OPH says the city’s health-care institutions remain at high risk from respiratory illnesses, as they have been since early September and are expected to remain until at least March.
Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore said flu and COVID spread should peak in the next few weeks. Moore said the health-care system is prepared.
In a news release, children’s hospital CHEO said it’s “much better equipped to manage this viral season” than it was last year, citing recent health-care spending by the province.
This is a key week for immunizing against both viruses ahead of the end-of-year holidays, Moore said, as the vaccines require 10 to 14 days to take effect.
Wastewater
As of Dec. 4, the average coronavirus wastewater level was still rising to its highest point since mid-January 2023. The daily reading on Saturday was the highest of the year.
OPH considers this very high.
Researchers have measured and shared the amount of novel coronavirus in Ottawa’s wastewater since June 2020. This is the data from December 2022 to Dec. 4, 2023. (613covid.ca)
Hospitals
In the past week, the average number of Ottawa residents in local hospitals for COVID-19 has fallen slightly to 71. It’s been in and around the 70s for almost a month. That includes four patients in an ICU.
A separate, wider count — which includes patients who tested positive for COVID after being admitted for other reasons, were admitted for lingering COVID complications or were transferred from other health units — is stable.
Ottawa Public Health has a COVID-19 hospital count that shows all hospital patients who tested positive for COVID, including those admitted for other reasons and who live in other areas. (Ottawa Public Health)
There were 44 new patients in the previous week. OPH sees this as a high number of new hospitalizations, though fewer than last week’s 54.
Tests, outbreaks, vaccines and deaths
Ottawa’s weekly average test positivity rate has dropped to about 18 per cent. It has been around 20 per cent for the last month. OPH categorizes this as very high.
There are 43 active COVID outbreaks — almost all are in either retirement homes or hospitals. The total is rising and there is a very high number of new outbreaks.
The health unit reported 305 more COVID cases in the last week and four more COVID deaths: one person in their 70s, two in their 80s and one 90 or older.
This doesn’t account for immunity from a recent infection.
Ottawa Public Health shares when residents age 5 and up last had a COVID-19 vaccine. The percentage that had one in the last 6 months doubled in the last four weeks. (Ottawa Public Health)
Nearly 100,000 doses have been administered in Ottawa over the last four weeks. The 28,400 doses given since Oct. 29 are the most in a single week since January 2022.
Ottawa’s Medical Officer of Health Dr. Vera Etches told CBC Radio’s Ottawa Morning this week there’s room to improve the vaccination share for people 80 and over because they account for about 65 per cent of the city’s COVID deaths.
Ottawa Morning10:16Ottawa Public Health winding down COVID-19 operations
The board of health finalized its 2024 budget last night. It includes laying off most of its dedicated COVID-19 staff by the end of the year and wrapping up its COVID immunization program by March 2024.
That area’s average coronavirus wastewater reading is considered very high and dropping, while its average COVID-19 test positivity rate is a moderate, stable 14 per cent.
The Eastern Ontario Health Unit (EOHU) says it’s in a high-risk time for COVID. Its wastewater readings and active outbreaks are each considered very high, with a stable 23 per cent of tests coming back positive.
Renfrew County’s health unit reports a stable test positivity average around 23 per cent.
The EOHU has 19 COVID hospitalizations, which it also considers very high.
The Kingston area’s health unit says it has 17 active COVID-19 patients in its hospitals, including anyone living in a different health unit. That is seen as moderate and stable.
Renfrew County reports seven of these patients aftre more than a year with fewer than 10.
HPE, like Ottawa, gives a weekly COVID hospital average: a stable 16, with two ICU patients.
Western Quebec has a stable 74 hospital patients who have tested positive for COVID. The province reports seven more COVID deaths there for 529 total.
HPE’s COVID death toll has increased by four to 140, 34 of those this year
The health unit for Leeds, Grenville and Lanark (LGL) counties reported its 177th COVID death and the EOHU reports its 327th.
LGL data goes up to Nov. 26, when its trends were generally high and rising.
The Canadian government says it will donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to fight the mpox outbreak in Congo and other African countries.
It says the donated doses of Imvamune will come from Canada’s existing supply and will not affect the country’s preparedness for mpox cases in this country.
Minister of Health Mark Holland says the donation “will help to protect those in the most affected regions of Africa and will help prevent further spread of the virus.”
Dr. Madhukar Pai, Canada research chair in epidemiology and global health, says although the donation is welcome, it is a very small portion of the estimated 10 million vaccine doses needed to control the outbreak.
Vaccine donations from wealthier countries have only recently started arriving in Africa, almost a month after the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
A few days after the declaration in August, Global Affairs Canada announced a contribution of $1 million for mpox surveillance, diagnostic tools, research and community awareness in Africa.
On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said mpox is still on the rise and that testing rates are “insufficient” across the continent.
Jason Kindrachuk, Canada research chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba, said donating vaccines, in addition to supporting surveillance and diagnostic tests, is “massively important.”
But Kindrachuk, who has worked on the ground in Congo during the epidemic, also said that the international response to the mpox outbreak is “better late than never (but) better never late.”
“It would have been fantastic for us globally to not be in this position by having provided doses a much, much longer time prior than when we are,” he said, noting that the outbreak of clade I mpox in Congo started in early 2023.
Clade II mpox, endemic in regions of West Africa, came to the world’s attention even earlier — in 2022 — as that strain of virus spread to other countries, including Canada.
Two doses are recommended for mpox vaccination, so the donation may only benefit 100,000 people, Pai said.
Pai questioned whether Canada is contributing enough, as the federal government hasn’t said what percentage of its mpox vaccine stockpile it is donating.
“Small donations are simply not going to help end this crisis. We need to show greater solidarity and support,” he said in an email.
“That is the biggest lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic — our collective safety is tied with that of other nations.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.
The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.
Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.
“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”
The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.
A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.
Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.
“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.
Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.
The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.
“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.
Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.
The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.
“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.
Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.
Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.
A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
