While very little appears to have changed in Ontario pandemic-wise over the past week, our ability to inform ourselves of the risks is becoming ever-more curtailed. The Ford Government has gratuitously terminated the previously excellent province-wide wastewater COVID testing program which had until now provided the most reliable early warning of changes to Ontario’s infection rates. In a strongly seasonal pandemic which, Mr. Ford’s political preferences notwithstanding, this still remains, the ability to make rational decisions about when it is wise to protect one’s health by managing close contacts with strangers can make literally make a life-or-death difference. In his world, consistency with his political narrative obviously trumps lives.
I am still including Ontario wastewater test results in our weekly composite chart for lack of an alternative, but it is no longer representative of what’s actually happening in Ontario, representing as it does only four Toronto treatment plants. That puts the lie to Mr. Ford’s lame excuse that he cancelled the program because it duplicated what is published by Public Health Canada.
The graphs all suggest a continued, still-modest seasonal rise in new infections. The independent COVID-19 Resources Canada estimates that one in every 74 Ontarians are currently battling COVID bouts and therefore infectious.
Turning to the latest Public Health Canada report on circulating COVID variants, the JN.1 family of Omicron variants continues to account for virtually all new Canadian infections. KP3.1.1 has the largest single “market share” at 40% and its many close “KP” cousin strains add up to another 45%.