A summertime wave of the COVID-19 pandemic may be in the early stages of plateauing, with the latest data showing little or no change in most public health indicators over the last week.
The Ministry of Health says that there are now 1,492 people in hospitals testing positive for COVID-19, compared to 1,483 at this time last week. Of those people, 138 are in intensive care.
The pace of the increase marks a significant departure from last Thursday when COVID-19 hospitalizations had risen by more than 50 per cent week-over week.
Other public health indicators are also showing signs of plateauing after being on the rise since mid-June.
Over the last seven days an average of 1,701 new cases of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus were confirmed through PCR testing each day, virtually unchanged from the previous seven-day period (1,697).
That’s compared to a nearly 18 per cent week-over-week increase last Thursday.
In its latest epidemiological summary, also released today, Public Health Ontario points out that case rates are nonetheless still on the rise in 25 of Ontario’s 34 public health units.
The arms-length government organization also said that while hospital admissions decreased to 402 this week, from 507 last week a “trend of increasing deaths since the beginning of Wave 7 is now evident.”
“The number of severe outcomes reported in future weeks may increase, as these outcomes are lagging indicator,” it warned.
The latest data released by the ministry is line with wastewater surveillance performed by the Ontario Science Advisory Table, which is showing a slight reduction in viral activity in some parts of Ontario, including the Greater Toronto Area.
Members of the science advisory table, it should be noted, were among the first to sound the alarm about a summertime wave driven by the BA.5 subvariant back on July 6.
In its report, Public Health Ontario said that case rates are still on the ascent in four regions but are declining in three other regions. It said that the number of outbreaks in the handful of settings with widespread access to PCR testing also declined 16 per cent over the last week.
“Fewer outbreaks were reported this week compared to last week in group homes/supportive housing (36% decrease), long-term care homes (20% decrease), and retirement homes (11% decrease). Hospitals, correctional facilities, and shelters reported a similar number of outbreaks this week compared to last week,” it said.
The province added 82 net new deaths to its COVID-19 tally over the last week, up from 62 the week before.
It is the highest number of deaths included in one update since the province switched over to weekly reporting earlier this summer. The number of fatalities believed to be related to COVID-19 now stands at 13,637.
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