COVID-19: Canada is in a “transitional phase”, Duclos explained

Canada is in a “transitional phase” in its fight against COVID-19, but Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves-Duclos confirmed on Wednesday that it was lifting mandatory screening tests before arriving in the country on April 1.

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“Due to high vaccination rates and strict adherence to public health measures, we have seen the peak of the Omikran wave.

Random screening tests at the border are in place as the government sees the move as a tool to better control the arrival of new variants and the rise of new cases.

In this regard, Minister Duclos noted that positive rates for tests conducted at the border rose from 10% in early January to 1% in mid-March.

Mr Duclos stressed that despite this “transition” in the fight against the epidemic, Canadians need to be “careful.”

The provinces, on the whole, have already relaxed most of their most regulatory measures in the past month.

To determine the recovery of any cases in the country, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) plans to increase surveillance from sewage, which is a “new and innovative” technology, explained its Deputy Chief Dr. Howard Nzu.

According to the latter, 60% of municipalities are already ready to detect COVID-19 from sewage, with PHAC seeking to increase this number to 80% and above.

The sewage test provides an “early signal” of the increased presence of a given virus in the community. It is also possible to verify the effectiveness of certain health measures by varying the amount of residual traces of the virus.

Large-scale surveillance is crucial in detecting any increase in cases that the government is already fearing because of the releases.

Some places around the world are struggling with a growing epidemic curve. This is especially true in some European countries and in many parts of Asia. The number of cases in China, which has chosen the “Kovid-Zero” strategy, is growing exponentially, taking all necessary means to prevent it from spreading.