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With fall’s largely dry and cooler weather slowly creeping across Ontario, influenza and COVID-19 cases provincewide are starting to see a slight uptick, according to the Ontario Respiratory Virus Tool — an interactive online dashboard that tracks the province’s respiratory virus activity.

Data on respiratory virus activity for the week ending Oct. 3 showed flu, COVID-19 and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) cases have risen over the previous surveillance week.

The Ontario Respiratory Virus Tool, which is updated weekly on Fridays, showed the province had recorded 259 cases of the flu, 257 COVID-19 cases and 17 RSV cases.

Once Public Health Ontario gathers enough data, the website will begin offering projections of the 2026-27 respiratory pathogen season on Oct. 23.

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Flu, COVID cases increasing nationwide

Meanwhile, late-September data collected across Canada also indicated increased flu and COVID activity.

The Canadian respiratory virus surveillance report mirrored Ontario’s data, showing a rise in flu and COVID cases for the week ending Oct. 3, with 1,149 cases of the flu and 1,075 cases of COVID, both mostly affecting those aged 65 years or older.

The majority of the flu cases were classified as influenza A viruses with H1N1 — commonly known as swine flu — as the dominant subtype.

Compared to the same time in the last two years, the percentage of positive tests for the flu in Canada was up, sitting at 4.7%, which is an increase from 2025’s 0.6% and 2024’s 0.5% — indicating that the flu season is starting earlier this year.

In late February, the World Health Organization recommended that countries in the Northern Hemisphere focus their vaccine shots on combating the two subtypes of the influenza A virus: H1N1 and H3N2. It also recommended flu vaccines be tailored to fight the influenza B virus Victoria lineage.

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Who can get the flu shot?

As of Sept. 28, free flu and COVID vaccines in Ontario are being offered to high-risk residents, which include seniors, staff at long-term care homes and health-care workers.

Anyone over six months old can get a flu shot starting Oct. 26, though it’s worth noting children between the ages of six months and two years old can only get their shot from a doctor, nurse practitioner or public health unit, the province said on its website .

Some pharmacies can also provide flu shots to those two years old and up.

According to the province’s website, the vaccine takes about two weeks to take full effect.