COVID-19 Ontario 6th wave

2022 - 3 - 29

ontario covid 19

Post cover — Image courtesy of "CP24 Toronto's Breaking News"

Ontario COVID-19 news: province reports 13 net new deaths ... (CP24 Toronto's Breaking News)

Ontario reported 13 net new COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday, as epidemiologists warn Ontario is now in a sixth wave of the pandemic.

The Ministry of Health says that of the 2,814 cases confirmed through PCR testing on Wednesday, 312 involved unvaccinated or partially vaccinated people, 773 involved people with two doses of vaccine and 1,530 involved people with three doses of vaccine, while the vaccination status of 199 others was not known. A national database study conducted in Qatar and published in the New England Journal of Medicine last month found that prior infection prevented reinfection in 90 per cent of cases during the Alpha and Delta variant periods, but only 56 per cent during Omicron. He said that the prevailing wisdom among epidemiologists and immunologists is that vaccination along with prior infection will make this wave less severe than the Omicron surge of December and January. “We don’t want anyone to get COVID, we don’t want anyone to get sick, we don’t want anyone to go to hospital and we don’t want anyone to die, but it’s probably going to be a smaller wave than the one we just had.” A growing number of epidemiologists believe the province is now entering a sixth wave of COVID-19, driven largely by the more transmissible BA.2 Omicron subvariant. The Ministry of Health said 12 of the deaths reported Wednesday occurred in the past 30 days and one occurred prior to that period.

Ontario to give out rapid tests until July as science table head says ... (CBC.ca)

Ontario is reporting 778 people hospitalized with COVID-19 Wednesday as health experts are cautioning people to keep wearing masks as the province sees a ...

Meanwhile, 73 per cent of people in ICU were admitted because of COVID-19, while the rest were added for other reasons, then tested positive for the virus. Vaccinations: 8,484 vaccine doses were administered on Tuesday in Ontario with a total of 32,054,772 given out to date. Jüni said the latest projections made by the science table that predicted an increase in hospital occupancy will need to be re-evaluated based on the behaviour health experts are seeing. The province did not specifically say if it plans to re-introduce any public health measures. "We are in the middle of it, however we call it. That's down from 174 at the same time last week. "As Dr. Moore has previously said, indicators are expected to rise as Ontarians increasingly interact with one another. However, thanks to our high vaccination rates and natural immunity, as well as the arrival of antivirals, Ontario has the tools necessary to manage the impact of the virus," the statement reads. In a statement to CBC News Wednesday, the Ministry of Health said the province's Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Kieran Moore, will continue to monitor the data and evidence on an "ongoing basis. The Ford government will continue to provide free rapid antigen tests until at least the end of July as the head of the Ontario Science Advisory Table says the province is in the midst of a sixth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ontario reported 778 people hospitalized with COVID-19 Wednesday as health experts are cautioning people to keep wearing masks as the province sees a rise in hospital occupancy in the wake of public health measures being lifted. The news comes as Dr. Peter Jüni, head of the COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, says the province is seeing the effect of easing of public health measures in the past few weeks — including the lifting of mask mandates in most settings and the end of gathering limits.

Ontario Doctor Claims 6th COVID-19 Wave Is Here & This Is Why ... (Narcity)

Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist with the University Health Network, told CP24 that Ontario is in a wave — however, it is unclear how big the ...

"As Dr. Moore has previously said, indicators are expected to rise as Ontarians increasingly interact with one another. "It's clear that there are more cases now than there were a week ago and two weeks ago. Ontario reported 2,814 new daily COVID-19 cases for March 30, a steep 74.78% increase from Tuesday's daily COVID-19 numbers and the highest daily case count for March 2022.

Experts say a 6th wave of COVID-19 is now well underway in Ontario (blogTO)

Ontario is now fully immersed in a sixth wave of the COVID pandemic, according to Science Advisory Table director Dr. Peter Jüni — we just can't te...

"The point here really is it's entirely our responsibility what we're seeing and we just got a little bit too much ahead of ourselves and here we are," said Jüni to CP24 of rising infection counts. Unfortunately, it's hard to predict any imminent hospital capacity problems because we don't know how many people are getting sick. BA.2, a highly-transmissible subvariant of Omicron, has been making headlines around the world in recent days for its swift proliferation. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed this week that BA.2 is now the dominant strain of COVID-19 circulating stateside, accounting for an estimated 55 per cent of all infections. "Oh, we're in the middle of it. Critics have been arguing since the government's latest reopening plan was announced that it seems hasty.

'We're really heading into the storm': Wastewater readings show ... (Toronto Star)

Ontario case rates now on a similar trajectory to where they were in mid-December when the Omicron wave was beginning to build.

Although Ontario is processing a fraction of the PCR tests it was handling late last year, the province has continued to conduct targeted testing in vulnerable settings. The table’s estimate peaked at about 130,000 daily cases in early January. “Many people are behaving as if the pandemic is almost over. It’s people just dropping their guards and increasing their high-risk contacts, such as gathering with others indoors without masks.” The wastewater analysis is not the only signal that Ontario is in another wave. It’s us.

Ontario's sixth COVID-19 wave being driven by eased restrictions ... (CTV Toronto)

The head of Ontario's COVID-19 Science Advisory Table says it is 'very clear' that Ontario is now in the middle of a sixth wave of the pandemic driven by a ...

2 hr ago 2 hr ago 2 hr ago 2 hr ago 2 hr ago 2 hr ago 2 hr ago He hopes now that a new doc about his experience inspires dialogue, empathy and compassion. 2 hr ago "So we're going to continue to do our best with the resources that we have." Juni estimated, based on viral levels measured in wastewater, that Ontario is currently seeing somewhere between 30,000 and 35,000 new infections per day. "The point here really is it's entirely our responsibility what we're seeing and we just got a little bit too much ahead of ourselves and here we are," Juni said.

Sixth wave was 'guaranteed' after mask mandates dropped, experts ... (CTV News)

As officials in Ontario and Quebec report the provinces have entered a sixth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, some experts say the rise in infections was ...

Pirzada said the slower uptake of boosters compared to previous doses is "very concerning." especially if you're within four or five months of your booster," he said. In regards to booster shots, roughly 50 per cent of eligible Canadians – those aged 12 and older -- have received a third dose. With a booster dose of the Pfizer vaccine, protection increased to 67.2 per cent after two to four weeks, but again began to wane as more time went on. This will offer quite some immunity, but we're certainly not out of the woods," he said. "Governments will have to be clever, but they'll have to walk back the mask mandate somehow because the big religious holiday season is coming up.