Understanding where you are most at risk of catching COVID-19 is more difficult than ever in Omicron-powered Canada’s sixth wave, and proven contamination strategies are proving less effective in everyday life. The rapidly spreading BA.2 subtype avoids all levels of protection – from vaccines to masks – and feeds a wave of COVID-19 levels across Canada over a period of limited time. But while trying to avoid the risk of COVID-19 is unrealistic, abandoning strategies that have worked to reduce the impact of the virus is not – making this phase of the pandemic incredibly difficult to navigate. “We have not experienced what it is like to live with this virus while doing so little to stop it,” said Dr. Jeremy Faust, an emergency physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a Harvard Medical School instructor who recently wrote about risk navigation. “Until now we have never been in a situation where we have the least protection against infections and these variants that are simply incredibly contagious.”

Hard to judge, hard to avoid

Faust says that because everyone has a different level of risk in everyday life, trying to navigate the pandemic based on your supposed interest is a “dead end” because many people are unlikely to have judged the situation correctly. “We can be absolutely right one day and be safe and completely wrong the next day and risk either personally or putting someone else in danger,” he said. “And it is this variability that makes your head spin if you stop thinking about it.” Dr Lynora Saxinger, an infectious disease doctor and associate professor at the University of Alberta at Edmonton, said part of the problem with Omicron is that it runs all of our multilevel protections “much more effectively than anything before”. “All of these layers are still reducing the risk, just the attack on the layers is much more aggressive right now,” he said. “It’s like there are a lot more shots on target.” Shaxinger said that though Canada largely counts current case numbers A “COVID forest fire” is still raging across the country, with broadcast signals rising recently Alberta, Ontario, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba despite limited testing. “The risk of infection has increased significantly in the last three months,” said Erin Bromage, an associate professor of biology at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth who is researching infectious diseases. “And it is becoming more difficult for those who have avoided infection so far to continue to avoid infection.” With the removal of mask orders in many places, some are disappearing, creating a situation with less protection against what doctors call an “extremely contagious” virus. (Evan Mitsui / CBC)

“Quick change” stadium

Canada’s Director of Public Health, Dr. Theresa Tam, said this week that the average daily case rate, test-positive rates and sewerage signals signal a growing nationwide need for “mattress precautions” for to reduce infection rates. “There is still a lot we can do to reduce the current trajectory,” he told a news conference Wednesday. “We know that the use of personal protective measures such as coverage helps reduce transmission. Likewise, taking a booster dose not only protects you from serious illness, but also provides a level of protection against infection.” However, the effectiveness of coverage in preventing the transmission of Omicron and its highly contagious sub-variants is not perfect and the protection against infection by amplifiers seems to be declining rapidly. Linsey Marr, a researcher in airborne infectious diseases and a professor at Virginia Tech, says that while the masks have the same level of filtration for any virus – the chance of infection may be higher with these more contagious variants. “One thing that can be different about variants is that people could spread more virus in the air … You are exposed to more virus, so the chances of getting infected are higher,” he said. “Another thing that may be different is that the infectious dose could be lower.” Marr said there appears to be a “significant change” with the Omicron masks and its variants, meaning that a fabric mask that may have been somewhat protective in the past is no longer sufficient and that higher quality masks may be necessary. . “The masks could have helped alleviate it a little bit, but they were not going to stop this wave or prevent it,” said Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist and member of the Ontario COVID-19 vaccine team. “I’m very much in favor of indoor coverage, I’m very in line with ‘the mask’s mandate should not have been lifted’, but it would not have stopped or prevented this wave.” CLOCKS Canadians are urged to make boost shots to soften the 6th wave:

Canadians urged to receive boost shots for COVID-19 to mitigate 6th wave

All indications are that Canada is going through a sixth wave of pandemics, confirms Dr. Theresa Tam. Her message to Canadians: wear a mask and step up if they are eligible. 2:00 p.m.
Additional booster doses of the vaccine are also beneficial for the prevention of serious diseases throughout the population, but a major new An Israeli study in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that the protection of the fourth dose against infection decreased after only four weeks. The observational study focused exclusively on adults 60 years of age and older and found that protection against serious illness did not decrease six weeks after the fourth dose, but data were too limited to determine whether a second booster provided better long-term protection. “I’m not surprised that the fourth installment does not provide very strong protection against infection,” said Dr. David Naylor, who led the federal investigation into the SARS epidemic in Canada in 2003 and is now co-chair of the Federal Government’s Immunity Task Force on COID. -19. “Two shots were much more effective against Delta. What has clearly changed is that two or even three shots will not preclude the shooting of any of Omicron substrates.” Naylor said the fourth doses make sense for older Canadians, the immunocompromised and those with comorbidities, adding that we should be careful with Israeli data because of the different dosing distances there and their exclusive dependence on the Pfizer vaccine. “We also have a lot more people now with hybrid immunity – one, two or three shots, plus an infection in recent months that could increase their level of protection,” he said. “It is a rapidly changing playing field.” A well-placed mask still filters out newer coronavirus strains in the same way, experts say. But the effectiveness of the masks has diminished, perhaps because the highly contagious strains mean exposure to more virus particles. (Evan Mitsui / CBC)

It is worth delaying the infection if possible

So while avoiding COVID-19 infection may not be possible for most people, delaying until you are as protected as possible has benefits – and there are still ways you can reduce the risk. “To try to avoid infection, people should avoid indoor areas that are crowded or in close contact,” said Bromage, who wrote viral blog post in May 2020 was reported by millions, explaining the places where people are most at risk of being infected with COVID-19. “When in these cases, people have to wear masks of a higher quality than they have used in the past – preferably N95 or equivalent – and limit the time in these areas. Duration matters.” Increased immunity, wider availability of treatments for COVID, and two years of knowledge among members of the medical community also help ensure that when people get sick, they receive the best possible care. “It’s still a crisis, but the situation in Canada and abroad is steadily improving,” Bogoch said. “I’ve talked to people in their 80s who are triple vaccinated, who have COVID… but who are going to recover from this infection without having to go to the hospital. That’s amazing,” he said. “Before the vaccines were available, many of these people would have become very ill, would have gone to the hospital, would have needed an intensive care unit and many would have died.” In Italy, one of the countries hardest hit by COVID-19 at the start of the pandemic – with one of the highest death toll in the world – suggests new research Vaccination efforts have halved the number of deaths. The vaccines prevented about 150,000 deaths last year, the country’s National Institutes of Health (ISS) estimated on Wednesday, as well as more than 500,000 hospitalizations and more than 55,000 admissions. Experts advise people to continue using precautions such as masks and vaccines, because it is still worthwhile to delay COVID infection if possible. (Evan Mitsui / CBC)

Focus on being “maximally vaccinated”

Although it is difficult to avoid getting COVID, it is worth buying time if you can, while the scientific community is developing and approving drugs and treatments that could further reduce this risk, said Dr. California “The fact that they now have more knowledge about how to deal with COVID means that when they have these large increases, there are tools they can use to reduce the mortality rate from infection,” he said. Just this week, Health Canada has approved AstraZeneca antibody-based treatment for the prevention of COVID-19 infections in immunocompromised individuals aged 12 years and older. Ontario has also pledged to increase access to Paxlovidan antiviral from Pfizer, which has so far been difficult to access throughout Canada, but can reduce the risk of death when taken early …