‘The pandemic is not over’: Experts expect a surge in COVID cases this fall – CBC
Wastewater virus levels forecast longer, gradual wave
Sep 01, 2023
Higher COVID-19 levels seen in Ottawa in the past month are expected to continue to rise through the fall, public health experts warn.
Coronavirus levels in Ottawa’s wastewater have been increasing since the end of July, and the city saw an average of 28 patients in hospital because of active COVID-19 cases during the week of Aug. 21.
This number has come down since the previous week, but is much higher than the single digit averages reported in July.
The highly mutated new variant BA.2.86 was also detected in Canada for the first time on Tuesday.
Ottawa’s medical officer of health Vera Etches confirmed Thursday these trends will increase in the coming months, but said it’s not yet clear that subvariants are driving the surge.
“It’s more that we’re in close contact with each other,” she said.
