📈 The COVID-19 wastewater viral signal for Ottawa has increased substantially (+1,735%) since a low on July 12, 2023. It is extremely high.
⚠️ The percent positivity is extremely high (16.27% in Ottawa; 27.2% in the Outaouais).
🏥 Confirmed COVID-19 patients in Ottawa hospitals: 158 ( decrease of 6).
In 2023, there have been 131 COVID-19 outbreaks at Ottawa’s hospitals so far, leading to 21 deaths and 1,061 known cases of COVID-19.
Comments closedInfectious diseases expert Dr. Donald Vinh on the high number of viruses circulating in Quebec right now and how people can avoid them.
Comments closedQuebec Health Minister Christian Dubé and his chief public health officer warned Tuesday that the province is facing a major COVID-19 resurgence, coupled with a spike in influenza cases.
“We have a lot of vulnerable people that (are being hospitalized) because of influenza and because of COVID, and they should have been vaccinated,” Dubé said at a news conference.
“I think that the situation over the next few weeks will deteriorate. Let’s be clear about that.”
Comments closedTo reduce pressure on overflowing emergencies, the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, asks people with non-emergency problems to practice self-care, contact their family doctor, family medicine group (GMF) or the 811 phone line instead of going to the hospital. He noted that 28 winter clinics are open and that agreements have recently been reached with residential settings to accommodate seniors trapped in hospital due to the lack of CHSLD spaces.
Emergency rooms are facing a “perfect storm”, says Christian Dubé: a cocktail of seasonal viruses, staff holidays (“earned”), a labour shortage (bigger than last year) and a lack of hospital beds with the aging population as a backdrop.
Comments closedSince October, only 16% of Quebecers have been vaccinated against COVID-19, and 17.5% against influenza, this year’s flu (H1N1) that Public Health still fears. The main concern of authorities? The fact that just over one in two Quebecers, among those aged 70 and over, was vaccinated.
Comments closedThe Government of Canada has reached an agreement with Mitsubishi Chemical Group Corporation (MCG), Medicago’s parent company. This company will have to pay $40 million in addition to transferring the intellectual property developed by Medicago to the new Quebec company Aramis Biotechnologies.
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 closedThe city’s COVID-19 numbers to watch are mostly very high, and they are either stable or rising in this week’s Ottawa Public Health (OPH) updates.
Comments closedIn China, the recent outbreak of hospitalizations due to childhood pneumonia has attracted the attention of the World Health Organization (WHO). The primary cause appears to be Mycoplasma pneumoniae. In the height of influenza season, should we be concerned about this pathogen? Here are five questions to understand.
Comments closedAn outbreak of COVID-19 aboard a Canadian warship has forced the Royal Canadian Navy to cancel the remainder of a tour of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway.
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 closedQuebec’s Health Ministry announced Friday that it now recommends a single dose of the new COVID-19 vaccine for individuals considered at risk.
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 closedThose who wish to go to the bedside of a patient staying at the Gaspé hospital will have to wait to do so. The Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux (CISSS) de la Gaspésie suspends site visits for an indefinite period, due to COVID-19.
Comments closedOntario launched its vaccination campaign this week, allowing most people to get COVID-19 and flu vaccines.
According to the latest update from Ottawa Public Health (OPH), Ottawa health facilities are at high risk for respiratory diseases such as COVID, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
Comments closedThe last manufacturer to offer an alternative to COVID-19 mRNA vaccines in Canada hopes to meet the government’s 2024 deadline for domestic dose production.
Novavax, based in Maryland, USA, held a press conference on Wednesday to tout the safety and efficacy of its new vaccine, which targets newer strains of COVID-19.
Comments closedThe Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM) and the regional health board for the city’s centre-west region are bringing back mandatory mask rules.
The rule, which applies to both staff and visitors, took effect on Friday at every facility of the CIUSSS du Centre-Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal. That includes the Montreal Jewish General Hospital.
Comments closed
