Covid-19 News and Discussions
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Outbreaks lower, but other key respiratory signs hardly budge
Smallest number of new respiratory outbreaks since summer, OPH says
Andrew Foote · CBC News · Posted: Mar 13, 2024 3:31 PM EDT | Last Updated: March 13Social Sharing
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Window washers improve the view from the Shaw Centre in downtown Ottawa on Friday. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
Recent developments:
- Ottawa's COVID-19 and RSV numbers remain low to moderate.
- Some flu trends are still seen as very high.
- Fourteen more COVID deaths have been reported — some from 2022.
The latest
The weekly respiratory update from Ottawa Public Health (OPH) marches along a largely stable path: some very high flu trends, and low-to-moderate COVID-19 and RSV levels.OPH says the city's health-care institutions remain at high risk from respiratory illnesses, as they've been since the end of August. This will be the case until respiratory trends are low again.
There are few new respiratory outbreaks across Ottawa's health-care settings for the first time since summer, OPH says. Other categories such as hospitalizations and test positivity aren't yet considered low.
Experts recommend people cover coughs, wear masks, keep hands and often-touched surfaces clean, stay home when sick and keep up with COVID and flu vaccines to help protect themselves and vulnerable people.
COVID-19 in Ottawa
Ottawa's coronavirus wastewater average had been stable for about a month as of March 10.OPH said that level is moderate.
Researchers have measured and shared the amount of novel coronavirus in Ottawa's wastewater since June 2020. This is the data for the last year. (613covid.ca)
The weekly average test positivity rate in the city is six per cent, which is low to OPH.
OPH considers the number of new COVID-related hospitalizations in the city — 27 — as moderate.
The active COVID outbreak count is seven, with a low number of new outbreaks.
There have been no more COVID deaths reported in the capital. OPH's next COVID vaccination update is expected in early April.
Across the region
The Kingston area health unit is not in a high-risk respiratory time. Its trends are mostly stable.The Eastern Ontario Health Unit (EOHU) rates the overall respiratory risk as moderate and stable.
Hastings Prince Edward (HPE) Public Health's weekly COVID hospital average drops to three. Its flu activity is low.
Renfrew County's trends are generally stable.
Western Quebec has a stable 20 hospital patients who have tested positive for COVID. The province reported eight more COVID deaths there, seven of them from 2022.
The EOHU reports four more COVID deaths. There's been one more reported in both Renfrew County and the Kingston area.
Leeds, Grenville and Lanark (LGL) data goes up to March 3, when its trends were stable or dropping.
Yommie
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No new COVID-19 deaths as N.B. marks 4 years of pandemic
No flu deaths Feb. 25-March 2 either, but increase in activity, Respiratory Watch report says
Bobbi-Jean MacKinnon · CBC News · Posted: Mar 12, 2024 2:50 PM EDT | Last Updated: March 12
COVID-19 has hospitalized 1,354 New Brunswickers and sent 89 of them to intensive care since Aug. 27, 2023, the start of this respiratory season. The COVID-19 pandemic started four years ago. (Patrick Lacelle/Radio-Canada)
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New Brunswick reported no new COVID-19 deaths Tuesday, the four-year anniversary of the first confirmed case of the virus in the province and in Atlantic Canada.
The last time New Brunswick recorded no COVID deaths was six months ago, the week of Sept. 10, 2023.
No flu deaths occurred during the reporting week of Feb. 25 to March 2 either, according to the Respiratory Watch report.
COVID activity remains "moderate," while influenza activity increased "slightly," it says, including a jump in flu hospitalizations, two of whom were aged five to 19.
Twenty people were hospitalized because of COVID or for something else and later tested positive for the virus during the reporting week, down from 30 in the previous report. Nineteen of them were aged 65 or older and the other was aged 45 to 64.
None required intensive care, unchanged.
The 20 people hospitalized for or with COVID-19 during the week ending March 2 is about double the number hospitalized at the same time last year, when only hospitalizations because of COVID were counted. (Government of New Brunswick)
Five COVID outbreaks were declared, all in nursing homes, compared to six outbreaks the previous week.
A total of 74 new cases of COVID were confirmed through PCR (polymerase chain reaction) lab tests, with a positivity rate of six per cent. That's down from 80 and seven per cent, respectively.
There have been 146,712 COVID-19 vaccines administered since Oct. 4, the Department of Health says.
COVID-19 has killed at least 1,017 New Brunswickers since the pandemic began in the province on March 12, 2020, with the first confirmed case.
The woman in her 50s, from southeastern New Brunswick, had returned from France, and was announced as a "presumptive," or probable case, the day before, just hours after the World Health Organization deemed the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic, infecting more than 100,000 people in more than 100 countries.
The actual provincial death toll is unclear because the Department of Health has counted only people who die in hospital as COVID deaths since September.
14 flu hospitalization, up from none
The flu sent 14 people to hospital between Feb. 25 and March 2, up from none in last week's report.In addition to the two people under 19 admitted to hospital, there were four people aged 45 to 64 and eight people aged 65 or older, one of whom required intensive care.
One nursing home declared a lab-confirmed flu outbreak, up from none, and one school reported an "influenza-like illness" outbreak, down from two.
There were 120 new cases of the flu confirmed by labs, a nearly 35 per cent increase from the 89 cases in the previous report.
Of these, 74 were influenza B, 38 were influenza A (unsubtyped) and eight were influenza A (H1N1 pdm09).
The positivity rate — or the percentage of lab tests performed that produced a positive result — is 11 per cent, up from eight.
These latest cases raise the respiratory season total to 2,744 cases since Aug. 27, according to the report.
A total of 221,587 New Brunswickers have been vaccinated for against the flu so far this season, figures from the Department of Health show.
CBC requested an interview with Dr. Yves Léger, the province's acting chief medical officer of health, but did not receive a response.
8 Horizon health-care workers off sick
Horizon Health Network has 21 active COVID-19 hospitalizations, as of Saturday, up from 18 a week earlier, according to its COVID dashboard. None of the patients are in ICU, down from two.Eight Horizon health-care workers are off sick after testing positive for the virus, down from 10.
There are COVID outbreaks at two Horizon hospitals, as of Monday, its website shows. The Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital in Fredericton has outbreaks on the orthopedics; ear, nose, throat, and plastics unit as well as the transitional care unit, while the Charlotte County Hospital in St. Stephen has an outbreak on the family medicine unit (Floor 1).
Vitalité Health Network updates its COVID-19 report only monthly, with the next report not expected until March 26.
Its outbreaks page is updated more frequently, but as of Tuesday evening, it hasn't been updated since March 5.
Yommie
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Weekly case numbers from around Australia: 5,413 new cases (
13%), 863 hospitalised, 7 in ICU
Australia: Case Update
- NSW 1,515 new cases (21%); 457 hospitalised
- VIC 595 new cases (17%); 156 hospitalised; 5 in ICU
- QLD 1,131 new cases (9%); 186 hospitalised
- WA 255 new cases (
26%); 28 hospitalised - SA 1,240 new cases (14%)
- TAS 599 new cases (1%); 20 hospitalised; 1 in ICU
- ACT 43 new cases (35%); 16 hospitalised; 1 in ICU
- NT 35 new cases (36%); 0 hospitalised
- Older more detailed surveillance reports can be accessed using the state and territory links above.
- These case numbers are only an indicator for the current trends as most cases are unreported.
- Multiply by 20 or 30 to get a better indication of actual community case numbers.
- NSW, VIC, QLD, WA and the ACT no longer collect or report RAT results.
Flu tracker tracks cold and flu symptoms (fever plus cough) and is another useful tool for tracking the level of respiratory viruses in the community. Reported respiratory illness activity is fairly low at 1.3% (1.2% last week), about normal for this time of year.
And finally, covid-19 hospitalisations have shown a clear downwards tend for two months now, similar to the reported decreases case numbers.
Yommie
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Household contacts no longer recommended to test daily for Covid, unless symptomatic
Previously household contacts were advised to test for five days consecutively, even without symptoms.
www.rnz.co.nz
Household contacts no longer recommended to test daily for Covid, unless symptomatic
9:45 am on 4 March 2024Share this
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Photo: 123rf.com
Household contacts of someone positive for Covid-19 are no longer recommended to test daily, unless they develop symptoms themselves.
Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora confirmed the previously recommended advice of testing for five days consecutively was changing.
Only household contacts who developed one or more symptoms were recommended to stay at home and RAT test, it said.
"This change in advice for household contacts aligns with broader public health guidance that advises RAT testing is generally not recommended unless a person has Covid-19 symptoms," said National Public Health Service director of protection Becky Jenkins.
"This is because a person who is symptomatic will get a more reliable RAT result."
The health agency advised that if a person tested negative with a RAT but their Covid-19 symptoms persisted, they should continue to stay at home and test again in 24 and 48 hours.
If someone returned a positive result, it was recommended that they isolated for at least five days, starting at Day 0 - even if they only had mild symptoms and they have had Covid-19 before.
Health NZ confirmed earlier this year that free RATs would be available free until at least the end of June.
"With Covid-19 still circulating in the community and continuing to impact hospital admission rates, testing for Covid-19 with RATs remains an important tool to help manage the spread of Covid-19 and reduce the impact on our health system and our communities," said Jenkins.
"We strongly encourage people to make the most of the continued free access to RATs, and to keep testing if they feel unwell or think they may have Covid-19."
Participating RAT collection sites can be found at www.healthpoint.co.nz or by calling free on 0800 222 478 and choosing option 1.
No decisions have been made regarding the supply of RATs beyond June 2024.
Yommie
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COVID-19: Current cases – Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora
Read the latest information about confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 in New Zealand.
www.tewhatuora.govt.nz
COVID-19 cases summary
| New case average* | RATs uploaded average* |
| 686 ↓ | 206 ↓ |
| Cases in hospital as at midnight Sunday | Cases in ICU as at midnight Sunday |
| 171 | ** |
| Deaths attributed to COVID* | Total deaths attributed COVID |
| 3 | 3,882 |
** Not currently available
Current situation
Summary| In the last week | New cases reported | 4803 |
|---|---|---|
| Reinfections | 3118 | |
| Reinfections (< 90 days) | 46 | |
| Total since first New Zealand case | Cases reported | 2609005 |
| Reinfections | 347091 | |
| Reinfections (< 90 days) | 26167 |
Case outcomes since first New Zealand case
| COVID-19 cases | Change in the last week | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Recovered | 5550 | 2600325 |
| Deceased* | 24 | 3882* |
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