Ontario Premier Doug Ford says respiratory illnesses among children in Ontario are levelling off, even as CHEO is calling in the Canadian Red Cross to deal with an unprecedented surge in patients.
Ford says Ontario's chief medical officer of health told him the number of children sick with the flu, RSV and COVID-19 is no longer increasing.
"The good news is, talking to the chief medical officer, we're seeing the pediatric illness actually level. Up in Ottawa, they're seeing a spike, but here in Toronto we're seeing it level off," Ford told reporters in Ingersoll, Ont. on Monday.
Ford made the remarks when he was asked about CHEO requesting assistance from the Canadian Red Cross. The premier said he has been in "constant communication" with CHEO officials, and heaped praise on the hospital's CEO Alex Munter.
"He's done an incredible job thinking outside the box," he said. "He comes up with the best ideas, he texts them over to me, and then we implement them. So he's doing a great job."
Ford says CHEO is seeing the high volumes of illness because they're the only hospital in the region that takes care of pediatric care.
CHEO's chief nursing executive said over the weekend that a small team of Red Cross staff will start this week at the hospital.
"This will allow some of our redeployed staff to go back to their regular roles," Tammy DiGiovanni said in an email to CTV News Ottawa.
CHEO has been seeing a surge in patients with respiratory viruses this fall, forcing the hospital to cancel non-urgent surgeries and procedures, open a second pediatric intensive care unit and redeploy staff from surgical and medical care units.
Speaking to CTV News, Munter said the hospital believes it has reached or may be beyond the peak for RSV, but flu cases continue to climb.
"We are seeing volumes of demand that we have never seen at CHEO, in terms of numbers in the emergency department needing to be admitted with RSV, flu and COVID," he said.
Testing positivity for influenza in Ottawa was 27.5 per cent for the week of Nov. 20 to 26. It was 11.1 per cent in Toronto according to Toronto Public Health.
Munter says the hospital will have two teams of nine Red Cross staff working overnight to start and some will move to daytime shifts closer to New Year's.
"They will be in clinical support roles and that means they will be helping the nurses, the doctors, the respiratory therapists, and others," Munter explained. "They are there to support the clinical staff and make things run smoother."
Munter praised the Red Cross for its international work but also said the organization does a lot of good work here in Canada.
"Just as we are grateful to accept the help of other hospitals, of community physicians--we are delighted that the Red Cross has some people that are able to come to CHEO and work those overnight shifts," he said. "That will allow us to send clinic staff back to their main jobs so we can cancel fewer appointments and fewer surgeries."
With the anniversary of Ukraine's invasion by Russia around the corner, CTV News sat down with a Russian warfare expert to discuss how he sees the conflict playing out and what happens next.
According to Environment and Climate Change Canada, as of Thursday morning there were extreme cold or winter storm warnings active from coast to coast, with the harshest extreme cold warnings stretching from northern Alberta all the way to Nova Scotia.
Paid subscriptions to on-demand care are among the many strategies primary health-care providers in Ontario are adopting in order to meet increased demand for access to doctors in the past year, while also managing staffing shortages.
Nestle Canada says it is winding down its frozen meals and pizza business in Canada over the next six months. The four brands that will no longer be sold in the freezer aisle at Canadian grocery stores are Delissio, Stouffer's, Lean Cuisine and Life Cuisine.
A paramedic signing off for duty for the last time got choked up and teary-eyed during his final radio call to colleagues.
Hundreds of customers who scan QR codes for restaurant menus across Canada are being surprised by secret menus instead, revealing the hidden costs behind the food they eat.
One of Saskatchewan’s oldest hockey rinks has garnered national attention for its unique features and unusual design.
The U.S. is tracking a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that has been spotted over U.S. airspace for a couple days, but the Pentagon decided not to shoot it down due to risks of harm for people on the ground, officials said Thursday.
As the most romantic day of the year approaches, Canada's 100 most romantic restaurants for 2023 have been revealed for those who might consider booking a table for Valentine's Day dinner.
On the day that Shubenacadie Sam predicted six more weeks of winter, there are extreme cold warnings cautioning that the coldest air of the season is about to arrive in the Maritimes.
Police in Sackville, N.B., are investigating after seven children ingested cannabis edibles at a middle school on Wednesday.
An extreme cold warning has been issued across the region, with some saying the arctic air could break record-low temperatures in the Maritimes.
A paralegal firm whose tagline is “we win or it’s free” bribed a Toronto traffic court clerk to change legal records to make it look like they had won, said the clerk in the first time he has testified publicly about the case.
Toronto and most of Ontario are in for a frigid bout of winter weather, according to Environment Canada.
A group of Ontario Greens have put together a counteroffer for Liberals trying to poach their leader.
After an extremely mild month of January, the province is bracing for a blast of arctic air that will move in tonight and last until Saturday. Environment and Climate Change Canada has issued extreme cold warnings that covers most of the province with wind chills expected to be between -38 and -42 across the South and -50 across Northern Quebec.
A beloved man who was a fixture on the streets of Montreal's Notre-Dame-de-Grace neighbourhood died last year from a combination of street drugs in his system, including fentanyl, a coroner has ruled.
Medicago's parent company has announced that the Quebec City-based biopharmaceutical company, which developed a vaccine against COVID-19, will cease operations.
An argument between two young children playing outside together escalated to violence when a parent got involved, a North Bay mom says.
The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. is holding a big reveal Friday morning: the winner of a $48 million Lotto 6/49 Gold Ball draw.
The past few weeks have been a bit of a roller coaster for 16-year-old Ra'Jah Mohamed, a student at Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School.
One person has died and four others were sent to hospital after a two-vehicle crash in south London Wednesday night. She has since ben identified by her former cheerleading coach as 19-year-old Chloe Mackenzie.
Two-year-old Ella Crosset loved to dance and celebrate Halloween. Her smile lit up a room, and brought joy to so many people. But Ella passed away after a pool accident, and the pain of that loss was incomprehensible — through tragedy however, comes hope.
Environment Canada has lifted a snow squall warning for the London region Thursday evening, but a cold weather alert from the Middlesex-London Health Unit remains in effect. In addition, Grey-Bruce and Huron-Perth remain under snow squall and extreme cold warnings.
New documents show what led to a couple handing out cannabis-infused gummies to children in Winnipeg - and what happened in the hours directly after.
Ducks Unlimited Canada is celebrating World Wetlands Day by highlighting a success story in Niverville, Man.
A mobile home owner could potentially be out thousands of dollars after learning her home might not be insurable.
Police say they’ve arrested multiple people and one person was taken to hospital following reports of an armed robbery at Conestoga Mall on Thursday.
A Kitchener man, who was charged with killing his wife and then blowing up their home in 2018, has been found not criminally responsible.
A blast of cold Arctic air is expected to reach southern Ontario Thursday night paired with possible heavy blowing snow, according to Environment Canada.
Calgary police are investigating after a carjacking at a northeast dealership on Thursday afternoon.
Calgary's Alexandria Loutitt did it again Thursday afternoon, winning gold at the FIS Nordic Jr World Ski Championships in Whistler.
A Calgary pro wrestling legend has passed away.
Aaron Benneweis, 46, has been charged by Saskatoon Police with sexual assault and sexual exploitation of a minor while in a position of trust or authority.
Brian Hodgkinson always knew there was benzene in natural gas — after all, he spent 40 years working with it for SaskPower, then SaskEnergy.
A report written and reviewed by Saskatoon Water is calling on the city to create a warning system, in particular for drivers, when roadways become “dangerously flooded” due to heavy rain.
A former Edmonton Police Service officer believes bringing Alberta Sheriffs into downtown Edmonton is a risky plan that has the potential to backfire if not done properly.
The Operation Friendship Seniors Society (OFSS) announced Wednesday that it would be shutting down services at the McCauley Seniors drop-in facility.
Three more Albertans died from influenza in a one-week period, according to the latest data from health officials, while newly reported cases decreased for the 10th week in a row since the peak in mid-November.
A man was found fatally shot in a vehicle on a residential street in Burnaby Thursday afternoon, and homicide investigators have been called to the scene.
Strong winds are expected to arrive Friday afternoon and last until the evening.
Hidden along old logging roads and tucked in near rivers and waterways, are campers who have made Crown land near the Chilliwack River their homes.
One of Saskatchewan’s oldest hockey rinks has garnered national attention for its unique features and unusual design.
The final details are being chiselled into place at the REAL District in preparation for the second annual Frost Festival taking place Feb. 3 to 12.
The Farmer and Rancher Mental Health (FARMh) Initiative has launched a mental wellness network along with a virtual toolbox full of mental health resources for the agriculture community.
