In a tweet posted last weekend, a Montreal dermatologist called the Omicron variant a “cold-blooded killer,” noting that COVID-19 has killed more people since the 1er January 2022 than for the whole of last year. How can we explain it, when wearing a mask will soon no longer be compulsory?
The figures that dermatologist and professor Lisa Iannattone advances in her publication are those of the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec (INSPQ). These figures show more than 3,365 deaths linked to COVID-19 since 1er January, which is more than all the deaths the virus has caused in the past year.
If the assessment of 2022 has indeed exceeded that of 2021, the two periods are difficult to compare, underlines the epidemiologist, biochemist and doctoral candidate in public health Kevin L’Espérance.
“It’s difficult to compare these two years, there are so many different variables, such as variants, collective immunity or sanitary measures,” he said.
Omicron, the deadliest variant?
Although Omicron is more transmissible than the variants that preceded it, it was mainly the rapid lifting of sanitary measures – in addition to the cold weather which kept us indoors – which created an environment conducive to strong community transmission. at the beginning of the year, continues Kevin L’Espérance.
The more the virus circulates under these conditions, the more there is transmission. And the more the virus is present in the population, the more people there are who develop serious forms of the disease and who die from it. It’s not that vaccines are no longer effective in protecting us against the virus, it’s that there is more transmission, he explains.
Will the situation get worse?
With the good weather setting in, the situation is likely to improve in the coming weeks, says Kevin L’Espérance.
“The cold spring favored indoor gatherings with few restrictions,” he said. We have little perspective on COVID-19, but there are indications that the disease would be less present during the hot seasons.
However, that does not mean that Quebec will not be hit by a seventh wave: it could arrive as early as the fall.
How to explain the withdrawal of all sanitary measures?
Kevin L’Espérance is clear: “Prolonged confinements are not good for our mental or physical health. You have to learn to live with the virus and, above all, learn to live well with the virus.
Despite the lifting of sanitary measures, it is however possible to minimize transmission and deaths, he insists. For example, by making better use of rapid tests and making the population responsible for the risks associated with the virus.
“We have to stop trivializing COVID-19. It remains a dangerous infection”, underlines the one who would have maintained the wearing of the mask a little longer.
How many deaths per day are we prepared to accept?
“COVID-19 is a new disease, so it is difficult to set an acceptable threshold for deaths,” says Kevin L’Espérance. According to him, we will have to ask ourselves, as a society, what we are ready to accept in terms of risks linked to the virus and consequences, in particular in terms of human losses.
One thing is certain, however: you have to maintain certain good habits. “If it was just me, no death would be acceptable,” he says. Many deaths can be prevented by maintaining certain habits, such as wearing a mask and good indoor ventilation.”