Flu, COVID-19 and RSV on the rise in Ottawa

It's a triple whammy: flu, COVID-19 and RSV season is here and the numbers from Ottawa Public Health show COVID activity is high in the capital.

There were 285 new COVID-19 cases reported in the last week, with six deaths. Twenty-two people were in hospital for the flu and 92 were in hospital for RSV.

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Rosie Tay got her flu shot a month ago. On Monday, she got her COVID-19 vaccine.

"I got a flu shot already, yes, because it's so important. Usually I get it every year," says Tay. "I'm staying healthy, very important to get the flu and the COVID shot."

Tay is not alone. Pharmacist Jordan Clark says he's already swamped with flu and COVID-19 vaccine appointments at his Shoppers Drug Mart Pharmacy.

"It's been, I would say, really busy. Especially the way things lined up to have both COVID shots and flu shots at the same time," says Clark. "It's really important. We want to see as many people as we can to get it, just to prevent overwhelming our already overwhelmed hospitals and health-care system. So it's a really simple thing that goes a long way."

The Public Heath Agency of Canada says there were more than 1,800 laboratory detections of influenza in mid November, with the vast majority being Influenza A.

Last year, flu season started early with the peak hitting in mid December. Infectious disease specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch says this year will be just like any other year when it comes to timing.

"Influenza season is starting," says Bogoch. "It doesn't look like we're going to have an unusual influenza year; it's probably going to resemble influenza like we saw before the pandemic. Vaccines are free, they're widely available, and they help reduce the risk of influenza."

Ottawa's medical officer of health, Dr. Vera Etches, says hospitalizations from the flu, COVID-19 and RSV in the capital are starting to rise.

"We unfortunately expect that to go up now that flu is also increasing," says Etches. "But the useful thing to know right now is that you can still protect yourself against that influenza virus that's rising. The COVID vaccine, the new one is here. And you can get both COVID and flu at the same time."

Respiratory virus cases tend to rise over the holidays. Medical experts say vaccines are still a key way to protect yourself.

"I think everybody should get themselves protected, you know, to have the vaccine because it's coming back," said Tay.