| 
A 6th COVID-19 wave Canada is heading towards a sixth COVID-19 wave as cases and hospitalizations have started to creep up again across the country, experts say. The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) said in its latest modelling update Friday that as of March 30, cases have risen 34 per cent nationally, “indicating a resurgence is underway.” A recent Global News analysis of the latest provincial wastewater data also shows a resurgence of COVID-19 in Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan and parts of British Columbia. The culprit, according to experts: loosened public health measures and a more contagious BA.2 subvariant of Omicron, which is now dominant globally. Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious diseases expert at the Toronto General Hospital, said it is "pretty clear that there's a growing burden of COVID in many communities across the province." "We're in the very early part of a wave in not just Ontario, but also probably many other parts of the country," he said. But how much of an impact will this wave have in Canada? Time will tell. Global News reporter Saba Aziz has more here. 
COVID-19 severity likely to decrease over time, WHO says On Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) laid out three possible scenarios for how the COVID-19 pandemic will evolve this year. "Based on what we know now, the most likely scenario is that the COVID-19 virus continues to evolve, but the severity of disease it causes reduces over time as immunity increases due to vaccination and infection," director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. However, the WHO head added that periodic spikes in cases and deaths may occur as immunity wanes, which may require periodic boosting for vulnerable populations. Two other possible scenarios, Tedros said, are that either less severe variants will emerge and boosters or new vaccine formulas will not be necessary, or a more virulent variant will emerge and protection from prior vaccination or infection will wane rapidly. On Friday, PHAC said in its modelling update that “we are now in a period of transition, and we anticipate that progress will not be linear and that there will likely be more bumps along the way, including resurgence in cases this spring and likely in the fall and winter.” The U.S. FDA, meanwhile, gave the go-ahead for second booster shots for people over 50 earlier this week. Canada has not yet approved a fourth dose for the general population. Read more from the WHO’s update here. 
Q: I had COVID back in December. I’m still sneezing and I think it’s allergies, but I never had allergies before. I’ve been wondering since then if COVID gave me allergies or more sensitivity to dust or pollen or if this is likely completely unrelated. “The symptoms post-COVID can take a while to disappear,” says Dr. Horacio Bach, an infectious diseases expert at the University of British Columbia. “I do not think that as a result of COVID-19 a new allergy has been triggered, but we still don't know all about the post-disease effects. “(Did you have) the same sneezing during the COVID-19? If yes, more than likely is related to this infection.” Bach added that with the spring season beginning, if you changed where you live and have been exposed to new trees, plants or flowers, that could trigger this type of allergy. You can ask your family doctor for an allergy test to be sure, Bach said. | 
No comments:
Post a Comment