Canada reached a grim and worrying milestone in the COVID-19 pandemic, surpassing 10,000 novel coronavirus deaths.
Alberta reported two deaths Tuesday from COVID-19 to lift the national tally to 10,001.
COVID-19 case counts slowed across the country through the summer, but have taken a big jump in many areas this fall, with new daily highs regularly being set through Central and Western Canada.
Canada crossed the threshold of 5,000 deaths on May 12, a little over two months after the first one was reported.
Health Canada recently forecast 10,100 COVID-19 deaths in Canada by Nov. 1 as a worst-case scenario and now that number is close, Winnipeg epidemiologist Cynthia Carr said.
Carr said the increased spread of COVID-19 will result in more opportunities for the virus to infect the elderly and other vulnerable people.
But she said she doesn't believe imposing further lockdowns on peoples economic and social well-being are the answer.
"We're sabotaging those businesses and people that are paying the price because they are the ones that have been targeted as part of the solution to stop the spread.," she said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau admitted today that the COVID-19 pandemic "really sucks" but added that a vaccine is coming.
