2023-08-15 21:51:17
COVID-19 infections may be slowly on the rise in Canada, according to new data from the Public Health Agency of Canada.
“Some COVID-19 activity indicators continue to show signs of fluctuation following a long period of gradual decline. This might be an early sign of increased activity,” the agency’s online epidemiological update said Tuesday.
COVID-19 activity levels were low to moderate in all provinces and territories that submitted activity data, the update said.
The Dre Allison McGeer, an infectious disease specialist at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, said COVID-19 cases were on the rise in the United States and other parts of the world.
“I think strong evidence shows that COVID is coming back (in Canada),” she said, specifying that a noticeable increase in activity probably won’t happen for “at least a few weeks.”
Public health experts are using sewage monitoring across the country and COVID-19 test positivity rates to determine the level of COVID-19 activity.
Although polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing in the general public has largely stopped, people are still being tested if they are hospitalized or have symptoms of COVID-19 and are people likely to be treated with Paxlovid, said Mr.me McGeer.
Declining immunity as vaccines fade, the presence of new subvariants, and the fact that people will be indoors more in the fall are all factors that will play a role in the increase cases, she explained.
The sub-variants
XBB subvariants of the Omicron variant accounted for 99% of COVID-19 cases during the week of July 16, the Public Health Agency of Canada said.
McMaster University immunologist Dawn Bowdish reported that the XBB family, which derives from the Omicron variant, currently dominates in Canada.
This family includes the EG.5 subvariant, which is expected to become the dominant variant in Canada in the coming weeks, she says.
Prof Bowdish added that the EG.5 subvariant, dubbed Eris, appears to be more contagious than previous subvariants, but there is currently no evidence that it causes more severe disease in healthy people.
The increase in the number of COVID-19 cases will mainly affect the elderly and the immunocompromised, Ms.mes McGee and Bowdish.
The Dre McGeer says new COVID-19 vaccines due this fall should effectively fight the virus.
Given that the updated COVID-19 vaccines expected this fall have been developed to target the XBB family of subvariants, they are likely to have “very high efficacy both in preventing severe infection, but also at least to temporarily reduce the risk of developing a disease with symptoms,” said Ms.me Bowdish.
In addition to getting vaccinated as soon as the vaccine becomes available, public health agencies across the country continue to advise staying home when feeling sick as a protective measure once morest the spread of COVID-19.
Mask requirements across Canada have largely been lifted, but are still in place in the patient care areas of many hospitals.
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