The Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux (CISSS) de l’Outaouais has decided to reinstate mandatory mask wearing upon entry into its care facilities.
Starting on Tuesday, wearing a mask is mandatory in hospital centres, including the outpatient ward, the Pierre-Janet mental health hospital (including units 5 and 6 of the juvenile wing), the Physical rehabilitation centre, La RessourSe, residential and long-term care centres and seniors’ homes and alternative housing.
Comments closedThe Alberta government rejected expert advice to expand public reporting of measles to include probable cases, despite the measure being supported by local and provincial public health officials, documents obtained by The Globe and Mail show.
Since the outbreak began in Alberta last spring, only confirmed cases of measles have been publicly reported. New data provided through a Freedom of Information request show at least 450 probable cases of measles have also been identified in the province, bringing the total to nearly 2,500.
Comments closedOntario wrote off more than one billion items of personal protective equipment at a cost of $1.4 billion since 2021, the province’s auditor general found.
Shelley Spence found the province continues to purchase masks, gowns and other protective gear at the same levels as the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, despite significantly declining demand.
“We found that expired products began to accumulate in the provincial stockpile as some of the products purchased during the pandemic fell short of desired quality standards and were not used,” Spence wrote in her annual report.
Comments closedCHEO is reinstating public health measures for visitors to the hospital as viral season begins.
Beginning Monday (Nov. 17), visitors will be asked to wear masks while in all waiting areas and during clinical interactions. CHEO will also begin limiting visitors. There will be a limit of one caregiver for patients attending appointments, and no visitors under the age of 12 — including siblings — will be allowed.
The precautions are being taken to help reduce the spread of viruses and protect those who visit the hospital and its community locations, spokesperson Karl Oczkowski said.
Comments closedUniversity Health Network (UHN) has announced a new requirement for staff, patients and visitors to wear a mask when inside its facilities.
Masks must be worn in all UHN facilities, including Toronto General Hospital, Toronto Western Hospital and the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre as of Tuesday, Nov. 18.
All staff, patients and visitors will be expected to wear a mask in physician offices, waiting rooms for clinics, the emergency department and other outpatient clinical areas. Patients and staff must also wear a mask when delivering or receiving direct care, or when staff are closely interacting with patients in inpatient, outpatient and emergency clinical areas.
Comments closedCanada has been stripped of its measles elimination status after failing to interrupt transmission within one year of an outbreak that continues to spread in parts of the country.
The Public Health Agency of Canada said Monday it was notified by The Pan American Health Organization, a regional arm of the World Health Organization, that Canada lost its designation – an accomplishment it held for 27 years.
“While transmission has slowed recently, the outbreak has persisted for over 12 months, primarily within under-vaccinated communities,” the statement said.
Comments closedThe Pan American Health Organization has informed the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) that Canada no longer has the status of a country that has eliminated measles, due to an outbreak that has been ongoing for more than one year.
This status indicates that there is no continuous transmission of the disease for 12 months or more in a given geographical area.
“Despite considerable efforts by Canada, the country has lost its status. Measles is now considered to be endemic in this country,” PAHO director Dr. Jason Barbosa told a news conference.
Comments closedFunding gaps are already making it difficult for Ottawa Public Health to meet growing community needs and invest in health-care prevention, but a public health emergency would make the situation worse, OPH is warning.
Among other things, OPH is unable to comply with Ontario Public Health standards when it comes to inspections and some infectious disease cases and contact management for “lower impact diseases of public health significance.”
Comments closedTORONTO – Toronto Public Health is developing a wastewater surveillance program to detect any potential spread of diseases during the FIFA World Cup.
Toronto’s new Medical Officer of Health Dr. Michelle Murti said the pilot will collect sewage samples in areas where fans congregate and test them for infections such as COVID-19, influenza and RSV.
Murti said the public health unit is looking into whether other illnesses, such as measles, could also be monitored in wastewater given the large international audience expected next summer.
Comments closedOntario’s measles outbreak, which sickened more than 2,300 people over the course of nearly a year, highlighted the consequences of declining vaccination rates and led to the death of a newborn, has been declared over.
Public Health Ontario and the province’s top doctor said Thursday the outbreak ended on Monday because it had been 46 days since any new reported cases — twice the maximum incubation period for measles.
“In Ontario, the last confirmed case developed a rash on August 21, 2025, following several months of steadily declining case numbers,” Dr. Kieran Moore, the province’s chief medical officer of health, said in an emailed statement.
Comments closedWhen Ontario rolls out its fall vaccination campaign at pharmacies, doctor’s offices and clinics across the province in the coming weeks, it will be bucking a trend.
At a time when both Alberta and Quebec have stopped funding COVID vaccines for the general public, limiting them to higher risk populations, and access to COVID vaccines is becoming limited in the United States, Ontario is moving in another direction.
The fall vaccination campaign, beginning in October, includes free access to an updated COVID-19 vaccine for the general public as well as expanded access to a vaccine to prevent RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) for older adults, and the flu vaccine.
Comments closedThe Ontario government has released its schedule for fall immunization programs as it encourages residents to get flu and COVID-19 vaccinations.
In a media release on Thursday, the province said free flu and COVID-19 shots will be available to Ontarians as of Oct. 27 at participating pharmacies, some public health units and doctor’s offices.
Health Minister Sylvia Jones said in the release that Ontario is working with health-care partners to ensure immunizations are available and accessible to all.
Comments closedApproximately 320 jobs will be cut at the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) as part of a “post pandemic calibration” at the federal department.
The Public Health Agency of Canada confirmed to CTV News Ottawa a review of programs will result in job cuts to align department spending with approved funding for the 2026-27 fiscal year.
“As part of PHAC’s post-pandemic recalibration and ongoing efforts to adjust to new salary allocations, the agency must focus resources on government-funded priorities. This means re-prioritizing and streamlining some programs, and in some cases discontinuing work,” a PHAC spokesperson said in an email.
Comments closedBeginning this fall, all Ontarians 75 and older will be eligible for a free shot that protects against respiratory syncytial virus.
Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones is scheduled to announce the expansion of public coverage for RSV vaccines on Wednesday, according to a Ministry of Health release that The Globe and Mail obtained in advance.
Until now, the Ontario government only paid for the RSV vaccine for seniors who were 60 and older and considered high risk, such as transplant recipients, dialysis patients and nursing home residents.
Comments closedQuebec has reported a case of the potentially deadly tick-borne disease Rocky Mountain spotted fever that was likely acquired in Ontario or Quebec. The disease was also reported in dogs in Ontario earlier this year.
Here’s what you need to know about preventing, identifying and treating the disease.
Comments closedFor the first time in Quebec, a person has contracted Rocky Mountain spotted fever, a tick-borne disease that is potentially fatal, a doctor stated on Monday. The patient, recently infected in Estrie, has nevertheless responded well to treatment and has now recovered.
As milder temperatures favour the proliferation of ticks, we expect to see more and more cases in the coming years in Quebec, says Dr. Alex Carignan, infectious disease microbiologist and professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Sherbrooke. “It is concerning, because it is an infection with significant severity.”
The disease, which is treated with antibiotics, can lead to death if not properly managed. The first symptoms, which appear a few hours or days after a person is bitten, include a high fever, headache, muscle aches, and skin lesions in the form of small red spots.
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