Hamiltonians may be looking to get over COVID-19 after nearly two years of suffering rest and restrictions, but the city’s chief medical officer says it’s just not over.
Ontario’s Science Board shares that forecast with data from late June shared on social media last week showing that sewage calls, positive tests and hospitalizations for the virus are on the rise.
This likely means the province is already in another wave of COVID-19 driven by the highly contagious BA.5 Omicron sub-variant.
Read more: Ontario municipal leaders call for action amid several temporary emergency room closures
“The COVID virus is going to be with us for a long time,” Richardson told Hamilton Today on 900 CHML.
“We’re going to continue to see these new options emerge as it goes forward, and we’re all going to have to continue to pay attention to that.”
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Last week, five of Hamilton Public Health’s key COVID-19 surveillance indicators showed increasing trends, including the seven-day average of new cases, which moved from the 33 reported in mid-June to 62 per day on July 3.
Active institutional outbreaks essentially doubled from eight reported on June 21-19 to July 5. Viral signals in wastewater detecting COVID-19 in samples have steadily increased since June 1, approaching levels seen in Omicron’s initial wave in mid-January.
Trends in University of Ottawa wastewater testing results for COVID-19 using samples taken from Hamilton’s Woodward Avenue treatment plant. Researchers track the amount of coronavirus present in city sewage.
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Dr. Timothy Sly, an epidemiologist and professor emeritus at Toronto Metropolitan University, has no doubt the province is in for another wave, with hospitalization rates increasing by about a hundred a month and the continued spread of the Omicron variant family.
Despite signs that the current option is less dangerous for most people, it is sending others to hospital, putting more pressure on medical services at a time when staffing is low and absenteeism rates have soared.
Hamilton’s hospitals are struggling in this department, as Hamilton Health Sciences and St. Joe’s reported in May a total of 700 jobs they were unable to fill.
Add to that the estimated 300 staff and doctors who have been self-isolating at home since the first week of July and massive delays in operations, which are reported to have around 15,000 procedures on hold as of the first quarter of 2022.
2:15 Some emergency rooms are overwhelmed as new wave of COVID-19 hits Previous video Next video
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“One thing’s for sure, we’re moving toward … a real endemic situation,” Sly said on 900 CHML’s Good Morning Hamilton.
“This does not mean the end of the pandemic, as some people have asked me. It just means a level where, like the common cold or flu on a seasonal basis, we expect it to be there.”
Richardson says she’s not sure what an endemic scenario will look like in the future, but if suffering is contained through new variants, the general population will need to better understand the science behind COVID-19.
“That’s why it’s so important to get used to watching what’s going on, watching what needs to be done,” Richardson said.
Read more: New COVID-19 Omicron mutation sparks concern in India and beyond
Both Richardson and Sly emphasize the importance of keeping up with vaccines, saying the measure is “critical.”
Sly says the current version of COVID-19 circulating in the population is indeed a disease that requires three-dose protection.
“And if they offer you the fourth dose, take it. “It’s a surefire defense,” Sly said.
Richardson is even suggesting a return to indoor masking for many Hamiltonians — especially those who have discovered for two years that they are vulnerable to the virus.
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“Yes, I’ll say it again, sometimes we have to wear masks,” Richardson said.
“We will have to see what happens in our community and look at wearing masks when we are in crowded places.”
© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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