Cut-offs for weekly levels and comparison with the previous week have been established using indicator data from previous respiratory seasons in Renfrew County and District or in Ontario where local data is too variable and sporadic to establish meaningful cut-offs. Thresholds will be routinely reviewed and updated as needed throughout the current respiratory season. The indicators and definitions may also be revised.
Indicator Details
The following section provides detailed information on the indicators found in the Respiratory Illness Data Summary.
New respiratory outbreaks in healthcare and congregate institutions:
Definition
Number of new respiratory outbreaks declared in healthcare (i.e. long-term care homes, retirement homes, hospitals) and congregate (i.e. group homes, shelters) institutions in the past week. Includes COVID-19, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and other respiratory outbreaks.
Data source
- COVID-19, influenza, RSV and other respiratory outbreaks: The integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS), Ministry of Health
Weekly level cut-offs
Based on distribution (approximate quartile cut-offs) of local data for past respiratory season (September 2024-August 2025)
- Low= 0 outbreaks
- Moderate= 1 outbreak
- High= 2 outbreaks
- Very high= 3 outbreaks or more
Comparison with previous week cut-offs
Based on differences exceeding the 75th percentile of local weekly differences for the for past respiratory season (September 2024-August 2025)
- Lower = A decrease of 2 outbreaks or more
- Similar = A change between -1 and 1 outbreak
- Higher = Any increase of 2 outbreaks or more
Hospital bed occupancy due to respiratory illness:
Definition
The average daily hospital occupancy count per week of people admitted to local hospitals primarily being treated for active infection of COVID-19, influenza, and/or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
Data source
Inpatient Data File (Hospital Bed Census), Ministry of Health (Capacity Planning and Analytics Division) SAS Visual Analytics Hub
Data considerations
Includes hospital admissions (including ICU admissions) to local hospitals, regardless of whether the patient is a resident of RCD. Does not include emergency department visits. People may be counted in bed occupancy data for multiple days.
Weekly level cut-offs
Based on distribution of local data for past respiratory season (September 2024-August 2025)
- Low = 0 bed occupied or less
- Moderate = 1-2 beds occupied
- High = 3 beds occupied
- Very high = 4 beds occupied or more
Comparison with previous week cut-offs
Based on differences exceeding the 75th percentile of local weekly differences for the for past respiratory season (September 2024-August 2025)
- Lower = A decrease of 2 beds occupied or more
- Similar = A change between -1 and 1 bed occupied
- Higher = An increase of 2 bed occupied or more
COVID-19 percent (%) positivity
Definition
Percent of all COVID-19 molecular tests processed in the past week which have a positive result.
Data source
Ontario Laboratories Information System (OLIS), Ministry of Health (Capacity Planning and Analytics Division) SAS Visual Analytics Hub
Data considerations
Includes reports submitted to the Ontario Laboratory Information System (OLIS). Not all laboratories report to OLIS. Does not contain consent blocked records or those records for which a health card number could not be determined. Does not include results from rapid antigen tests (RATs). For information of current testing eligibility, visit the Ministry of Health’s COVID‑19 testing and treatment webpage.
Weekly level cut-offs
Based on distribution of local data for past respiratory season (September 2024-August 2025)
- Low = Under 5.0% positivity
- Moderate = 5.0 to 14.9% positivity
- High = 15.0 to 19.9% positivity
- Very high = 20.0% positivity or higher
Comparison with previous week cut-offs
Based on differences exceeding the 66th percentile of historical weekly differences for past 12 months at time of calculation (June 2024 – May 2025)
- Lower = A decrease of 5.0% or more
- Similar = A change between -4.9% and 4.9%
- Higher = Any increase of 5.0% or more
Influenza percent (%) positivity
Definition
Percent of all influenza tests (influenza A and B) processed in the past week which have a positive result.
Data source
Ontario Laboratories Information System (OLIS), Ministry of Health (Capacity Planning and Analytics Division) SAS Visual Analytics Hub.
Data considerations
Data includes reports submitted to the Ontario Laboratory Information System (OLIS). Not all laboratories report to OLIS. Does not contain consent blocked records or those records for which a health card number could not be determined.
For information on current testing eligibility, visit the Public Health Ontario Respiratory Viruses (including influenza) webpage.
Weekly level cut-offs
Based on distribution of local data for past respiratory season (September 2024-August 2025)
- Low = Under 5.0% positivity
- Moderate = 5.0 to 9.9% positivity
- High = 10.0 to 14.9% positivity
- Very high = 15.0% positivity or higher
Comparison with previous week cut-offs
Based on the comparison with previous week cut-offs for COVID-19 percent (%) positivity for consistency across indicators related to percent positivity. Local data is too variable and sporadic to establish meaningful cut-offs for influenza alone.
- Lower = A decrease of 5.0% or more
- Similar = A change between -4.9% and 4.9%
- Higher = An increase of 5.0% or more
Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) percent (%) positivity
Definition
Percent of all RSV tests processed in the past week which have a positive result.
Data source
Ontario Laboratories Information System (OLIS), Ministry of Health (Capacity Planning and Analytics Division) SAS Visual Analytics Hub.
Data considerations
Data includes reports submitted to the Ontario Laboratory Information System (OLIS). Not all laboratories report to OLIS. Does not contain consent blocked records or those records for which a health card number could not be determined.
For information on current testing eligibility, visit the Public Health Ontario Respiratory Viruses (including influenza) webpage.
Weekly level cut-offs
Based on the thresholds for RSV percent positivity levels used in the Ontario Respiratory Virus Tool by Public Health Ontario (described in the Technical Notes). Local data is too variable and sporadic to establish meaningful cut-offs.
- Low = Under 5.0% positivity
- Moderate = 5.0 to 9.9% positivity
- High = 10.0% to 14.9% positivity
- Very high = 15.0% positivity or higher
Comparison with previous week cut-offs
Based on the comparison with previous week cut-offs for COVID-19 percent (%) positivity for consistency across indicators related to percent positivity. Local data is too variable and sporadic to establish meaningful cut-offs for RSV alone.
- Lower = A decrease of 5.0% or more
- Similar = A change between -4.9% and 4.9%
- Higher = An increase of 5.0% or more
Respiratory-related emergency department (ED) visits
Definition
Percentage of all ED visits by RCD residents that are specifically for respiratory-related concerns in the past week (syndrome = RESP)
Data source
The Acute Care Enhanced Surveillance Application (ACES), South East Health Unit
Data considerations
Includes data from most local emergency departments and non-local emergency departments that RCD residents may visit.
ACES, or Acute Care Enhanced Surveillance (ACES), is an Ontario-wide system that monitors hospital registration records in real time to identify potential disease outbreaks or other public health threats. It uses natural language processing to scan the words or phrases included in the “chief complaint” or “reason for admission” and to sort the records into “syndromes”. Monitoring syndromes in real time can identify an outbreak much faster than is possible using laboratory results, but syndromes are not clinical diagnoses and therefore need to be interpreted with care.
Weekly level cut-offs
Based on distribution of local data for past respiratory season (September 2024-August 2025)
- Low = Less than 10.0% of visits
- Moderate = 10.0 to 12.4%% of visits
- High = 12.5 to 14.9% of visits
- Very high = 15.0% of visits or higher
For more information on respiratory-related emergency department visits in Ontario, visit South East Health Unit’s Viral Respiratory Mapper.
Comparison with previous week cut-offs
Based on differences exceeding the 75th percentile of local weekly differences for the for past respiratory season (September 2024-August 2025)
- Lower = A decrease of 2.0% or more
- Similar = A change between -1.9% and 1.9%
- Higher = An increase of 2.0% or more
Archived Data Notes
New respiratory outbreaks in healthcare and congregate institutions:
Weekly level cut-offs and comparison with previous week cut-offs for the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 respiratory seasons were the same as the current season (2025-2026).
Hospital bed occupancy due to respiratory illness:
2023-2024 and 2024-2025 weekly level cut-offs
- Low = 0 beds occupied
- Moderate = 1 bed occupied
- High = 2-3 beds occupied
- Very high = 4 beds occupied or more
2023-2024 and 2024-2025 comparison with previous week cut-offs (remain the same for 2025-2026 season)
- Lower = A decrease of 2 beds occupied or more
- Similar = A change between -1 and 1 bed occupied
- Higher = An increase of 2 bed occupied or more
COVID-19 percent (%) positivity:
2023-2024 season weekly level cut-offs
- Low = Under 7.0% positivity
- Moderate = 7.0 to 9.9% positivity
- High = 10.0 to 12.9% positivity
- Very high = 13.0% positivity or higher
2024-2025 season weekly level cut-offs
- Low = Under 6.0% positivity
- Moderate = 6.0 to 10.9% positivity
- High = 11.0 to 17.9% positivity
- Very high = 18.0% positivity or higher
2023-2024 and 2024-2025 comparison with previous week cut-offs (remain the same for 2025-2026 season)
- Lower = A decrease of 5.0% or more
- Similar = A change between -4.9% and 4.9%
- Higher = Any increase of 5.0% or more
Influenza percent (%) positivity:
2023-2024 and 2024-2025 season weekly level cut-offs
- Low = Under 10.0% positivity
- Moderate = 10.0 to 24.9% positivity
- High = 25.0 to 39.9% positivity
- Very high = 40.0% positivity or higher
2023-2024 and 2024-2025 comparison with previous week cut-offs (remain the same for 2025-2026 season)
- Lower = A decrease of 5.0% or more
- Similar = A change between -4.9% and 4.9%
- Higher = Any increase of 5.0% or more
Respiratory-related emergency department (ED) visits:
2023-2024 season weekly level cut-offs
- Low = Less than 9.0% of visits
- Moderate = 9.0 to 10.9% of visits
- High = 11.0 to 13.9% of visits
- Very high = 14.0% of visits or more
2024-2025 season weekly level cut-offs
- Low = Less than 7.0% of visits
- Moderate = 7.0 to 9.9% of visits
- High = 10.0 to 11.9% of visits
- Very high = 12.0% of visits or more
2023-2024 and 2024-2025 comparison with previous week cut-offs (remain the same for 2025-2026 season)
- Lower = A decrease of 2.0% or more
- Similar = A change between -1.9% and 1.9%
- Higher = An increase of 2.0% or more
The indicators below were assessed during previous respiratory seasons, but have been archived due to changes in data availability.
New hospital admissions for COVID-19 (Archived June 2, 2024)
Definition
Number of new COVID-19 hospitalizations by RCD residents in the past week
Data source
The provincial Case and Contact Management (CCM) solution, Ministry of Health
Data considerations
Categorized using start date of hospital admission (or reported date of case if start date of hospital admission not available). Includes hospital and ICU admissions of RCD residents to both local and non-local hospitals, but excludes admissions by non-RCD residents to local hospitals. Does not include emergency department visits.
Weekly level cut-offs
Based on distribution (approximate quartile cut-offs) of local data for last respiratory season (September 2022 – August 2023)
- Low = 0 to 1 admission
- Moderate = 2 admissions
- High = 3 to 4 admissions
- Very high = 5 admissions or more
Comparison with previous week cut-offs
Based on differences exceeding the 66th percentile of historical weekly differences for past 2 respiratory seasons (January-August 2022 and September 2022-August 2023)
- Lower = Any decrease to 0 or a decrease of 2 admissions or more
- Similar = A change between -1 and 1 admissions
- Higher = Any increase from 0 or an increase of 2 admissions or more
- COVID-19 wastewater signal (Pembroke & Petawawa)
COVID-19 wastewater signal (Pembroke & Petawawa) (Archived July 29, 2024)
Definition
Weekly average concentrations of viral COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) N1N2 gene copies per milliliter divided by copies per milliliter of the pepper mild mottle virus (PPMoV), a seasonally stable biological marker. Weekly averages are typically based on 3 to 5 samples.
Data source
RCDHU appreciates the support and collaboration of Ontario Wastewater Surveillance Initiative partners that make the collection, analysis, and sharing of local wastewater data possible. Wastewater samples are collected by the Pembroke Pollution Control Centre and the Petawawa Wastewater Treatment Facility and analyzed at Carleton University. Data is uploaded to the Ontario Wastewater Surveillance Initiative Data and Visualization Hub (Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks).
Data considerations
Wastewater sampling in RCD is currently limited to Pembroke and Petawawa wastewater treatment plants, which service 30% of RCDHU’s total population. As such, trends in wastewater may not necessarily reflect COVID-19 levels in RCD overall and should be interpreted with caution.
Weekly level cut-offs
Based on distribution (quartile cut-offs) of local data for past 2 respiratory seasons (January-August 2022 and September 2022 – August 2023)
Pembroke
Low= Less than 0.006
Moderate= 0.006 to 0.013
High= 0.014 to 0.025
Very high= 0.026 or higher
Petawawa
Low= Less than 0.005
Moderate= 0.005 to 0.008
High= 0.009 to 0.018
Very high= 0.019 or higher
Comparison with previous week cut-offs
Based on differences exceeding the 66th percentile of historical weekly differences for past 2 respiratory seasons (January – August 2022 and September 2022 – August 2023)
Pembroke
Lower= A decrease of 0.010 or more
Similar= A change between -0.009 and 0.009
Higher= An increase of 0.010 or more
Petawawa
Lower= A decrease of 0.007 or more
Similar= A change between -0.006 and 0.006
Higher= An increase of 0.007 or more
