De Villa said she is "urging Torontonians — in the strongest possible terms — to receive their flu vaccine soon as possible.'

A number of doctors, nurses and administrators at hospitals across the GTA confirmed to Global News there has been a surge of patients on top of a system that is already operating at or over 100 per cent capacity.

A Mississauga mother wants anyone who is undecided about taking the flu shot to think about her son Jude, who died last year after complications from the flu.