TORONTO – The surge in infections already recorded last week in Ontario shows no sign of decreasing: today the province reported 1,476 new cases of Covid-19 and 8 deaths. Infections were 1,607 on Saturday (the high number in seven months) and on Friday 1,452. The seven-day moving average of daily cases is now 1,236 (Saturday it was 1,194, a week ago 761). 

Ontario laboratories processed 38,477 samples, with a positivity rate soaring to 5.4%, the highest since May 25. According to data held by the Ministry of Health, 576 of today’s cases involve unvaccinated people, 36 involve partially vaccinated people, 771 are related to a fully vaccinated person and 93 involve people with an unknown vaccination status. Unvaccinated and partially vaccinated people on Sunday account for 41% of cases, but only 23% of the Ontario population. This ratio has been declining for months, possibly due to the declaration of immunity among those fully vaccinated and the growing impact in the last few weeks of the Omicron variant.

According to the Science Advisory Table, more than 10% of all reports registered in the province now appear to be attributable to the Omicron variant.

The 8 deaths recorded today bring the total, since the beginning of the pandemic, in Ontario to 10,078, while the active cases are now more than 10 thousand (10,803, the highest number since last May 31).

Hospitalizations: 158 patients in intensive care units, an increase of 12 compared to Saturday.

As for the distribution of cases today, Toronto recorded 226 new infections, the Peel region 96, the York region 73 and Durham 53. Halton reported 52 new cases and Hamilton 67.

Vaccines: About 62,000 doses of the vaccine were administered on Saturday. Of these, 23,642 were first doses, 4,557 second doses and 33,721 third doses. 87% of Ontario residents received at least one dose of the vaccine, and 77% received 1% due. About 7.5% of the Ontario population received the third dose.

In Québec the infections are even higher. Today 1,753 were recorded, Saturday 1,982 and Friday 2,013 (more than two thousand for the first time since last January). Of those who tested positive today, 876 were not vaccinated or received one dose of the vaccine, 37 received one dose, and 840 received both doses of the vaccine. Another death was also recorded, bringing the total number of deaths since the beginning of the pandemic in Quebec to 11,608. Admissions increased by 11 to 262 (68 of them in intensive care). The current positives in Quebec are 16,651.

After the great emergency of the past weeks, it seems to get better the situation in Alberta where last week there were between 200 and 300 reports. On Friday (latest available) 287 cases were detected, including four cases of the Omicron variant: three of the new Omicron cases were identified in the Calgary area and one was registered in the Edmonton area, bringing the total figure for the province a 23. Cases of variants are identified through a second screening carried out after a first positive test for Covid-19: the time required for this further screening means that the new Omicron cases have probably been present for several days and are more numerous than those “cataloged” so far.

In the pic, the Chinook Regional Hospital in Lethbridge, Alberta (photo by Graham Ruttan on Unsplash)