[GTranslate]TORONTO – On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the rapid spread of Covid-19 a pandemic. A year later, with over 2.6 million deaths and 117 million cases worldwide, it is time to present a first, partial balance sheet, for a phenomenon that is still ongoing and represents a continuous threat, with the third wave also on the horizon in Canada and with the real risk represented by the variants of the virus. In Canada, according to data from Health Canada, a whole of 897,292 cases of Covid-19 have been recorded. The deaths ascertained by the health authorities attributed to the coronavirus in our country reached 22,286, most of them in Quebec – over 10,400 – and Ontario, over 7 thousand.

Unlike the medical data of the victims presented in Italy monthly, those of the Canadian health authorities are not exhaustive regarding the presence of underlying medical conditions. In Canadian case studies, the most prominent figure is age. And it is evident, as we have also pointed out in the past, that the danger of Covid-19 is destined to increase with the age of those affected.

As for the spread of contagion in Canada, the demographic group most infected with coronavirus was that of people between the ages of 20 and 29 years of age: over 163 thousand, or 18.7 percent.

Then, young people under the age of 19 (148,674-17.0%), those between 30 and 39 (140,145-16.0%), those between 40 and 49 (128,371-14.7%) and those between the age of 50 and 59 (117,669-13.4%). In Canada, people over the age of 80 recorded 61,426 cases (7.0%), the 60-year-old 69-year-olds 74,273 (8.5%) and the 70-79 age group 42,888 (4.9%).

Paradoxically, these three demographic groups with the least cases of contagion are also the ones that reported the most deaths.

There were 15,287 Covid victims over the age of 80 in our country (69.3%), those aged 70-79 4,206 (19.1%) and those between the age of 60 and 69 1,700 (7.7%), while 590 (2.7%) covid patients who died were between 50 and 59 years old.

In the 40-49 age group there were 174 (0.8%) victims, just 76 (0.3%) between the age of 30 and 39, 35 between the age of 20 and 29 and 4 under the age of 19. Ultimately, 88 percent of Covid victims in Canada were over 70 years old, a testament to the fact that Covid-19 has proved particularly dangerous for older people.

It is therefore for this reason that the mass vaccination campaign, which in the first and second phase concerns older people, must be accelerated in order to create a protective barrier against the fragile sections of our population.