To date 5,076,734 people have been tested for COVID-19 in labs across Canada. An average of over 48,700 people were tested daily, over the past week, with 0.8 percent testing positive, said PHAC.

National daily case counts over the last several weeks have ranged from 350 to 500 cases with an average of 380 cases being reported daily during the most recent seven days.
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As Canada's economic and social spaces continue to reopen, the country has recorded increased COVID-19 cases in recent weeks, said the agency.

"But we are continually improving our capacity to manage COVID-19 based on our own experience and the experience of other countries. Together, we can limit the size and impact of these resurgences," it said.  

Previously on  April 2 and again on Aug 14, Manitoba had recorded 40 new cases.
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The province did not say whether the new cases in the region announced Saturday are linked to a cluster.

The test positivity rate wen down slightly from two percent on Friday to 1.8 percent representing a rolling five-day average of the percentage of COVID-19 tests done in Manitoba that come back positive for the illness.

To date, there have been 872 cases of COVID-19 identified in Manitoba and 570 people have recovered.

Opening of a new test site in Winnipeg is in process and remain open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

With 1,849 tests for the illness being conducted in Manitoba, the total number done in the province since early February is 124,140.

People are again being advised by the public health officials to get tested for COVID-19 only symptoms of the illness are obvious and to do it as soon as possible once those symptoms appear.

People who visited the strip club are being notified by Toronto Public Health about a potential exposure.

Officials say an employee who tested positive for the virus was at the club on these dates and times: 

• Aug. 4 from 7 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. on Aug. 5
• Aug. 5 from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. on Aug. 6
• Aug. 7 from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. on Aug. 8
• Aug. 8 from 7 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. on Aug. 9

Public health says there was no risk to anyone who went to the club outside of those occasions.

"As a precaution, [Toronto Public Health] is advising anyone who attended the Brass Rail Tavern during these dates and times to monitor themselves for COVID-19 symptoms for the 14 days after their last visit during this time period," the city said in a news release.

Public health officials said that they have followed up with "all known close contacts" of the person who tested positive, and asked those people to self-isolate for two weeks and go get tested.

They are also directly notifying people who gave their name and contact information to the club for its contact tracing log, according to a news release. The club is working with public health to ensure all proper infection control reopening protocols are in place, which includes staff and patrons wearing masks, the city says.

Mayor John Tory said Friday that this incident shows why it's important for businesses to keep a contact tracing log.

"I just hope the result of all the follow up that Toronto Public Health is doing proves that nobody contracted the virus from that person," he said, CBC News reported.

Premier Doug Ford touched on the incident at his daily press conference Friday, saying that all businesses have to follow health measures amid the pandemic.

"I know it sounds ironic talking about that, but you have to," Ford said. "They've got to follow the protocols."

"Bars seem to be these places where super-spreader events happen," CBC News reported.

Infectious disease epidemiologist Dr. Robyn Lee noted, no blame should be laid on the employee involved in this situation.

"There should be no stigma associated with working in these environments," Lee said.

"If you know you were at the strip club at this time, do your best to isolate and get tested. We're all in this together," reported by CBC News.

According to the city's website, as of the afternoon of Aug. 12, 15,548 cases of COVID-19 have been reported to Toronto Public Health, while 14,132 people have recovered.

Health officials recommend that anyone who has symptoms or feels as though they may have been exposed to COVID-19 use the province's COVID-19 self-assessment tool.

The recent weeks have seen a surge in the number of new cases reported daily, with the highest rate of infection among people aged 20-39 years old.

While presenting new modelling on the coronavirus in the news conference Tam and deputy public health officer Dr. Howard Njoo had flagged a potential surge in coronavirus cases which could be several times worse than what had been seen so far in Canada.

"Continuing to build up capacity across our health, public health and laboratory systems while urging all Canadians to continue with public health practices will give us the best chance of keeping the epidemic on a slow burn, while preparing us in the event of a need to rapidly ramp up response measures for possible larger resurgence," Tam said. 

Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) documents show although officials are aiming for lower number of cases which could be easily dealt with by the public health-care system, but officials are also planning for a "reasonable worst-case scenario," where a fall spike in infections is followed by ongoing peaks which could put excessive demands on the health system.

With reopening of businesses and schools and more people return to the workplace, Tam stressed that Canadians must be vigilant in following public health guidelines to avoid a major rebound and said the key measures they need to take to limit the outbreaks include detecting and isolating cases, contact tracing and quarantining, physical distancing, handwashing and staying home when possible, and using exposure notification apps.

Canada's COVID-19 exposure notification app had been downloaded by about 1.9 million people, Njoo said and urged people to take part, especially young people who go to pubs and nightclubs.

PHAC says that in the short term the case load could grow to between 121,650 and 127,740 by Aug. 23, and the number of deaths could climb to between 8,980 to 9,115.

Ontario and Quebec had seen the majority of cases, while Nunavut has not recorded a single case.

Modelling information on coronavirus of that day, said Tam and Njoo, does not predict what will happen, but provides a snapshot of what could happen in certain scenarios.

There is an increase in anxiety about potential outbreaks as students return to classrooms in the coming weeks.

British Columbia released its own modelling Thursday, showing the province's COVID-19 curve is now climbing at a higher rate than the initial outbreak in March, and suggesting a second wave could be bigger than the first by September.

Provincial Health Officer Bonnie Henry said the province's contact-tracing efforts could help reduce the number of transmissions. ​

The highest rate of hospitalization was seen by girls and women aged 10-24, who were three times more likely to be in hospital due to self-harm than males in that same age category.

Deaths due to suicide were highest among men 45 years and older.

1 in 3 unpaid caregivers in Canada are distressed.

These numbers exclude people who had gone to emergency rooms and were not admitted to hospital, or those who were helped by primary health-care providers, such as a family doctor, clinic or other local services.

These indicators are part of a 10-year commitment by governments across Canada, an agreement known as Shared Health Priorities aimed to improve access to home and community care and to mental health and addictions services.

12 indicators that had been recommended by CIHI and federal, provincial and territorial representatives in consultation with Canadians were endorsed in June 2018 by Canada’s health ministers.

Results for the first 3 indicators were released in 2019 and updated in May 2020. 

The data collected by CIHI was before the global spread of COVID-19, which has created increased anxiety over health risks, prolonged confinement and financial insecurity.

The health officials tried to quell public fears about rising COVID-19 infections in Manitoba.

During a news conference on Aug 4, Shared Health Chief Nursing Officer Lanette Siragusa said that almost all the new cases had been traced back to known clusters or travel.

"It's not indicative of community spread, at this point," Siragusa said.

A number of businesses in Steinbach announced they were closing temporarily out of caution, although there was no recommendation from the  Manitoba Ministry of Health for businesses to close, he said.

"People are doing the right things. Public health did their job, contact tracing was successful, the people involved have gone home to self-isolate and they're being monitored, and I think that should give people a lot more comfort in terms of their decision today of whether they want to move around or not," Cameron Friesen, Manitoba's Minister of Health said in the news conference.

Both Siragusa and Friesen said that all except two of the new cases over the long weekend were linked to travel or known contacts, while the others are still under investigation.

The COVID-19 pandemic impacts the decisions people make about having a child or adding to their family at the time of this crisis, said Nora Spinks, CEO of the Vanier Institute for the Family, a charitable research and education institute based in Ottawa.

"When it comes to the impact of COVID-19 on fertility intentions, what we're seeing all over the world is that people are choosing, in large part, to delay, defer or just not have a child or additional children at this time," she said, CBC News reported.

A Washington, D.C.-based think-tank Brookings Institution had forecast in June that there could be 500,000 fewer babies born in the U.S. as a result of the pandemic.

Canada, having a relatively better health-care system and having more supports than the U.S., such as parental leave, economists are not predicting an equivalent drop in Canada's birth rate. But a decline of any kind will have lasting impacts on Canada's economy.

"What it means for families and for policy-makers and for communities is that if we see a drop in pregnancy in 2020, we'll see a drop in demand for child care in 2023 to 2024, a drop in kindergarten in 2025 and a drop in adolescents available for summer jobs and part-time work by 2030," said Spinks, CBC News reported.

#CentralAlberta; #COVID19Surge; #Viking; #StarlandCounty; #Drumheller
 
Central Alberta, Aug 1 (Canadian-Media): There had been a significant surge in COVID-19 cases in Central Alberta over the past month, jumping from the low single digits in early July to 252 active cases as of July 31, media reports said.