Oct. 2, 2023
As Canadians prepare for another respiratory virus season this fall and winter, some may be curious to know if what they have is a cold, flu or possibly COVID-19.
One method to determine this has been the use of COVID-19 rapid antigen tests, which were offered free of charge during the pandemic before their distribution began to wind down as infection rates and demand declined.
But it appears the number of people testing positive and being hospitalized for COVID-19 is on the rise.
COVID-19 hospitalizations across Canada have increased since August from nearly 1,500 to more than 2,700 this past week. The proportion of those patients who are in intensive care so far, though, has continued to hover around three per cent and remains well below the peaks seen in previous waves.