[Translated from French]

SARS-CoV-2 may not be the only virus on the loose, but it is certainly one that continues to hit hard. The new data on COVID-19 and respiratory diseases from the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ), published on Wednesday, tend to confirm this.

Everyone talks about the fact that they are constantly ill, that their family and friends are ill. Yes, it could be a cold or RSV [respiratory syncytial virus], but in many cases it’s probably COVID-19, says Dr Raywat Deonandan, epidemiologist and associate professor at the University of Ottawa.

According to the INSPQ, in the week of December 24, there were 983,000 cases of respiratory infections, a number that has continued to rise since mid-October.