Ontario has entered its seventh wave of COVID-19, driven by the Omicron BA.5 subvariant, said Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore. ."Sadly yes, we're in another wave," Moore told CBC News Wednesday. .Moore said Ontario is reviewing further eligibility for booster shots and a decision about them will be coming soon. .He said BA.5 subvariant cases have been rising since early June, and didn't “take off” until mid-month to become the dominant strain. He added Ontario has been in the seventh wave for three weeks. .Ontario can expect to be in this wave for another four to five weeks, said Moore. He said infections are expected to increase over the next 10 days before dropping. .He went on to say it's concerning COVID-19 cases are going up during the summer months, when people are spending more time outdoors. ."We may ask Ontarians to wear masks as we go indoors into the fall and we may mandate it if our health system has too many people getting admitted, too many people waiting in emergency departments,” he said. .“All of us want to maintain our health system capacity.”.The Ontario Science Table said the province entered another wave of COVID-19. .“The rise in hospitalizations will likely be smaller than earlier waves, but our hospitals are already very strained,” said the Ontario Science Table..According to the Ontario Science Table, the test positivity rate is above 10% for the first time since May. It said the province is seeing its first increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations since May, and this number is higher than at any time last summer. .It said about 80% of public health units reported exponential growth in cases. .The Ontario Science Table said people can protect themselves by taking their booster shots and wearing masks in crowded indoor public spaces. .Moore said on June 10 he and other health officials are looking into rolling out another round of COVID-19 booster shots this fall. .He said there will be another booster shot available for at-risk people. Another booster shot could be opened up for the general public soon after. .Moore said preparations for a fall COVID-19 strategy are ongoing. Officials are going through various scenarios such as an aggressive flu season and new COVID-19 variants.
