(Still no) flu update
By Medicine Hat News on February 20, 2021.
Alberta Health Services says there are no reported cases of seasonal influenza but more than 93,000 lab tests for flu have been done. Alberta Precision Laboratories has tested 93,858 respiratory swabs for influenza between Aug. 23, 2020 and Feb. 9, 2021. The report says 1,554,581 Albertans have had the influenza vaccine this season. In the South zone, which includes Medicine Hat, a total of 97,084 people have had the influenza vaccine. The latest FluWatch report for the whole country indicates two lab detections of influenza reported in Canada in February. FluWatch report says the testing for influenza and other respiratory viruses “had been influenced by the current COVID-19 pandemic. Changes in laboratory testing practices may affect the comparability of data to previous weeks or previous seasons.” 7-6
