TORONTO, Dec. 15 (Reuters) – The Canadian government on Wednesday pleaded with residents not to leave the country as provinces step up vaccinations to fight the rapidly spreading variant of the Omicron coronavirus, even as efforts to avoid a surge of COVID-19 are complicated by public fatigue over the pandemic.

The number of COVID-19 cases is rising, with the seven-day national average of new cases at its highest since October 1, as Canadian hospitals struggle to clear back months of postponed procedures. Many exhausted staff members appear ill-equipped for a new wave of infections.

“I say very clearly: now is not the time to travel,” said Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos at a press conference, adding that it was clear that there was community transmission from Omicron in Canada.

“I understand that sucks,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters as he urged Canadians to follow public health advice and “be careful this holiday season. Get your children vaccinated.”

Children aged 5 to 11 had the highest infection rate of any age group in Ontario for the two weeks ended Tuesday.

Ontario will begin offering a third shot of the vaccine to anyone over the age of 18 this week, while reducing the required interval between the second and third dose to three months instead of six.

The province, Canada’s most populous, is also halving the capacity for indoor events with a capacity of at least 1,000 people, including sports, concerts, and commercial film and television production.

Canada has banned travel from 10 African countries over concerns over the new variant.

The federal government advised residents in March 2020 not to travel abroad unless necessary. He withdrew the advisory last October – before the first cases of Omicron were reported – citing the success of vaccination campaigns.

Peter Juni, director of the Ontario COVID-19 Scientific Advisory Table, urged people to take precautions, get vaccinated and not take Omicron lightly.

“What really worries me is that people are sleeping behind the wheel, internationally,” he said. “They wish it would be sweet.… This is not a realistic attitude.”

Scientists suspect that Omicron is more transmissible given its rapid spread, although they warn that it is too early to draw conclusions about its severity. Read more

“MASSIVE VULNERABILITY”

There is “massive vulnerability” in Canada’s health systems, said Andrew Morris, an infectious disease physician in Toronto, who added that it was “very likely” that they would be overwhelmed.

In Alberta, a province in western Canada that has seen a fourth wave of punishment, Dr. Christopher Doig’s intensive care unit in Calgary still has patients with COVID-19, some of whom have been there for weeks. It is still operating at around 110% of its capacity, he said.

Relocating staff from other areas allows them to “pop up” when needed, Doig said. “The downside to these outbreaks is that they are attracting staff from other areas,” and the pandemic backlog of surgeries is increasing.

Health officials are trying to persuade the public to get third doses of COVID-19 vaccines.

Amid fears of asymptomatic transmission of COVID-19, provinces that have received millions of rapid antigen tests by the federal government have been criticized for not distributing them more widely.

Ontario has pledged to make 2 million tests available in “high traffic” areas and assign five per student to schoolchildren this week. Quebec will distribute five tests per person starting next week. Alberta has pledged to distribute 500,000 as of Friday.

British Columbia health officials said this week they had not received the tests they were hoping for from the federal government and defended the province’s provision of tens of thousands of rapid tests per week to hundreds of private employers.

Ontario said this week it was “temporarily halting” its return-to-office plan for provincial workers.

Alberta eased restrictions on private gatherings on Wednesday, with Premier Jason Kenney citing fatigue from the pandemic.

Juni said he understands people are tired of the pandemic.

“I am completely exhausted,” he said. “I got it. I’m completely done with it. But the virus doesn’t care.”

Reporting by Anna Mehler Paperny and Steve Scherer; Additional reporting by Nia Williams, Allison Lampert, Ismail Shakil, David Ljunggren and Allison Martell; Editing by Paul Simao and Peter Cooney

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