Ontario reports 72 more COVID-19 deaths; under 3,000 hospitalizations
Ontario reported 72 more COVID-19 deaths that occurred in the past month and under 3,000 patients in hospital with the virus today as both hospitalizations and ICU capacity continue to gradually decline.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Health says 67 of the latest deaths occurred over the past 24 hours, with four deaths occurring on Feb. 1, 18 deaths on Jan. 31, 17 deaths on Jan. 30 and the remaining deaths in the preceding days.
555 people are in ICU with #COVID19. 83% of patients admitted to the ICU were admitted for COVID-19 and 17% were admitted for other reasons but have tested positive for COVID-19.
There are 3,909 new cases of COVID-19.
— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) February 2, 2022
Experts hopeful about Omicron’s end but wary about what lies ahead
VANCOUVER — The Omicron wave appears to be cresting across the country, but it’s difficult to predict what’s next for the pandemic, experts say.
Prof. Bernard Crespi, an evolutionary biologist at Simon Fraser University, said the development of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 gives clues as to what might come.
Omicron evolved to evade pre-existing immunity and reproduce at a much faster rate, he said.
