The official COVID-related statistics released this past week again show little change in the current mild rise in new COVID infections, which was expected given the inherent seasonality of respiratory viruses. What’s different from our 2023 experience is that that summer trough was higher and the rise began in July, almost a month earlier.
As summarized in our composite chart, the published rate of increase for Ontario is relatively modest, but quite meaningless due to the Ford governments predictable cancellation of the Province’s valuable municipal wastewater COVID testing program. The provincial average now only comprises the four remaining Toronto treatment plants which report to Public Health Canada. After all, one wouldn’t want the masses getting their COVID information directly from the facts, which might contradict the government political messaging as crafted by the Premier’s Office.
The August 3 – 16 estimate of the number of currently-infected Ontarians by the more independent COVID-19 Resources Canada statisticians is one in every 74 people infected and therefore infectious.
I alternate the latest US Centers for Disease data on circulating COVID variants with those of Public Heath Canada because the former frequently serves as a good preview of what we can expect here. As in Canada, JN.1 family of Omicron variants continues to account for almost all of those new infections, with the “KP”-prefixed stains dominant at some 78%. KP.3.1.1 is the “market leader” at 37%, having jumped five-fold over the past 8 weeks.