There are 18 people being treated for the flu in intensive care in Ontario, and eight are on ventilators.

Chief medical officer of health Dr. Kieran Moore is encouraging everyone to get both the flu shot and COVID-19 booster now as the flu vaccine takes about 10 to 14 days to take effect.

“The next couple of weeks are going to be so important to get maintain protection with the vaccine against influenza and while you’re getting your flu vaccine, you should also get your COVID booster because many Ontarians haven’t gotten that yet only around 1.5 million have done so,” said Dr. Moore.

He says the dominant flu strain this season is a bad one and cases are expected to start picking up in the next couple of weeks.

Dr. Moore says he’s considering whether to make a stronger recommendation on masking in about two weeks but for now, strongly recommends masks indoors for older people or those with an underlying condition.

But the former head of the COVID-19 science advisory table says now is the time to return to masks given the current strain on healthcare.