Canada faces devastating third wave of coronavirus

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is under fire as COVID-19 cases per capita in Canada overtake the US for the first time.

Justin Trudeau has been criticised for a sluggish vaccine rollout. Picture: AFP

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is under fire as COVID-19 cases per capita in Canada overtake the US for the first time amid a devastating third wave driven by variants that are leaving younger people severely ill.

Cases in the country, which won plaudits for its early response to the pandemic, recently hit 207.3 per million people, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, exceeding the 206.7 per million in the US, whose response was widely criticised before vaccinations were ramped up. On Monday, Canada recorded a record 10,859 new cases.

Infectious disease experts blame the resurgence on “pandemic fatigue”, the premature easing of restrictions and more transmissible and dangerous variants, including the UK variant.

“Things are, unfortunately, extremely challenging,” said Eddy Fan of Toronto’s University Health Network. “Patients coming to the hospital, and certainly in the intensive care unit, now are younger. Many of them have been previously quite healthy.”

He said during the first two waves, older patients would be admitted and linger on wards for seven to 10 days, before deteriorating and being put on ventilators. Now patients are getting sicker faster and heading to intensive care within 48 hours.

“In my ICU, we’ve seen some 20-year-olds, and certainly 30, 40, 50-year-olds. It’s a shift in the demographic downwards towards younger patients.”

In Ontario, surgeries have been cancelled and patients are being shuttled between hospitals to manage demand.

On Tuesday, opposition MPs had harsh words for Mr Trudeau, who has been criticised for a sluggish vaccine rollout. Twenty per cent of Canadians have received their first dose.

“Canada is on fire,” said Jagmeet Singh, leader of the left-wing New Democrats. “It’s not good enough to sit on the sidelines.”

In Ontario, where the UK variant has taken root, daily cases are nearing record highs. So too in British Columbia, which is struggling to deal with the largest outbreak of the fastest-spreading Brazilian variant outside Brazil.

The surge has coincided with warmer weather and growing unhappiness at having to stay indoors. Hundreds of young people rioted this week in Montreal, chanting “Freedom for the young” and smashing windows.

“Things in this pandemic can turn very quickly,” Dr Fan said.

“We see the light at the end of the tunnel. We just need to stay vigilant.”

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