More than 17 million Canadians have been infected with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. This represents more than 100,000 contaminations per day since the arrival of this strain in the country, according to estimates by the Task Force on Immunity to COVID-19 (GTIC).
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the team of Canadian researchers has been analyzing the blood of patients looking for traces of previous infections. This “seroprevalence” of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies went from 5.1% before the Delta wave to 55.7% after five months of the Omicron wave.
Young adults (17 to 24 years old) were the most affected by this tsunami. No less than 65% of them were struck down by the disease.
The rate of infection decreases with age. It is 57% for 25-39 year olds, 51% for 40-59 year olds and 31% for over 60 year olds.
Spread over time, Omicron infections have been around 100,000 cases per day since December 15. This is “more than ten times the number of daily cases observed during the peaks of previous waves of SARS-CoV-2 for two years”, summarize the researchers in their report.
“Millions of Canadians now have hybrid immunity resulting from a combination of COVID-19 vaccines and infection. Unfortunately, new evidence suggests that most of these individuals remain at risk of re-infection with viruses of the Omicron variant lineage,” warned Dr.r David Naylor, co-chair of the GTIC, in the written communication accompanying the report.
“This virus does not have a seasonal pattern like other respiratory viruses that we expect when everyone returns to work or school in the fall,” notes Dr. Catherine Hankins, also co-chair of GTIC.
This analysis was spread out until May 30, 2022. The infection rate today is therefore even higher.
Further details will follow.