Considering a big holiday gathering? You may want to think again, says Hamilton's top doc
CBC
Food and medicine deliveries for the city's most vulnerable people. Cancelling gatherings at schools and daycare centres. Reconsidering family holiday plans.
These are just some of the things Hamilton's medical officer of health recommends now that the omicron variant is here.
Tighter public health measures — like capacity restrictions at events and fitness centres and masking in all indoor spaces — will likely be announced soon too, with Dr. Elizabeth Richardson saying it's "top of mind for us and is something we're actively looking at."
"The projections from the Ontario Science Table do signal that there is something very different than what we've seen before, particularly when it relates to transmissibility," Richardson said a Tuesday media briefing.
"We're now hearing the spread, even among fully vaccinated individuals, is infecting four to eight times more individuals than the delta variant did. And even if it is less severe, this could put significant strain on our health-care system."
"Transmission is exponential right now and it's a very steep slope."
WATCH: How can Canada fight omicron?
Richardson said unlike past variants and waves, rather than watching COVID-19 hit other cities and countries first before making decisions, public health is learning alongside everyone else.
Omicron is moving faster than expected, she said.
"We are expecting to see over the coming days what this omicron variant does bring for us in terms of the severity of disease."
Richardson said she also worries the surge in cases will overwhelm local public health's ability to contact trace and accurately capture the sheer volume of new cases.
This comes as Ontario tightened rules at long-term care and retirement homes and is boosting its capacity to vaccinate people.
Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario's chief medical officer of health, said "the game is changing" because of omicron. The current approach, he said, is tailored to the delta variant.
Hamilton's seven-day average for new cases is 53. At the height of the third wave, it was 94.
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This story is part of CBC Health's Second Opinion, a weekly analysis of health and medical science news emailed to subscribers on Saturday mornings. If you haven't subscribed yet, you can do that by clicking here.
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