Respiratory hospitalizations on the decline in Canada as flu spread slows
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $205*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/01/2026 (258 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Health Canada says respiratory hospitalizations fell from more than 4,300 to about 2,500 in the second week of January, after the flu season hit a three-year high last month.
The latest national influenza data released Friday accounts for the period of Jan. 4 to Jan. 10 and shows the number of new flu cases is on the decline.
People over the age of 65 continue to be the most affected — an age group vulnerable to complications.
The rough flu season hit early by initially spreading mostly among kids, and it led to the deaths of three children in the Ottawa area.
Alberta hospitals have been overwhelmed with patients, leading to overcrowding and physicians calling on the province to invoke a public health state of emergency.
There were 8,206 new cases of flu detected the week ending Jan. 10, compared to 14,715 new cases the prior week.
Meanwhile, hospitalizations for respiratory conditions dropped sharply to 2,537 from 4,336 people.
Those hospitalizations also include people hospitalized with COVID-19 and RSV, but rates for those viruses are far lower than that of the flu.
Of those who were tested for respiratory viruses, 3.6 per cent were positive for RSV, 5.5 were positive for COVID-19 and 18.1 per cent were positive for influenza.
That’s down from a peak of 33 per cent of influenza tests being positive the week of Christmas — the highest the rate has been over the past three seasons.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 16, 2026.