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Evidence of the flu’s grip on Ottawa continues to appear in wastewater samples and at local hospitals, but there have also been signs of improvement.
According to the most recent update from Ottawa Public Health (OPH), traces of influenza detected in the city’s wastewater are at four times the levels found during the same week in 2024 and 2025.
That’s an improvement over last week, when levels were found to be 12 times higher than in previous years.
The green bars show this year’s flu levels. The dotted line represents combined average levels in 2024 and 2025. (Ottawa Public Health)
Meanwhile, local hospitals continue to see a higher proportion of patients with respiratory problems than they did in previous years — about 17 per cent this year compared to a three-year average of about 13 per cent.
That measure spiked at around 24 per cent in mid-December.
During the week beginning Dec. 28, more than twice as many patients were admitted to hospital with flu than with COVID-19 and RSV combined, according to OPH.
COVID-19 levels are generally considered moderate and stable, while other respiratory viruses such as RSV are considered high and stable.
Hospitals under pressure
The local health-care system has been struggling to keep up with this respiratory illness season.
The Queensway Carleton Hospital said Wednesday it was 16 per cent over capacity, with 29 patients in its emergency department who should be admitted but couldn’t be because there were no available beds.
Ottawa’s children’s hospital CHEO has also voiced its concerns about the current flu season, and continues to ask people to get vaccinated against the viral illness.
Three children between the ages of five and nine died from complications of influenza in the first half of December, according to health officials in Ottawa and the neighbouring Eastern Ontario Health Unit.
Besides getting vaccinated, OPH says people can help halt the flu’s spread by keeping their hands and common surfaces clean, covering up when they sneeze and wearing masks.