If Omicron is a less severe version of coronavirus, why are so many people dying in Ontario?

While Ontario’s rate of new COVID-19 infections appears to have slowed from its record peaks, the daily death toll in this Omicron wave is still on the rise and approaching a level as high as any point in the pandemic.

There are also no signs that the death rate is slowing down. Scientists expect Ontario’s daily reports to continue to trend upwards into February, even after the province begins easing COVID-19 restrictions on Monday.

During the third week of January, the most recent week for which full figures are available, Public Health Ontario recorded an average of 52 COVID-19 deaths per