This is the off-week in the sense of availability of new data because, apart from Public Health Ontario and the federal summary of provincial wastewater testing, all of our other statistical data sources now report only every other week.
As you can see from this week’s composite chart, both the Canada and Ontario PCR test results suggest that the rate of new COVID infections has remained fairly constant over the past six weeks after the usual late-summer/early-fall rise. What’s puzzling is that test results are normally an early indicator of pandemic severity, with hospitalizations following suit a couple of weeks later. This time, Ontario’s COVID hospital and ICU bed occupancy rates have returned to their early-fall highs despite the infection rates of the previous weeks remaining relatively constant. While I can’t offer any explanation for that dichotomy, it’s comforting that hospitalizations are still running at little more than 30% of those at this time last year.
The chart of currently-circulating COVID variants in our country will be updated after Public Health Canada next publishes its biweekly analysis.