Not only are hospitals and doctors' offices overflowing with sick patients, schools have fewer students, and businesses are making due with fewer employees.
Since the beginning of December, there has been a significant jump in the number of employee sick days at businesses across the city.
An increasing number of companies are offering employees free flu shots and providing gym memberships or incentives to keep staff healthy.
It seems as if everyone knows someone who is home sick right now, but tabulating the number of sick employees is a difficult task.
The Calgary Catholic School District says they don't need to contact health officials until more than 10 per cent of students are away, and they have yet to reach that threshold.
Representatives from Diversified Staffing Services says demand for staffing orders has increased by 15 to 25 per cent, and the temp agency’s staff is not immune to the impact of the flu outbreak.
“We've even required temp coverage ourselves to cover some of our internal positions,” says Diversified Staffing Services’ Andrew Ward. “It's definitely an unusual circumstance for us as well.”
To stop the spread of the virus, health officials are recommending anyone with flu-like symptoms to stay home.
