(OTTAWA) Federal health officials have seen signs of a slowing in the spread of monkeypox, but it’s too early to conclude that it’s leveling off, the health agency’s chief administrator said Friday. of Canada (PHAC), the DD Theresa Tam.
Posted at 12:50 p.m.
“Cases are not increasing at the same rate they were increasing at the start of the outbreak,” she said during a virtual press briefing.
The DD Tam added, however, that this trend still needs to be monitored for the next few weeks to definitively rule on a stabilization.
BLAIR GABLE PHOTO, REUTERS ARCHIVES
DD Theresa Tam
PHAC’s Deputy Administrator, Dr.r Howard Njoo, noted that it will take longer than before for the number of monkeypox cases to double in the country.
” At first, [selon] the experience in the two largest provinces, it was maybe in less than two weeks. It took something like 11 or 12 days. Now we have [quelques indicateurs] that maybe the period would be more than 16 to 17 days,” he explained.
According to the most recent data provided during Friday’s press briefing, 1,059 people have contracted the disease to date in Canada, including 426 in Quebec and 511 in Ontario.
A first dose of vaccine against the disease is offered to people considered to be at higher risk of contracting monkeypox. Anyone can be infected, but 99% of cases have occurred in men and the virus is circulating mostly in men who have sex with men, PHAC said.
Ottawa has distributed more than 90,000 doses of vaccine so far to provinces and territories that have administered more than 50,000.