COVID-19: Provincial & Federal Briefings - Sept. 26 - 30, 2022
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We begin by informing you that this will be our last COVID-19 Briefing Bulletin.??
We issued our first briefing note on Tuesday, April 21, 2020 at the height of the first wave of the global pandemic when we had no idea how this virus would affect our lives, our families, and work activity. We have since produced approximately 336 briefings over the past two and a half years.?Earlier this year, the provincial and territorial governments lifted what was left of the pandemic emergency measures.?On October 1, border vaccine rules, mandatory use of ArriveCAN, and mask mandates on planes and trains introduced by the federal government, have been lifted.
We stand ready and will return should the situation change dramatically but we fervently hope this will not be necessary. Our firm’s other publications will, as usual, through our other subject-specific reports, convey the occasional important information which may arise.
To sign up for Gowling WLG Canada newsletters, click here .
A summary of developments from Monday, September 26 to Friday, September 30, 2022 follows.
Federal Government
On Monday, September 26, the Government of Canada announced the removal of all COVID-19 entry restrictions, as well as all testing, quarantine, and isolation requirements for anyone entering Canada, effective October 1, 2022.
?Beginning tomorrow, all travellers, regardless of citizenship, will no longer be obliged to:
Transport Canada is also removing existing travel requirements. As of October 1, 2022, travellers will no longer be required to:
Although the masking requirement is being lifted, all travellers are strongly recommended to wear high quality and well-fitted masks during their journeys.
COVID-19 Data Trends:
As this is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, national statistics will be updated on Monday October 3, 2022.
Last Friday, based on data received at 8:00 a.m. ET, the Public Health agency of Canada (PHAC) reported 17,325 new COVID-19 cases in Canada and 196 deaths, bringing the cumulative total of cases to 4,233,468 and deaths to 44,992.?
National vaccination data have not been updated since Saturday, August 14. At that time, PHAC reported that 85.24%?of the Canadian population was vaccinated with at least one vaccine dose.
Ontario
There were no COVID-19 updates or COVID-19 press releases issued this week.
The COVID-19 statistics for Ontario were last updated on September 24.
There were 8,050 cases reported in the previous week with 359 hospital admissions and 45 COVID-19 related deaths. The total number of COVID-19 cases experienced in the province since the start of the pandemic has risen to 1,446,027 and 14,332 deaths.
As of September 25, 83.6% of the population has received one dose, 80.5% have completed their primary series, 49.8% have completed their primary series and 1 booster dose, and 14.9% have completed their primary series and 2 booster doses.
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Quebec
Yesterday, Dr. Luc Boileau, National Director of Public Health, provided an update on COVID-19. Daniel Desharnais, Assistant Deputy Minister of the Direction générale de la coordination réseau et ministérielle et des affaires institutionnelles of the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux joined him.
Dr. Boileau admitted that COVID-19 hospitalization rates are rising. He urged Quebecers to get a flu vaccine at the same time as the COVID-19 vaccine and announced that the influenza campaign will begin on October 5.
Santé Québec reported 4,613 new cases with 41 virus-related deaths in the last 7 days. There was a net weekly increase of 103 hospitalizations, bringing the total number of people being treated in hospital with the virus to 1,671. There was also a net increase of 2 patients in intensive care in the last 7 days, bringing the total to 42.
More than 21.2 million vaccine doses have been administered to Quebecers residing in and outside the province. The Santé Québec COVID-19 dashboard shows that 91% of the total eligible people aged 5 years and older have received their first vaccine dose and 56% have received their third dose, while 23% of the total eligible people have received their fourth vaccine dose.
Alberta
The province released updated COVID-19 statistics this week. As of September 26, on a 7-day average, 980 people were hospitalized, of which 39 were in intensive care. There were 1,418 new cases reported this week, making the positivity rate for testing on a 7-day average 18.75%. There have been 9,285,898 doses of COVID-19 vaccines administered in Alberta in total. 90.8% of the population 12 years of age and older are vaccinated with 1 dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 87.4% of the population 12 years of age and up are vaccinated with 2 doses.
Chief Medical Officer Dr. Deena Hinshaw provided a COVID-19 update urging Albertans to take advantage of bivalent boosters and influenza vaccines. She says that early research indicates that the new boosters demonstrate a better antibody response against all major Omicron lineages when compared with the original vaccine. This could mean that the bivalent vaccine will offer additional protection for not just BA.1 but multiple sub lineages of the virus. New bivalent vaccines containing the BA.4/5 strain could be available in mid to late October.
British Columbia
The province released updated COVID-19 statistics this week on their COVID-19 Dashboard . As of September 29, on a 7-day average, there are 367 people hospitalized with COVID-19, of which 30 are in critical care. There were 635 new cases this week and 16 new deaths.
?Canada’s COVID-19 Tracker reported this week that 12,541,872 vaccine doses have been administered in British Columbia in total. 87.427% of all people in British Columbia have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 84.338% of all people in the province have received at least two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. Only 54.782% of all people are fully vaccinated with a third dose.
?A Vancouver Sun article reports that Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry warned during Wednesday’s COVID-19 update that while the province is emerging from the pandemic, a moderate surge in COVID-19 cases is possible this fall and winter. While most of the population has accrued some immunity, it will wane over time and so health officials are urging British Columbians to get a booster shot that protects against the Omicron variant specifically. Dr. Henry believes that the province will face another variant that could be more infectious but it would probably be a variety of Omicron. However, she also said that given the evolutionary pressures and immunization around the world, it is unlikely that a new strain of COVID-19 will arrive in the province.
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Glad to discuss further.?
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