Canada's 2020 Flu Season Is Way, Way Below Average For This Time Of Year
While flu season in Canada is underway, activity is actually below average for this time of year according to government data.
The Public Health Agency of Canada releases weekly reports about the situation across the country.
The most recent one for week 44, which is from October 25 to October 31, shows influenza activity is still below average for this time of year with no outbreaks and only one area reporting sporadic activity.
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8
laboratory detections of influenza reported between October 25-31
During week 44, eight laboratory detections of the flu were reported and they are associated with an influenza vaccine and likely aren't from community spread.
The report said there have been 12 detections reported to date this season.
That's "significantly lower" than the last six seasons where an average of 592 detections were reported between weeks 35 and 44.
From March through to October, there have been "exceptionally low levels" of activity and that's below average for the time of year.*
Going back to the last flu season, there were 9,119 cases reported between December 15 and January 4 which bumped the total up to 12,547.
The Public Health Agency of Canada said that the 2019-20 season ended in mid-March because of public health measures put in place to slow the spread of COVID-19.
*This article has been updated.