The head of the Ontario COVID-19 Science Table is cautioning Canadians about relying on rapid test results to determine whether or not to gather for the holidays, saying the Omicron COVID-19 variant is too 鈥渄ynamic鈥 for a rapid test to be the only failsafe.
Speaking to 愛污传媒 Channel Monday, Dr. Peter Juni, Director of the Science Table, urged Canadians to be extra careful.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not the same as Delta anymore, you can鈥檛 just use a rapid test and think 鈥榦kay, I have a rapid test, it was negative and now everything is okay,鈥欌 he said. 鈥淭his virus is far too dynamic鈥t鈥檚 simply not safe enough, we know from Omicron now, a rapid test [result] that is negative, three or four hours later could become positive but nobody knows.鈥
Juni also noted that recent data regarding the Omicron variant has been published by the Science Table in a graph on their dashboard, that shows the protection against COVID-19 infection, even with two doses of the vaccine, had taken a hit.
鈥淭he curve of protection just plummets,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important to realize the vaccine most likely continues to protect well against hospitalization and ICU admission after two doses鈥but] people out there need to be careful now.鈥
惭辞苍诲补测鈥檚 from hospitalization and ICU admittance staying strong in the 95 per cent range with two doses of an approved vaccine 鈥 while protection from infection has curved down since Dec. 14 to around 50 per cent.
鈥淚t started to plummet when Omicron took over the province,鈥 Juni said.
Ontario reported , with an almost 10 per cent positivity rate. The province鈥檚 rolling seven-day average now stands at 2,863, up from 1,328 last week and 940 two weeks ago.
With news that cases had doubled since last week, Juni said 鈥渢he point is this will continue鈥e are watching evolution in real-time.鈥
Juni said if people are gathering over the holidays, good masks, ventilation and small numbers are key.
鈥淲e need to do a combination of measures right now to stem against this tide, to hold steady [sic],鈥 he said. 鈥淒on鈥檛 go to crowded places anymore, forget it. Have good masks of course, make sure every place is well ventilated and make sure you use rapid tests wisely.鈥
鈥淏ut the rapid tests used wisely doesn't mean 鈥極kay I do a rapid test today, tomorrow evening, I can go to a party with 50 people,鈥欌 he continued. 鈥淔orget it. It doesn't work that way. It's about just having a small group of people鈥hey were all careful before they didn't party around, you know鈥hey all have at least two doses and they have a negative test right now.鈥
Juni also urged Canadians to get their booster shots as soon as they were able to as the next step of protection against COVID-19 and Omicron.
鈥淲hat we're seeing, and what was true six weeks ago, is wrong today. Why? Because the virus evolves. It's relatively tremendous, actually,鈥 he said. 鈥淚f it wasn鈥檛 so tragic, it would be fascinating.鈥
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