COVID-19 cases in London, Ont., may soon rise but symptoms might be less intense, experts say – CBC

Local wastewater data suggests case numbers are half of what they were this time last year

Aug 25, 2023

As fall quickly approaches and a highly mutated COVID-19 variant continues to emerge, data in London, Ont., suggests that even though an increase in cases is expected, this year’s respiratory season may not be as acute as previous ones.

However, that depends on a number of factors, most importantly how many people get the latest vaccine booster dose, said Dr. Joanne Kearon, associate medical officer of health at the Middlesex-London Health Unit.

“With the uptake of vaccines, we don’t expect that this year will be as severe as last year, both in severity of symptoms or in the number of cases,” she said.

Despite the BA.2.86 variant appearing in multiple countries, no cases have been found in Canada yet. On Aug. 17, the World Health Organization deemed it a variant under monitoring.

Evidence found so far indicates that while it spreads more easily, it doesn’t seem to cause severe disease, Kearon said, adding that the effectiveness of vaccines against it is still being tested.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/covid-2023-fall-london-ontario-1.6946530