The province’s Chief Medical Officer of Health says indicators suggest the province may have reached the peak in terms of the current Omicron outbreak.

Health Minister John Haggie suggested the same earlier this week.

As of Wednesday there were 47 people in hospital as a result of COVID-19 – nine of whom are in critical condition. That’s the highest number of hospitalizations at one time since the pandemic began.

The province reported four more deaths on Wednesday as a result of COVID-19.

Both the BA.1 and BA.2 sublineages of the Omicron variant have been identified among random sampling of positive PCR tests. The BA.2 version of Omicron is even more transmissible than BA.1 but does not result in more severe illness.

Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says the modelling is based primarily on a sampling of PCR tests of people over the age of 60, and the number of hospitalizations – not just those who are admitted because of the virus, but those admitted for other reasons who happen to have the virus.

Those indicators suggest to the modelling team that we may have passed the peak, but Fitzgerald admits, you only known you’ve reached the peak once it has passed.