The most recent official statistics on COVID-19 infections suggest that the seasonal decline in new Ontario infections has continued, with new cases having fallen below the levels of last year at this time.
Nationally, as you can see from this week’s composite chart, Canada-wide municipal wastewater COVID viral counts appear to have risen slightly, bringing the numbers to almost exactly what they were last year at this time. In Ontario, however, positive PCR COVID test results continued their decline, which suggests that the seasonal fall in the rate of new infections still has room for further reductions. Ontario COVID hospitalizations have likewise fallen below last year’s levels. ICU admissions showed a slight rise, but the actual numbers are so low that some statistical jitter is to be expected.
Public Health Canada’s most recent biweekly report on the relative “market shares” of currently-circulating COVID variants confirms that the newer PQ family of Omicron variants is now clearly dominant, accounting for 46% of all new Canadian COVID infections. The previously-dominant XFG family dropped to 26% and will likely to continue that decline. There is no still no indication significant difference in the relative symptom severity of those two families.