Police officer hit by driver of fleeing vehicle in Toronto
York Regional Police say they are continuing to search for a suspect in an auto theft investigation who was captured on video running over a police officer in Toronto last month.
Canada continues to be in the thick of the flu epidemic, according to the latest national FluWatch, which reports a steady incline of influenza activity – particularly affecting young children and older adults.
"At the national level, influenza activity has continued to increase steeply as we enter the fifth week of the national influenza epidemic. All surveillance indicators are increasing and all are above expected levels typical of this time of year," the report released on Friday said.
Between Nov. 20 and Nov. 26, 8,226 laboratory detections were reported, compared to the 5,891 reported in the previous week; an increase of about 14.8 per cent. The hardest hit provinces with influenza include P.E.I., Alberta and British Columbia.
Within just a few weeks, infections shot up. The earliest report this month, ending the week of Nov. 5, reported 999 influenza detections among individuals between the ages of five and 19 years old. In the latest report, ending Nov. 26, that number had increased to 4,692.
Many of the cases, roughly 46 per cent, were reported in Canadians aged 0-19 years old. However, the groups experiencing more serious outcomes from influenza were children under the age of four and adults over the age of 45.
Hospitalizations among children ages 0-4 are among the highest, at 40.9 per cent of confirmed cases. Specifically, children aged 2-4 have been hospitalized the most, with 203 reported admissions this past week. Of cases in adults aged 65 and older, the rate of hospitalization rose to 33.4 per cent in the latest report. Since the start of the influenza season in August, there have been 109 ICU admissions and 36-influenza linked deaths, the report said.
Can't see the chart below? Click here
The report indicates the current influenza-like illness (ILI) rates are above normal seasonal levels, as is the rate of cough and fever among Canadians. ILI includes any symptoms not related to one sole respiratory illness, but includes other viruses like respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19).
Health experts have been cautioning Canadians throughout the flu season to take precautions, as the epidemic, combined with COVID-19 cases, RSV and other respiratory illnesses, as well as a shortage of children's pain relief medications, have exacerbated hospitals across the country and overwhelmed other parts of the health-care system.
A recent report by the National Institute on Aging indicated there has been a slow uptick in flu vaccinations among Canadians this season. The study found only 48 per cent of Canadians received their flu vaccine throughout the 2021-22 season. Those 65 and older were particularly lower than anticipated, with 70 per cent reported having been vaccinated against the flu. The Public Health Agency of Canada indicates an 80 per cent vaccination rate is needed among the 65-and-older population to effectively protect the vulnerable group.
Canada's top doctor, Dr. Therea Tam, said in a health briefing last week that Canadians should get their flu shot, wear a mask and stay home when sick, especially as the holiday season brings larger groups of people together.
With files from CTVNews.ca's Olivia Bowden.
York Regional Police say they are continuing to search for a suspect in an auto theft investigation who was captured on video running over a police officer in Toronto last month.
The adorable trio of child actors from the 1993 classic comedy 'Mrs. Doubtfire,' which starred the late and great Robin Williams, are all grown up and looking back on their seminal time together.
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.
Quebec Premier François Legault reiterated that the pro-Palestinian encampment at McGill University must be dismantled while police remain 'on the lookout for new developments.'
Drew Carey took over as host of 'The Price Is Right' and hopes he’s there for life. 'I'm not going anywhere,' he told 'Entertainment Tonight' of the job he took over from longtime host Bob Barker in 2007.
Video of a suspect lighting a Richmond Hill barbershop on fire earlier this week has been released by police.
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
A New Brunswick woman suffering from sarcoidosis, a disease that limits your lung capacity, is in need of a double lung transplant.
Crucial witnesses took the stand in the second week of testimony in Donald Trump's hush money trial, including a California lawyer who negotiated deals at the center of the case and a longtime adviser to the former president.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.