Toronto public health officials say the level of respiratory infections is high. However, they said that after the widespread infection during the holiday season, it is decreasing.
Associate Medical Officer of Public Health Department. Erin Armstrong said in a Jan. 15 presentation before the Toronto Board of Health that the outbreak of Covid-19 and influenza is high in Toronto. But we also know that influenza infections are on the decline.
In the last week, the influenza detection rate was 6.6 percent. In the previous week, this rate was 15.6 percent. Armstrong said the rate of Covid-19 detection is high but stable. The rate of detection of Covid-19 in the last week was 17.6 percent. This rate is 1 percentage point less than the previous week.
Ontario’s Covid-19 wastewater is also showing signs of stabilization after more than a year of high detection rates. In the latest data from Public Health Ontario, this rate is 2.38 percent. However, it is almost twice the 1.38 percent of a year ago. However, the rate of detection has remained roughly the same since mid-December, indicating that infections are currently stable.
Meanwhile, Toronto’s emergency department visits with respiratory infections have started to decline after rising in September and peaking in late December. Although the level is not at all low.
Influenza infections are higher now than at this time of year before the pandemic, Armstrong said. Prior to pandemics, influenza outbreaks typically began in November and peaked in late December or early January. But in the 2023-2024 season, it starts relatively earlier i.e. by mid-October and reaches its peak by the end of December.
