This is our off-week for availability of new data because, apart from Public Health Ontario and the federal summary of provincial wastewater testing, with all of our other statistical data sources reporting only every other week.
As you can see from this week’s composite chart, the Canada municipal wastewater PCR test results show a modest uptick in the quantity of circulating COVID viruses, which is to be expected in the lead-up to the usual holiday season spike in new cases. However, the Ontario PCR test positivity rate shows a modest decline over the past week. Given that the actual number of tests skyrocketed, the most likely explanation for this apparent dichotomy is that a lot of people have been experiencing flu-like symptoms, but the majority turn out to be flues and other non-Covid upper respiratory infections. The fact that Ontario COVID hospitalizations and ICU bed occupancy have continued rising fairly steeply (now at two-thirds of last year’s rate) suggest that the expected seasonal surge has indeed begun.
The chart of currently-circulating COVID variants across Canada will be updated after Public Health Canada next publishes its biweekly analysis.