Niagara Region will hit 50,000th case of COVID-19 before the day is done

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Published January 4, 2023 at 1:21 pm

covid-19 coronavirus booster vaccination

Before the day is over, COVID-19 will have directly impacted over 50,000 residents in the Niagara Region since March 2020.

As of 11:40 am today (January 4), there have been 49,989 cases of COVID-19 in Niagara Region over the past three years.

That means the 50,000th case is due to surface sometime later today as the region has been averaging roughly 30 cases daily over the few two weeks.

COVID-19 has faded from the news for a number of reasons. Number one is likely “Covid Fatigue,” a general but broad disinterest in dealing with something that’s been hanging over our heads for nearly three years now.

Also, there’s a general belief that with high vaccination numbers across Niagara (well above 85 per cent), the virus has become less likely to be fatal.

But the eye-opening reality is more people died of COVID in Canada in 2022 than in 2021 or in 2020.

The numbers bear it out. In 2020 across Canada, there were 15,307 COVID-related deaths. In 2021, that dropped to 14,606.

However – and few people realize this – there were more COVID deaths in 2022 than either of the two previous years as the fatality total hit 19,035.

As you can see from the chart below, COVID-19 daily cases across Niagara Region are continuing their peak-and-valley repetition just as they have since the Summer of 2021.

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