“There’s a chance that things could get significantly worse if we’re not a little bit careful and we don’t take some basic steps to try to mitigate the spread of these variants,” Dr. Christopher Labos, a Montreal epidemiologist and cardiologist, told CTV News. The more virulent BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants are expected to account for a larger share of all COVID-19 cases in Canada. Labos says people may be more vulnerable if more time has passed since their last dose of the vaccine. He also noted that Canada’s provinces and territories have lifted many of the public health restrictions, including coverage requirements. “If you’re going to be indoors with a lot 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 virus from spreading and it’s a low-cost, low-risk way to let’s do it,” Labos said. The Ontario COVID-19 Scientific Advisory Panel estimates that concentrations of COVID-19 in wastewater are already at half of what they were at 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 obviously not the best news in July. We’re seeing significant increases in the wastewater signal,” Robert Delatolla, a University of Ottawa professor who has researched wastewater treatment and disease surveillance, told CTV National News. Increases in the sewage signal could serve as a leading indicator of what may come in terms of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, as is the case in Quebec. “I think it’s good from a communication standpoint, so the public knows, so people can make their own decisions in terms of what they do. If they want to cover again, if they’re going to go to certain events or not, and if they do these events maybe with a mask or without,” Delatolla said. Meanwhile, hospital staffing shortages are adding another strain to the health care system. The issue is expected to be a topic of discussion at the next meeting of Canadian prime ministers in Victoria this week, with continued calls for the federal government to increase its share of health care spending. With files from CTV News and The Canadian Press
