personal precautions – including staying home if you're symptomatic or test positive, improving ventilation, and continuing to wear a mask in shared indoor or crowded spaces when with people you don't live with.
As we go into the long weekend a word of caution that COVID-19 resurgences have followed social gatherings during past holidays and long weekends. Let's keep doing everything we can to prevent more illnesses by following the advice of your local public health authority, choosing lower risk activities and settings, and keeping up with essential precautions to help protect the progress we've made and set us up for a better summer and a safer fall.
Read my backgrounder to access COVID-19 Information and Resources, including information on vaccination and ways to reduce your risk of infection and spreading the virus to others.
Contacts
Media Relations
Public Health Agency of Canada
613-957-2983
media@hc-sc.gc.ca