Canada: Recent spike in coronavirus cases is worrying, says top medical official

On July 17, a top medical official said, a recent spike in coronavirus cases in Canada is worrying and can be linked to groups of young people gathering in bars and nightclubs and at parties. Howard Njoo, the deputy chief public health officer, in a briefing said, there is some cause for concern when we examine recent trends in case reporting. After a period of steady decline, daily case counts have started to rise.

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Howard Njoo talks about Coronavirus 

He further added, the daily case count rose to an average of 350 over the last week up from 300 a day earlier in July. More than 430 cases were reported on July 16. Also, this occurs at the same time when increasing there are reports of individuals contracting coronavirus at parties and bars. There are also increasing rates of transmission among young Canadians. He added, singing and dancing in close contact with others in closed spaces is not the way to party this summer. This is how Covid-19 is spreading. 

Read: World records 1 million coronavirus cases in 100 hours for the first time ever

Canada has reported 109,266 total cases and 8,827 deaths which is lesser than the United States where the cases are increasing exponentially. WHO has reported an increase in global reports. 1 million cases have been reported in the last 100 hours for the very first time.

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With no approved treatment or vaccine to fight the novel coronavirus, scientists are working hard to develop a vaccine. Canada based Medicago has introduced a new vaccine candidate which is completely plant-based. The company is making use of 'nicotiana benthamiana', which is natve to Australia. Reports tell, the country has entered Phase I of its trial after achieving successful results in its preclinical trials.

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(Image credit: AP)