In the latest update from the Community Respiratory Illness Surveillance Program (CRISP), covering the reporting period from December 3-16, encouraging trends are noted in the battle against respiratory illnesses.
COVID-19 cases have seen a steady decline for the fifth consecutive week, dropping from 496 positive tests to 262. The test positivity rate decreased to 9.8 per cent from the initial 13.8 per cent at the beginning of the four-week reporting period.
Influenza cases also show improvement, decreasing from 867 positive tests to 578. Test positivity for influenza dropped from 31.1 to 25.2 per cent, with Influenza Type A dominating at 97.8 per cent.
Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) experienced a slight increase, with 111 positive tests in the most recent two weeks. COVID-19 and Influenza jointly accounted for 81 per cent of hospitalizations due to viral respiratory illnesses, while RSV, ‘Other’ respiratory viruses, and co-infected cases collectively constituted 20 per cent.
Sentinel surveillance indicators exhibited fluctuations: emergency department visits for respiratory-like illnesses decreased, school absenteeism dropped, and calls to HealthLine 811 increased slightly.
Regarding COVID-19 specifics, positive tests for SARS-CoV-2 decreased to 262, with the 20-64 age group accounting for 50.7 per cent of cases. Notably, there were fewer COVID-19 outbreaks in high-risk settings, with 14 reported compared to the previous two-week period’s 22.
Hospitalizations due to COVID-19 saw a 28 per cent decrease.
When it comes to influenza, test positivity decreased in several areas, with five locations reporting higher than the provincial average. Influenza-associated deaths numbered 13, with hospitalizations decreasing by 29 per cent.
RSV and other respiratory viruses presented a mixed picture. Other respiratory viruses increased, with 140 positive lab detections, and RSV hospitalizations remained stable at 20. Outbreaks due to ‘other’ viruses increased, with two reported in high-risk settings over the past two weeks.