LISTEN: Sixth wave COVID-19 transmission exceeding latest modelling but still ‘within our control’, says local epidemiologist

By David Smith

A local epidemiologist says Ontario's COVID-19 situation is getting worse quickly, but that it shouldn't come as a surprise based on the lifting of public health measures in the province earlier this month.

As some health experts have warned, Ontario is seeing a sixth wave of the virus that's being driven by a more contagious sub-variant.

Dr. Doug Manuel, senior scientist and epidemiologist with the Ottawa Hospital tells The Rob Snow Show on Thursday, March 31 that this surge in infection should still be milder than previous waves of COVID-19.

Dr. Manuel has monitored the latest COVID-19 data in Ottawa and said key trends now show infections are increasing faster than the last round of scientific modelling predicted. Still, he believes that this latest surge is not outside the range of what the province's Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Kieran Moore had accounted for when he advised the lifting of Ontario's mask mandate on March 21.

“I'm still feeling pretty good we're not going back to the last two years, but we've got some headwinds for the next month or so,” Dr. Manuel said. “Each wave like this one is well within our control, especially the degree of how high they go, so this is largely within our making in the sense of how quickly we open and how quickly we vaccinate.”

Listen to the full conversation with Dr. Manuel below:

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