Respiratory viruses are “putting an additional strain on an already strained health-care system,” Manitoba‘s health minister said Thursday.
“Flu is on the rise,” Uzoma Asagwara said at a press conference. “It seems to be hitting the system earlier this year than in prior years.”
The caution was made amidst calls for Manitobans to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and the flu. According to Asagwara, vaccines don’t just protect the person taking them but also the “most vulnerable people in our families, in our communities, in our neighbourhoods, in our schools, (and) in our workplaces.”
The minister also noted that 240,000 Manitobans have been vaccinated or gotten their boosters against COVID-19 in the past few months.
Dr. Brent Roussin, chief provincial public health officer, said that number amounts to about 16 per cent of all Manitobans receiving the vaccine this year. The number is slightly above the average national COVID-19 vaccine uptake, according to Roussin.
“We really want to strive to get those numbers higher to ensure Manitobans are doing everything they can to stay healthy,” Roussin said.
Aside from COVID-19, Roussin said the seasonal influenza vaccination uptake was at 22 per cent across the province. For those over the age of 65, the rate of vaccinations was the highest compared with other cohorts.
We can expect transmission to increase, he said, over the next few weeks. Getting vaccinated would improve the body’s immune response, he noted.
Aside from vaccinations, Asagwara said people can do more to keep themselves and their loved ones safe. This includes wearing a mask and staying away from other people if someone isn’t feeling well. Regular handwashing can also make a difference, they said.
Another step the minister highlighted is to connect with health-care providers.
‘”We need to make sure that we continue to support these folks (health-care workers),” Asagwara said. “These are the folks that are making sure that the health-care system is functioning at its best. They recognize the strains on the system and the pressures that the system is dealing with.”