COVID-19 cases in Niagara Region still lingering but strains ‘less severe’
Published July 21, 2022 at 10:55 am
There were two more COVID-19 deaths in Niagara Region recently, pushing the total to 568, as the Omicron subvariants, BA.4 and BA.5, continue to linger.
However, both the new strains of Omicron is considered mild, comparatively speaking, next to the initial Alpha and Delta variants.
That said, Niagara’s Acting Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Mustafa Hirji, warned less than two weeks ago that this was not the time for residents to let their guard down.
The two new subvariants “are fortunately not more severe but they do spread more quickly and they are harder to control and stop the spread,” said Hirji.
About a month ago, Niagara Region was looking at new cases in the teens and single-digits on a daily basis. That is not the case now.
Indeed, it’s been near impossible to get an accurate read on the actual cases as the numbers set for any specific day are bound to change (meaning, increase) by the following day.
Looking at the past two weeks, if the pattern seems familiar, you’ve likely seen it on a rollercoaster at Canada’s Wonderland – up, down, up, down.
July 11 to 15 saw numbers in the 50s, 60s, right up to 73 on July 15. As just suddenly, they drop quickly in the 20s and 30s between July 16 and 20 with July 19 being the exception at 51.
On his end, Hirji has been warning for months that the regional cases of COVID-19 is far from over, urging residents to continue masking up and socially distance where possible.
