Thought of the Day - December 5 2021 - By the Numbers

I guess these graphs kind of say it all. Right now the pandemic is still all about Europe.

While the rest of the world meanders along, Europe is finally starting to plateau. Cases and deaths in eastern Europe have now started to decline. However, North America is once again picking up.

Of course the other news this past week has been B.1.1.529 Omicron variant. As you can see from the data from South Africa there is no doubt that is far more infectious than Delta. That said, by now we should also be seeing an uptick in deaths. This means the hypothesis that Omicron is less deadly is becoming more probable ( Thought of the Day - November 29 2021 - Is the New Variant Great News? ).

Looking at Canada over the last two weeks, we are still seeing a significant upward trend in cases.

Basically, cases in the eastern provinces are increasing faster than the declines in the western provinces. It still looks like we are on track for an end-of-the-year fifth wave.

The explanation given by Quebec as to what was behind their sudden new case number jump last week does not provide much insight ( Thought of the Day - November 28 2021 - By the Numbers ). They are now stating "This includes an additional 1,302 cases added to the tally, after a catch-up in the entry of cases in the Montreal area. This catch-up spans several months, with the oldest case dating back to March 19, 2020, and the most recent to November 2021". So not sure if they were missing numbers or changed the official definition of cases.

On the other hand, daily deaths in Canada are still pretty well flat.

This week's shout-out goes to the territories. All of them have shown decreases in cases; well except for Nunavut that has been COVID-free for six weeks now. If only they did not have to rely on supplies from the south they would be laughing.

Cheers

Cliff