Canadian public health officials say variant B.1.1.7 has likely replaced the original Covid-19 virus in many parts of the country, adding that the new variants make young people sicker and send them more to the hospital.
“This is not the news any of us wanted, but hospitalizations are on the rise, ICU beds are filling up, variants are spreading and even people who were convinced they didn’t need to worry she gets sick, ”said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. he said Tuesday during a press conference.
This is a third wave of the “very serious” pandemic, he added.
Trudeau made a strong call to young people to urge them to “stay home,” saying younger Canadians are getting sick in this third wave.
The Public Health Agency of Canada said intensive care admissions rose 18% in just the last week, and said the new variants are putting “strong pressure” on hospital capacity.
“With rising infection rates, we are seeing more young adults with COVID-19 being treated in hospital,” said Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s head of public health.
“Many of them deteriorate quite quickly and have to be admitted to the ICU immediately, and then spend quite a few stays in the ICU, which means there is also an impact on capacity,” he added.
Tam explained that while hospitalizations have not increased drastically, more hospitalized patients need critical care as the variants make them more severe. He added that so far more than 15,000 variant cases had been detected, the vast majority of them the B.1.1.7 variant, first detected in the UK.
Although variant B.1.1.7 has now become the dominant variant in Canada, Tam said his team is also watching a major outbreak of P.1. variant, first detected in Brazil and now increasing in some western Canadian provinces.
On Monday, the British Health Minister of Colombia said the number of cases in P.1. varying in their province almost doubled during the Easter holiday weekend.
“The more transmissive variants of COVID-19 will eventually take over,” the minister said during a Covid briefing on Monday.
British Columbia has moved to close the Whistler ski resort and further restrict meetings in the province that now also face a virus outbreak among NHL hockey players with the Vancouver Canucks.
The province of Alberta also confirmed that it was dealing with new groups of P.1-related cases. variant.
Meanwhile, Ontario is debating new and more restrictive measures, including a home stay order, as its ICU capacity is increasingly strained.