This is our off-week in terms of providing a reasonably comprehensive statistical summary of the current state of the pandemic in that, of our main sources, only Ontario and the cross-Canada wastewater report have published. A more up-to-date picture will have to wait until next week.
The Canada-wide municipal wastewater COVID testing curve shows the seasonal decline in viral counts which began in late February slowing but continuing. Those counts are now so low that further declines will be marginal at most. That is consistent with Ontario’s PCR COVID testing results which also show similarly-falling positivity rates at the lowest-ever values. Likewise Ontario COVID hospitalization and ICU bed occupancy rates.
The more independent health statisticians at COVID-19 Resources Canada have not updated their estimate one in every 367 people being infected and therefore infectious, the lowest-ever value for that indicator.
We’ll also have to wait another week for Public Health Canada’s biweekly report on currently-circulating COVID variants to get a better sense of the surprising shift in dominant viral families which was reported last week.