Strang shares tips with families as cold, flu, RSV cases rise in Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia’s top doctor is reaching out to families with advice as viruses continue to circulate in the province.
In a letter shared with school boards across the province, Dr. Robert Strang asked Nova Scotians to do their part to ensure fewer people get sick.
He said, while the province is seeing a decrease in COVID-19 cases, influenza, RSV and colds are on the rise.
Nova Scotia’s latest Respiratory Watch data shows that in the last three weeks of November, lab-confirmed cases more than doubled each week. From Nov. 20 to 26, there were 524 new cases of influenza A and no new cases of influenza B.
Strang said that while the viruses are typically mild for most children, they can be “very serious” for infants and toddlers and they could end up in the emergency department or admitted to hospital.
Dr. Andrew Lynk, the head of pediatrics at the IWK Health Centre, joined Strang during a Nov. 17 press conference to discuss high patient numbers.
Lynk said that acute care services for children have been “stretched” across the province.
Monday’s letter from Strang provided five tips people can use to protect themselves and others:
- Children over six months of age should get their influenza vaccine as soon as possible. Everyone in the family should also receive their flu vaccine.
- You and your child should be up-to-date on all vaccines, including tetanus, pertussis, measles and COVID-19.
- Sick children should stay home until they are feeling better. Once a child is able to return to school and activities, they should wear a mask when around others for two to three days, if possible.
- People who have to visit a public indoor space should wear a mask.
- Friends and relatives who are sick should not be around infants, young children and those with other health challenges.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.