On the long weekend of July 1st, major cities across Canada were crowded with people. On the first Canada Day after the epidemic, everyone let loose and carnival.
However, it seems that we are not the only ones partying, the virus is also starting a celebration.
I don’t know if you have noticed that in the past two weeks, the number of new cases of COVID-19 in more than 110 countries around the world has gradually increased, breaking the steady downward trend that has been going on for some time. The United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Israel, Italy, France, and Canada are seeing a surge in new daily cases.
Just recently, BC new crown modeling experts issued a warning - The third wave of Omicron virus in this province has begun! It is expected to reach its peak in August!
Although it has given up counting and tracking the accurate number of daily increasing infections, the Canadian Federal Health Agency has been paying attention to the trends of Omicron BA.4 and BA.5, and it is expected that they will surpass the parent strain in a short time in the future and become the mainstream local strain. .
Sally Otto, an evolutionary biologist and modeling expert at UBC, said, " People originally predicted that there would be a new wave of epidemics in the fall, but the reality is that the wave has already begun."
In other words, the virus can't wait. It's autumn.
"If you go to the grocery store now, the risk of infection is quite low, but if you go 3 weeks later, the risk will be different, and you are very likely to be infected with the new crown. Especially from mid-July to August, the next wave of the epidemic will break out in full force!"
It’s not just BC that has entered a new round of epidemic, the eastern province of Ontario is also facing the same situation.
Health officials revealed that wastewater monitoring signals and positivity rates in Ontario have increased, and public health departments in many regions have reported exponential growth in infection cases.
Existing data shows that the latest wave of infection trends has gradually increased since early June; the positivity rate has also continued to rise over the past three or four weeks.
As early as last Thursday, federal health officer Theresa Tam warned that new variants of the virus, especially BA.5, are highly transmissible and may begin to spread faster in the coming week.
As of June 18, Canada is expected to have 15,000 new cases every week. BC BA.4 and BA.5 are increasing at a daily rate of 3.1%. Alberta The daily growth rate of these two strains is 4.9 %, doubling every half month; Ontario’s growth rate is 6.3%; Quebec’s is 5.5%.
BA.5, which was despised by everyone because of its low severity and fatality rate, is now becoming what scientists call "the worst new coronavirus variant in history" . It is not only highly transmissible, but also directly caused Portugal's death toll in June to exceed earlier levels. The epidemic in winter!
These two strains have become the dominant strains in the United States, among which BA.5 is worrying.
Eric Topol, founder of Scripps Research Translational Institute, bluntly stated that BA.5 is "the worst version of the virus we have ever seen"!
For human immune system , the degree of variation from Omicron BA.1 to BA.5 is much greater than Alpha to Delta, which also makes them more difficult to identify and deal with.
American experts pessimistically predict that from March 2022 to March 2023, more than 200,000 new deaths will occur.
What’s worse is that just when everyone thought that the new coronavirus had subsided, little did they know that it was quietly getting stronger and new variants had quietly emerged!
According to foreign media reports, scientists around the world are now staring closely at a new coronavirus variant - Omicron BA.2.75, which belongs to the same Omicron strain, but has 9 unusual mutations in its spike protein , which is higher than other variants. Mutations spread faster. This new variant,
, was first discovered in India in June.In just a few weeks, it is only July 4th, and it has spread to 58 countries including Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand , Germany, Japan, and Canada html.
Since this new sub-variant has just emerged, it is not currently classified as "strain of concern" . It is too early to say whether it will become the next major variant, but it is worthy of vigilance.
The summer epidemic has just begun, and Canada’s medical system is about to collapse. Emergency rooms in major cities across the country have been forced to close due to shortages of medical staff. BC has not escaped. Some hospitals in some areas have begun to transfer patients. .
In terms of vaccination, the Canadian Advisory Group on Immunization, NACI, recommended last week that everyone get another shot before this fall, but the BC Ministry of Health has not responded positively.
The current vaccine inventory in BC will be given priority to the approximately 1.2 million people who are eligible but have not yet received the third shot. The number of people who can receive the fourth shot is still limited.
Compared with other provinces and territories, the proportion of people in this province who have received the fourth dose of vaccine is the second lowest in Canada, just over 5%.
It’s hard to survive until the lockdown is lifted. It is no longer possible for North America to return to restrictive measures. However, the fact that the virus continues to mutate is right in front of us. The infection may not kill you, but no one can guarantee that you will not suffer from various sequelae. , I hope everyone will be careful and stay safe and healthy.
