In a new report on Thursday, the group says it is uncertain whether the current plateau in sewage indicators will remain, will be followed by an increase after the holidays or if cases will decrease. Dr Peter Jüni, who heads the science board, warned that it was too early to say if cases had fully peaked, warning that things could change – especially as Easter weekend approached. “We do not know in which direction this will go; it is very difficult to make predictions.” The latest modeling suggests that Ontario is well into the sixth wave of the pandemic, driven by the new, more contagious BA.2 subtype, lowering immunity and easing public health measures. Ontario reported 1,392 people hospitalized with COVID-19 on Thursday and 23 more virus-related deaths. Hospital occupancy is likely to continue to rise for some time, the team says. Indoor coverage will continue to significantly reduce the risk of infection and the spread of the virus, the team added. The recommendation comes as Ontario Prime Minister Doug Ford told reporters Thursday that he would be “more than happy” to extend the remaining public health restrictions beyond the expected April 27th expiration date if Health Director Dr. Kieran Moore, recommend it.
You can read the full report of the scientific table at the bottom of this story.
(Ontario COVID-19 Scientific Advisory Board)
Asked about the expected modeling of the scientific table in an irrelevant press conference on Thursday, Ford said he heard “positive” things about sewage, but encouraged people to remain vigilant.
“If you have 15 people, put on your mask; it does not hurt,” Ford said ahead of the holiday weekend.
“We have been through it for two years, it is common sense.”
Health Minister Christine Eliot, who spoke to Ford at the press conference, reiterated that the province would be able to “handle any increases” after Moore said earlier this week that the province’s ICUs could see up to 600 patients.
(Ontario COVID-19 Scientific Advisory Board)
Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist at the University Health Network in Toronto, said it was “wonderful to see” contamination levels fall and even fall in most areas in the latest wastewater forecasts.
“The rate of hospitalization also appears to be low,” Bogoc tweeted on Wednesday.
“It’s still early and there is a lot of COVID out there, but we can get out of this wave.”
1,332 hospitalizations, 32 more deaths were reported
Meanwhile, today’s hospitals mark a jump from 1,332 on Wednesday and 1,126 at that time last week. Of the reported admissions, 177 patients are in the intensive care unit. This is reduced from 182 a day earlier, but from 159 a week ago. Eighty-one patients are on respirators due to the virus. The county reported another 4,589 cases of COVID-19 through limited PCR testing, with 23,046 tests completed the previous day. Thursday’s test was 18.1 percent, up from 17.5 percent on Wednesday. The 23 additional virus-related deaths bring the total number of deaths in Ontario to 12,606. The Ministry of Health noted that it will not update the COVID-19 data on its website on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Instead, the data will be made public every day. On Wednesday, select pharmacies across the province were able to begin distributing a prescription pill for COVID-19 to those with a prescription, as the province announced it would expand distribution of Paxlovid earlier this week. Ontario also extended the eligibility parameters for Paxlovid to anyone 70 years of age and older, people 60 years of age and older with less than three doses of COVID-19, and people 18 years of age and older with less than three doses of the vaccine and at least one risk factor such as chronic medical condition.
