There's another health threat officials are tracking in Ottawa and across the province—RSV outbreaks in long-term care homes.
In Ottawa the Hillel Lodge, Centre d'Accueil Champlain and Peter D. Clark Centre are listed as long-term care homes having outbreaks, according to Ottawa Public Health.
The OPH dashboard also reflects retirement homes, schools and childcare centres dealing with an outbreak classified as "respiratory infection unspecified."
"We are seeing RSV get into long-term care homes and some real concerns about it taking over the home," said Laura Tamblyn Watts, the CEO of CanAge, Canada's national seniors' advocacy organization.
The respiratory virus with symptoms that typically mimic the common cold can cause severe infection in babies, but also seniors and anyone with a weak immune system.
"It is highly contagious and we're seeing in some cases a doubling and tripling in this area now," said Watts. "It's still early days, it's only been for the last couple of weeks, but we are seeing it trend up sharply."
When it comes to COVID-19, Ontario pharmacists will be allowed to prescribe Paxlovid, a medication for those who have a positive COVID-19 test, and are primarily over 60 or immunocompromised. Previously, patients would need a prescription from a doctor to access the drug.
"We know that by using Paxlovid within five days from the onset of symptoms that we can prevent severe symptoms and our ultimate goal is to prevent hospitalizations," said Justin Bates, the CEO of the Canadian Association of Pharmacists.
About 4,000 pharmacies have been dispensing the drug but it's unclear how many will opt-in to have their pharmacists prescribe it.
New data released Thursday reveals hospital wait times hit a new historic high in October. The average time to be admitted was 22.9 hours, up from 21.3 in September. Only 21 per cent of patients were admitted within the provincial standard of eight hours.
Tamblyn Watts says the Ontario government needs to track RSV like it does the number of COVID-19 cases.
"That means families need to look at their local health regions and look online to see if there's an outbreak in the long-term care home of their loved one," said Watts. "Unfortunately, however, it's not always listed as RSV. We're seeing a lot of 'unknown' or 'other' or 'undefined."
A gay man is taking the federal government to court, challenging the constitutionality of a policy restricting gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks in Canada, CTV News has learned.
Dominic Barton, the former global managing director of McKinsey & Company, says he had no involvement in federal contracts awarded to the firm in recent years.
Australia is removing the monarchy from its bank notes. The nation's new $5 bill will feature an Indigenous design rather than an image of King Charles III. But the king is still expected to appear on coins that currently bear the image of the late Queen Elizabeth II.
A Quebec woman said she was very surprised to find her stolen Audi had been used in what’s being described as an “absolutely insane” Ontario mall robbery.
When the opera 'La Flambeau' premieres next week in Montreal, Black performers will be front and centre in an artistic medium where they have historically been under-represented.
A suicide bomber who killed 101 people at a mosque in northwest Pakistan this week had disguised himself in a police uniform and did not raise suspicion among guards, the provincial police chief said on Thursday.
Top European Union officials arrived in Kyiv on Thursday for talks with Ukrainian officials as rescue crews dug through the rubble of an apartment building in eastern Ukraine struck by a Russian missile, killing at least three people and wounding about 20 others.
A new 911 dispatch system in New Brunswick means that now fire departments aren’t getting dispatched to all medical calls leaving residents waiting and first responders in the dark.
A polar vortex is descending over Ontario this week and some of the coldest weather is still to come. Wind chills will also reach dangerous levels, increasing the risk of frostbite.
A Quebec woman said she was very surprised to find her stolen Audi had been used in what’s being described as an “absolutely insane” Ontario mall robbery.
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 Quebec woman said she was very surprised to find her stolen Audi had been used in what’s being described as an “absolutely insane” Ontario mall robbery.
A Quebec woman said she was very surprised to find her stolen Audi had been used in what’s being described as an “absolutely insane” Ontario mall robbery.
Wiarton Willie has predicted an early spring! The groundhog in South Bruce Peninsula didn't see his shadow at 8:07 a.m. on Thursday morning, meaning spring is on the way.
Bostwick Road has reopened following a serious crash on Wednesday evening. Around 7:20 p.m., emergency crews responded to the scene in south London for the incident involving two vehicles.
The organization regulating medical care and services in Manitoba is apologizing for racism directed towards Indigenous people when accessing health care in the province.
Wiarton Willie made his prediction his spring prediction Thursday morning at 8:07 a.m. The groundhog did not see his shadow, meaning we could get an early spring.
Calgary police are looking for suspects involved in an altercation that lasted for approximately an hour, spanned several communities and ended with a gun being fired.
Tsuut'ina Nation Police Service officials are encouraging any local victims to come forward following the arrest of actor Nathan Lee Chasing Horse in Las Vegas on sex assault charges.
A large crowd of around 700 students, faculty members and Lethbridge residents came out on Wednesday to protest a planned speech by Frances Widdowson at the University of Lethbridge that didn't take place.
A gay man is taking the federal government to court, challenging the constitutionality of a policy restricting gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks in Canada, CTV News has learned.
B.C.'s Ministry of Health is continuing its multi-year trend of paying millions more dollars each year to private surgical centres for the delivery of public health care, CTV News has learned.
Changes to the amount of time the public gets to voice their opinion during Surrey City Council meetings has caused controversy among former councillors.
