After successfully serving nearly 3,000 people and reducing the number of people in hospital emergency waiting rooms, nearly all of Ottawa’s flu assessment centres will be closing after Friday due to declining demand.
“Flu assessment centres were launched to provide care to people with mild to moderate symptoms just as we saw a sharp increase in flu cases during the past few weeks,” said medical officer of health Dr. Isra Levy.
Since the centres opened Nov. 4, demand has gone down. One centre, the Tungasuvvingat Inuit Community Centre, will continue to operate, since flu activity continues to rise among the local First Nations population.
There has been “brisk interest” in the vaccine since clinics opened to the general public Wednesday.
The city, which received 60,000 vaccines earlier in the week, is expecting a shipment of another 40,000 doses by Friday for a total of 100,000 doses for the week.
While the number of new laboratory-confirmed cases in Ottawa is decreasing, the H1N1 flu virus is still present in the community, Levy said.
