Hirji sees ‘cautious optimism’ in COVID wave
Niagara Health reporting two more deaths from virus
‘‘ We can see that throughout every wave, the people who have the highest incomes are much less likely to be passing away.
DR. MUSTAFA HIRJI ACTING MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH
Niagara’s acting medical officer of health reiterated the importance of understanding the “unequal impact” COVID-19 is having on society, as the sixth wave of the pandemic continues.
Referencing Ontario science advisory table modelling, Dr. Mustafa Hirji said while the most recent wave caused by Omicron is not as devastating as the first two waves of the pandemic, it is still having an impact on those individuals living in long-term-care homes.
In a media briefing Monday, Hirji said the number of deaths due to the virus is disproportionately impacting people living in long-termcare homes, versus those living out in the community.
There is a similar trend when looking across socio-economic strata, said Hirji, with lower income neighbourhoods hardest hit.
“We can see that throughout every wave, the people who have the highest incomes are much less likely to be passing away from COVID-19 than the people of lower income,” said Hirji.
“Part of why I think we always want to be trying to do our best to control this virus is that it has unequal impact on our society and we really want to make sure our society is a place that is going to be serving everybody, not necessarily just a few who are well-off or who are younger or who are lower risk.”
Examining recent data, Hirji said he sees signs of “cautious optimism.”
Provincewide wastewater data is beginning a downward trend, which could be a sign infections are
“coming down a little bit.”
In Niagara, however, the data is not yet indicating as sharp a downturn, with local wastewater plants showing varying levels of decrease, but it does appear to be trending in the right direction.
“I think there’s some hopeful signs that things are improving but it might not be as uniform across the region as we’d like,” Hirji said.
Information coming out of local hospitals, however, is less positive, said Hirji.
Niagara Health on Monday reported the deaths of two more patients with COVID-19, one last Friday and one on Sunday. Both were Niagara residents.
Last week alone, 13 patients with COVID-19 died.
There were 91 patients with COVID-19, with 19 being treated primarily for the virus, including seven in intensive care on Monday. Seventy-three of the patients were 65 or older; 16 were between the ages of 41 and 65.
“Still a lot of work that Niagara Health is dealing with in terms of COVID patients who are hospitalized,” said Hirji, adding the number of people treated primarily for COVID-19 is “flatter.”
“There’s still a lot of stress there, and of course, all of these patients need to be hospitalized.”
Niagara Region Public Health reported that over the weekend there were 1,445 active cases in the community — down slightly from Friday’s reported 1,567 — and 21 outbreaks.
Hirji continues to urge people to continue to wear a mask and get vaccinated.
Last week, he, with other medical officers of health, sent a letter to Ontario chief medical officer of health Dr. Kieran Moore asking him to temporarily expand mask-wearing requirements.
Hirji said Moore responded Friday by acknowledging their concerns and promising to monitor trends.
Although it doesn’t appear as though Moore is going to act on their request now, Hirji said the letter provided a “strong statement” recommending everybody continue to wear a wellfitting mask while indoors.
“We’re going to continue to message the importance to him, and try to convince him to move on the requirement,” said Hirji.