New cases of influenza in Toronto have been confirmed by the Public Health Agency of Canada to be all genetically matching the virus circulating in Chicago, the Canadian Press reports. Public Health Chief Medical Officer Dr. David McKeown confirmed that the strains of influenza that have been detected in Toronto are Omicron variant of H3N2 influenza A, which is very similar to the viruses circulating in Chicago, and also said that the virus is making its way across the border.
Eighty-seven people in Toronto have been hospitalized as a result of the virus.
The news of this contamination with the same flu strain as other parts of the United States hit hard on Friday, with Mayor John Tory calling the news “extremely worrisome.” There are already over 400 U.S. cases confirmed to be Omicron variant, reported Politico, and the contagion of this strain in Dallas also prompted the city to order an immediate quarantine of students and faculty of the University of North Texas health campus.
There are now 11 confirmed human cases of new viruses in Toronto, representing six residents, four people with underlying medical conditions, and one minor, confirmed by a healthcare worker, who transmitted the virus to the five and eight-year-old children who were hospitalized in the past few days.
No known deaths have been attributed to influenza in Toronto.
Read the full story at the Toronto Sun.
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