Weekly update. Overall slightly down, Europe still creeping up
In total 3.18 million new cases were reported last week (down from 3.27 million)
Also another 10,353 more deaths were reported (10,271 last week) to a total of 6,559,565
USA reported 291K new cases (down from 352K) and 2,852 more deaths (down from 3,237)
Europe reported 1.85 million new cases (up from 1.72 million) and 3,925 more deaths (up from 3,667)
The continents
Heading down everywhere except Europe.
Corners of the world
Australia still seems to be sorting out how to continue reporting, or rather worldometer is still trying to figure out what to do with it.
No big issues anyway.
Locally however, my wife's father just tested positive :( We're still hoping it's a false positive (new kind of rapid home test) but Thanksgiving won't be happening. We didn't have plans anyway, still plenty other sniffles around :/
Canada doesn't give numbers anymore, but hopitalizations and wastewater are up again
https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/covid-19-hospitalizations-in-ontario-reach-two-month-high-as-indicators-point-to-fall-resurgence-1.6100490
The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 has reached a two-month high in Ontario, as most public health indicators now point to a fall resurgence of the virus.
The latest data released by the Ministry of Health suggests there were 1,465 people testing positive for COVID-19 in Ontario hospitals as of Wednesday afternoon, up from 1,265 the previous week and 1,141 on Sept. 22.
It is the highest number of people in hospital with COVID-19 since Aug. 4 and is approaching the peak of the summer wave on July 28 when 1,492 people were hospitalized.
Meanwhile, wastewater surveillance conducted by Public Health Ontario continues to point to a gradual uptick in viral activity levels in most parts of the province.
https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/what-are-ba-2-75-and-bq-1-1-the-two-emerging-covid-19-subvariants-raising-concern-among-infectious-disease-experts-1.6100637
Two new subvariants of the Omicron strain of COVID-19 identified in recent months could fuel increased cases and hospitalizations in Canada through the fall and winter, infectious disease experts say.
Experts say the variants, labelled BQ.1.1 and BA.2.75, are spreading rapidly in multiple countries. BQ.1.1 is a subvariant of BA.5 and has also been identified in the U.K. where cases have ballooned in recent weeks., while BA. 275, which the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control labelled as a variant “of interest” in September, is spreading quickly in India and Singapore.
WHAT THE EXPERTS ARE SAYING
"Globally, we've pulled back all protections and we've let it rip just about everywhere," said Colin Furness, an epidemiologist and assistant professor at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health, told CTVNews.ca via a phone call.
"We're creating a massive petri dish for biodiversity. Omicron has been given every opportunity to mutate and to vary, and it's taking advantage of that," he said.
Furness says the bigger issue is that there’s an "infinite number" of other variants developing.
"So whether it's those two or another two, what we’re really doing is we're training Omicron to fit to new circumstances…including a highly vaccinated population," said Furness.
"It's developing a capacity to be more immune-escaping," he said.
Stay safe!
