Dr Peter Jüni, head of Ontario’s COVID-19 Scientific Advisory Board, says the province has seen the effect of easing public health measures in recent weeks – including lifting mask orders in most regulations and ending concentration limits. “We are seeing a fairly sharp increase in sewage at the moment, and it is now being followed by an increase in the fullness of hospitals,” Jüni told CBC News on Wednesday morning. “We are in the middle of it, as we call it. It is either the resurgence expected after the resumption of the last wave or you can call it the sixth wave.” Experts predicted an increase in cases and hospitalizations by lifting the measures, but urged Ontarians to continue to be vigilant and wear masks in busy indoor environments. Jüni said the latest predictions made by the scientific panel predicting an increase in hospital occupancy should be re-evaluated based on the behavior seen by health experts. These forecasts showed an increase in hospitalizations, although not as high as the peak of the Omicron wave of the pandemic.
New COVID wave in progress
Jüni said he did not expect the burden on the province’s healthcare system to be as high as previous waves due to high vaccination rates, but noted that it was difficult to know how much of an impact it would have. He continued to urge Ontarians to take precautions. “We need to change our behavior only moderately and slowly to make sure that the upward slope is not too steep.” Dr Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist at the University Health Network, said the sewage signals were “very clear” and had an upward trend, noting that another wave was under way. CLOCKS Specialist Infectious Diseases Specialist in increasing sewage signals:
New wave of COVID underway in Ontario, says expert
New wave of COVID underway in Ontario, says expert 5:26
“There is more COVID now than there was a week or two ago, [but] The real question here is “How big will this wave be?” no “Is there a wave?” Bogoch told CBC News on Tuesday.
“I do not think it will be as big as the wave we just had [but] it will be something again “.
“Sewage monitoring data is useful for experts to project the transmission of the virus in specific areas and how it will affect hospitals in the coming days or weeks, while data such as hospitalization and the fullness of the ICU are ‘delayed measurements,’” he said.
Bogoch noted that while the highly contagious BA.2 subtype is more contagious, vaccines still offer high levels of protection against serious diseases for both the subtype and Omicron.
For now, Bogoch encourages people to continue wearing masks, as they remain effective in reducing the risk of transmission and creating safer indoor environments.
In a statement to CBC News on Wednesday, the Ministry of Health said that the General Practitioner Director of Health of the province, Dr. Kieran Moore, will continue to monitor data and data on an ongoing basis.
“As Dr. Moore said earlier, the rates are expected to rise as Ontarians increasingly interact with each other. However, thanks to high vaccination rates and our natural immunity, as well as the arrival of antiviral drugs, Ontario has “the necessary tools to manage the effects of the virus,” the statement said.
The province did not say whether it intends to reinstate any public health measures. All other claims are due by April 27, according to the Ontario Reopening Plan.
“The latest modeling shows that our hospitals and health system can manage any of the scenarios without compromising our ability to continue to deal with the outstanding surgery caused by the pandemic,” the ministry added.
778 are hospitalized, another 13 deaths
The number of hospitalizations reported on Wednesday is slightly lower than 790 the previous day, although it has increased from 611 a week ago. Of the admissions reported, the number of patients in the intensive care unit remained the same as the previous day, with the Ministry of Health reporting 165 today. This is below 174 in the same period last week. Of those treated, 50 percent were admitted specifically for treatment of symptoms caused by the virus, while the rest were admitted for other reasons and then tested positive. Meanwhile, 73 percent of people in the ICU were admitted because of COVID-19, while the rest were added for other reasons and then tested positive for the virus. Thirteen more deaths were reported, bringing the total death toll in the province to 12,427. Another 2,814 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded through limited PCR testing on Wednesday, although the scientific table estimates that the actual number is between 30,000 and 35,000 cases according to sewage monitoring data. Here are some other key pandemic indicators and data from Daily provincial information of the Ministry of Health: Active cases: 17,309. Positiveness rate throughout the province: 15.1, from Tuesday’s 14.4 percent. ICU patients who need a ventilator to breathe: 94. Long-term care homes on the rise: 56. Vaccinations: 8,484 doses of vaccine were administered on Tuesday in Ontario with a total of 32,054,772 given to date. Just over 89.9 percent of Ontario residents aged five and over have taken at least one dose, while just over 86.4 percent have taken two doses.
