As summer festivals begin across Canada, so does a new wave of COVID-19, experts warn.
“There’s the potential for things to get significantly worse if we’re not a little careful and take some basic steps to try to mitigate the spread of these variants,” Dr. Christopher Labos, a Montreal-based epidemiologist and cardiologist, told CTV News .
The more infectious BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants are expected to account for a greater proportion of all cases of COVID-19 in Canada.
Labos says people may be more vulnerable if it’s been longer since their last vaccine dose.
He also noted that Canada’s provinces and territories have lifted many of their public health restrictions, including masking requirements.
“If you’re going to be indoors with a bunch of other people breathing the same air, I don’t know why you wouldn’t want to wear a mask at that point because it will prevent the spread of the virus and it’s a low-cost, low-risk way to do that,” Labos said.
Ontario’s COVID-19 Scientific Advisory Table estimates that concentrations of COVID-19 in wastewater are now half of what they were during the peak of the last Omicron wave in April and could reach those heights in a few weeks.
“The data we’re looking at now is clearly not the best news in July. We’re seeing significant increases in the wastewater signal,” Robert Dellatola, a University of Ottawa professor who has researched wastewater treatment and disease surveillance, told CTV National News.
An increase in the wastewater alert could serve as a leading indicator of what may happen in terms of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, as is the case in Quebec.
“I think it’s good in terms of communication, so that the public knows, so that people can make their own decisions about what they do. Whether they want to mask up again, whether they’re going to go to certain events or not , and if they’re doing these events, maybe with or without a mask,” Delatola said.
Meanwhile, hospital staffing shortages are further straining the health system.
The issue is expected to be a topic of discussion at the next meeting of Canadian premiers in Victoria this week, as calls continue for the federal government to increase its share of health care spending.
With files from CTV News and The Canadian Press
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