When the pandemic started, the province was testing the population and updating the number of COVID cases daily.
But four years on, testing has stalled and the main way to get a snapshot of the COVID picture is through wastewater.
The NWT government says it’s adding flu shot appointments as fast as it can – but some residents are being told the next opening isn’t until January.
Earlier this week, the territory’s chief public health officer said there had been a significant increase in flu across the NWT but particularly in Yellowknife. Wastewater samples also suggest a steady presence of Covid-19 throughout the fall and into winter.
Comments closedWith vaccination numbers lagging and the holiday season approaching, health experts are calling on Albertans to roll up their sleeves for their flu and COVID-19 shots.
As of Nov. 25, 17 people in Alberta had died of the flu during this respiratory virus season, and close to 500 were hospitalized, according to provincial data. In the same time frame, 245 deaths and almost 2,300 hospitalizations were tied to COVID-19.
Comments closedAir sampling was as effective in monitoring COVID-19 and influenza A (IAV) activity as three other methods in a Wisconsin school district from September 2022 to January 2023, according to a study published today in JAMA Network Open.
Comments closedWith winter increasing the chance of contracting influenza and COVID-19, the Department of Health says it’s important that people get their shots.
Comments closedA trio of respiratory viruses hover over Quebec and send many patients to the emergency room.
According to Jean Longtin, a microbiologist-infectiologist at the CHU in Québec-Université Laval, it is mainly the respiratory syncytial virus, the RSV, influenza and COVID-19 that are currently circulating.
Comments closedThere are currently two dozen COVID-19 outbreaks reported at long-term care homes across Nova Scotia, and some health-care officials are concerned about a lack of COVID protocols.
Comments closedFlu season has officially begun in Canada, the federal public health agency said on Friday.
“At the national level, influenza activity has crossed the seasonal threshold, indicating the start of influenza season,” the Public Health Agency of Canada said in its weekly FluWatch report posted online.
Comments closedToronto emergency room doctors say the winter surge of COVID-19, flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections is underway, with hospitals seeing a wave of visits across the GTA.
In the last week, nearly 250 Ontarians have been admitted to hospital, and Public Health Ontario (PHO) reports the COVID-19 wastewater signal is at its highest level in more than a year.
Comments closedThe surge in respiratory infections in young children in northern China is being driven primarily by known viral and bacterial infections and not by a novel pathogen, the World Health Organization (WHO) said late last week in an update.
Comments closedAccording to Saskatchewan’s latest respiratory illness surveillance report, flu season has descended on the province, with a dramatic spike in confirmed cases.
Comments closedNew data suggests that COVID-19 activity in British Columbia is trending downward, while influenza and RSV are on the rise.
Comments closedIt’s only November, but B.C.’s hospitals are already breaking annual capacity records.
Comments closedHospitals continue to deal with multiple COVID‑19 outbreaks in Ottawa as rising case counts, outbreaks and wastewater data indicate the city is headed into an anticipated fall viral triple-demic.
For the first time this season, there are signs that Influenza A is beginning to circulate widely in Ottawa, wastewater surveillance shows. For now, though, COVID‑19 remains the dominant and most destructive respiratory illness circulating, along with RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) to a lesser extent.
Comments closedOn Wednesday, Quebec’s National Director of Public Health, Dr. Luc Boileau, issued a new call for vaccination, due to a “serious” circulation of COVID-19 and an imminent wave of influenza in Quebec. Here are seven questions to understand why vaccination remains an important tool in the fight against these infectious diseases.
Comments closedCiting a serial circulation of COVID-19 and an imminent wave of influenza in Quebec, National Director of Public Health, Dr. Luc Boileau, invites those at…
Comments closedLaunched almost a month ago, the vaccination campaign against COVID-19 and influenza is in full swing. According to the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux (MSSS), more than 728,000 Quebecers had received a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by Sunday, and nearly 870,000 had received a dose of the influenza vaccine. Quebec reports that more than 770,000 other appointments have also been made by citizens wishing to be vaccinated in the near future.
Comments closedAs the province rolls out its fall 2023 duo COVID-influenza vaccination campaign, the majority of British Columbians are overdue to shore up their viral defences by half a year.
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