Dr. Tam Warned What Could Happen If Canada Reaches 10,000 COVID-19 Cases A Day
It's becoming clearer every day that COVID-19 in Canada is not going to disappear any time soon, and Dr. Theresa Tam offered her opinion on what things will look like if they keep getting worse.
During a November 13 press conference, the chief public health officer was asked about what would happen if the country reaches 10,000 new cases a day.
Dr. Tam said that even now at close to 5,000 cases a day, parts of Canada have had to scale back on their routine medical procedures due to hospital bed rental filling up.
Editor's Choice: Canada Has Ranked #1 In The World For Best Quality Of Life
You can only imagine that if we got to that level, the pressure on the health care system would be huge.
Dr. Theresa Tam
She noted that in the scenario of doubling the country's daily case count, health care workers would be stretched even thinner than they already are.
The country's top doc added that by looking at what happened in some European countries, Canadians can see how bad things can get if the situation is not mitigated.
It wouldn't just be the hospitals that are affected, but also all of the local public health authorities.
This would have a negative impact on initiatives like contact tracing, testing and ensuring that proper isolation procedures are followed.
Dr. Tam called all of these potential outcomes a "very sobering picture."