As Ontario officially enters a seventh wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, some of Ottawa’s own health experts say the city is “going blind” directly.
According to Dr. Kieran Moore, medical director of the province, the BA.5 subvariant has been rising slowly since early June, but it really began to “take off” in mid-month, becoming a dominant strain and now representing the about 60 percent of confirmed cases.
Coronavirus levels in Ottawa’s wastewater are “high and rising,” according to Ottawa Public Health (OPH). As of Sunday morning, there were 62 patients hospitalized with COVID, including patients initially admitted for other reasons. Six deaths were reported last week.
Despite possible immunity, the latest subvariants mean a higher likelihood of reinfection compared to earlier variants earlier this year, according to Dr. Raywat Deonandan, an epidemiologist and associate professor at the University of Ottawa.
Combine that with the disappearance of most pandemic restrictions and the jump in COVID-19 infections is not surprising.
“I’m very worried that when autumn comes and the days get cold, people go back inside and the schools are open. If we don’t have it under control by then, maybe we’ll be facing a slightly more serious situation.” said Deonandan.
No more widespread testing
It’s unclear if and when this current wave will peak, he said, because “we’re not testing enough”.
Widespread testing ended about seven months ago, with OPH unable to keep up with demand, rather than giving priority to vulnerable populations and essential workers. Even after the number of cases dropped, widespread evidence never returned to Ottawa.
“We’re in a kind of new territory because we’re blind,” Deonandan said. “We don’t have the same number of eyes on the situation as in the past, because public health has other priorities.”
Tyson Graber is the associate research scientist and lead co-researcher of Ottawa’s coronavirus wastewater control program. (Francis Ferland / CBC)
Tyson Graber, an associate researcher and co-lead researcher on Ottawa’s coronavirus wastewater control program, said Ottawa and the rest of the country will likely reflect Europe. Wastewater trends are expected to show cases and hospitalizations reaching their peak over the next week “so we hope to see that here in Ottawa as well.”
While hospitalization rates are expected to increase with higher infection rates, “it won’t be as bad as it had been in the past,” Graber said.
The OPH should intensify messaging
Deonandan said we are also unlikely to see a return of pandemic restrictions because public tolerance “is very low,” but added “frankly, we don’t need to do that.”
What needs to happen, he said, is for people to take steps to protect themselves from infection, such as wearing a mask in high-risk settings and keeping up to date with vaccines.
Deonandan also said he wants to see the city increase its COVID-19 messages. OPH has reduced its COVID-19 control panel upgrade to twice a week. Dr. Vera Etches, an Ottawa medical officer, no longer conducts regular briefings.
“I’m a little disappointed that it seems like we’re accepting a narrative that everything is fine, when in fact there are a lot of things we can and need to do to make sure the transmission is low,” he said.
INSTANT COVID-19: JULY 7, 2022
Local data show that Ottawa is on a new wave of COVID-19. We’ve been here before & we all know the drill.
Remember that what we do now will make a difference in the coming weeks.
Watch this week’s video and read the tweets below for more information. (1/4) pic.twitter.com/VuurAd7Gj4
– @OttawaHealth
In a statement, Dr. Brent Moloughney, Ottawa’s assistant health doctor, said public health has posted a weekly “snapshot” of COVID-19 on its website and social media platforms to help residents understand the extent of the infection in the community.
The snapshots are intended to “inform the assessment of their level of risk and how to apply different layers of protection.”
Moloughney wrote that people are encouraged to continue wearing masks indoors and to keep up with COVID-19 vaccines.
“The pandemic is not over and although we are tired of COVID-19, COVID-19 is not tired of us. We need to be aware of the level of risk of COVID-19 in our community and in our lives,” he said. to say. statement read.