Organization: Public Health Agency of Canada
Year: 2022
Month: May
Request Number: A-2021-000445
Request Summary: Each year, the Public Health Agency of Canada, through the Centre for Immunization and Respiratory Infectious Diseases (CIRID), organizes and carries out monitoring of the seasonal flue virus and other respiratory viruses across Canada. It publishes weekly and annual reports on that monitoring, particularly through the FluWatch program. Since COVID-19 first appeared in Canada, the following phrase is included in each of the weekly reports: "Testing for influenza and other respiratory viruses has 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." All documents that explain or help in understanding exactly what these "changes in ... testing" are and how it impacts flu monitoring data. Also provide documents related to the risk that these changes could incur in the detection of all respiratory viruses.
Disposition: All disclosed
Number of pages: 29