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Jul 08, 2022 • 35 minutes ago • 3 minutes read • Join the conversation Dr. Wasim Saad, chief of staff at Windsor Regional Hospital, is shown in his office on Thursday, June 3, 2021. Photo by Dan Janis / Windsor Star
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Local health officials warned Friday that Windsor-Essex is on the brink of a seventh wave of COVID-19 with a new strain that is highly contagious and easily reinfects its victims.
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“It seems to have the ability to evade the immune system,” said Dr. Wasim Saad, chief of staff at Windsor Regional Hospital. “There have been case reports of patients acquiring this variant twice within a month, which is something we have not seen with any previous variant.
“Before, if you had an infection, you felt relatively protected because your immune system would protect you for at least a few months, sometimes up to six months. This is absolutely not the case with this option.
Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario’s chief medical officer, told The Canadian Press this week that the province is officially in the seventh wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The province should make a decision next week on potentially expanding eligibility for fourth doses of the vaccine, he said.
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The culprit was a subvariant of Omicron called BA.5, which quickly became the dominant strain of the virus.
“I think it’s generally accepted that BA.5 will have a higher disease burden,” said Dr. Shankar Nesaturai, acting medical officer of health for the Windsor-Essex County Health Department.
Saad said the Windsor region is generally several weeks behind Toronto and other larger regions in Ontario, so the worst of this wave is likely yet to come. Nesaturai said it’s possible the new wave will continue to swell through the summer.
“We will see increased disease activity in the short and medium term,” he said. “I am concerned about continued disease activity in the fall as we have more people indoors.”
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The pandemic is not over
The concern is that while BA.5 infections do not appear to be more severe than previous variants, more people are likely to become infected. This can lead to more hospitalizations for the elderly and people with other health problems.
Windsor Regional Hospital is already short on beds and dealing with an overcrowded emergency department where wait times for a first doctor’s appointment often exceed five hours.
Saad said the hospital had to suspend scheduled operations for several days this week due to a bed shortage.
“It shows you that we’re teetering right on the edge,” he said. “There’s not a lot of flexibility in the system and we don’t have a lot of capacity. Any additional strain on the system will harm it.
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“It’s one of those things that we always talk about that we’re close to the tipping point. But if this seventh wave is significant, knowing that we are entering the summer months at or above capacity, it could be detrimental to our ability to provide safe and adequate health care in our region.”
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Windsor Regional Hospital is struggling with the highest emergency room wait times in Ontario
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COVID-19 is taking the lives of residents of the Windsor-Essex community, the region’s top doctor says
Nesaturai said it was time for renewed vigilance.
“We have to change our strategy,” he said. “Part of that is when we have higher disease activity, we have to have a greater number of public health restrictions.”
The health unit still recommends that people wear masks indoors, where they are outside their own homes. Nesaturai added that only 35 percent of people in Windsor-Essex are vaccinated. The recommended number of doses and boosters varies by age and health.
“I think the fact that we only have 35 percent of people who are up-to-date on their vaccinations worries us that maybe as a community we could be more vigilant in trying to manage COVID-19,” Nesaturai said.
“The pandemic is not over.”
twilhelm@postmedia.com
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