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IMPORTANCE: Public health measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19 have heightened distress among children and adolescents and contributed to a shift in delivery of mental health care services. OBJECTIVES: To measure and compare physician-based outpatient mental health care utilization before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and quantify the extent of uptake of virtual care delivery. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Population-based repeated cross-sectional study using linked health and administrative databases in Ontario, Canada. All individuals aged 3 to 17 years residing in Ontario from January 1, 2017, to February 28, 2021. EXPOSURES: Pre–COVID-19 period from January 1, 2017, to February 29, 2020, and post–COVID-19 onset from March 1, 2020, to February 28, 2021. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Physician-based outpatient weekly visit rates per 1000 population for mental health diagnoses overall and stratified by age group, sex, and mental health diagnostic grouping and proportion of virtual visits. Poisson generalized estimating equations were used to model 3-year pre–COVID-19 trends and forecast expected trends post–COVID-19 onset and estimate the change in visit rates before and after the onset of COVID-19. The weekly proportions of virtual visits were calculated. RESULTS: In a population of almost 2.5 million children and adolescents (48.7% female; mean [SD] age, 10.1 [4.3] years), the weekly rate of mental health outpatient visits was 6.9 per 1000 population. Following the pandemic onset, visit rates declined rapidly to below expected (adjusted relative rate [aRR], 0.81; 95% CI, 0.79-0.82) in April 2020 followed by a growth to above expected (aRR, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.04-1.09) by July 2020 and sustained at 10% to 15% above expected as of February 2021. Adolescent female individuals had the greatest increase in visit rates relative to expected by the end of the study (aRR, 1.26; 95% CI, 1.25-1.28). Virtual care accounted for 5.0 visits per 1000 population (72.5%) of mental health visits over the study period, with a peak of 5.3 visits per 1000 population (90.1%) (April 2020) and leveling off to approximately 70% in the latter months. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Physician-based outpatient mental health care in Ontario increased during the pandemic, accompanied by a large, rapid shift to virtual care. There was a disproportionate increase in use of mental health care services among adolescent female individuals. System-level planning to address the increasing capacity needs and to monitor quality of care with such large shifts is warranted.

Background There is limited data on outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infection among infants (< 1 year of age). In the absence of any approved vaccines for infants, understanding the risk factors for hospitalization and severe disease from COVID-19 in this age group will help inform clinical management and targeted public health interventions. The objective of this study was to describe the clinical manifestations, disease severity, and risk factors for hospitalization among infants with SARS-CoV-2 infection in Canada. Methods This is a nationwide prospective observational study using the infrastructure of the Canadian Paediatric Surveillance Program. All cases of infants aged < 1 year of age with microbiologically confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection were reported from April 8th 2020 to May 11th 2021, and classified by disease severity, and primary cause of hospitalization. Logistic regression was performed to identify risk factors for hospitalization and severe disease. Results A total of 393 cases were reported, including 229 (58.3%) non-hospitalized and 164 (41.7%) hospitalized infants. The most common symptoms included fever (63.4%), runny nose (45.0%), cough (35.1%) and decreased oral intake (24.9%). Significant risk factors for hospitalization included younger age and presence of comorbid conditions (excluding prematurity), as shown in the Table. Among hospitalized infants, 108 (65.9%) were admitted because of COVID-19-related illness, and 52 (31.7%) were admitted for reasons other than COVID-19. A total of 31 (7.9%) infants developed severe or critical disease. Risk factors for severe disease included prematurity and younger age (Table). Conclusion We describe one of the largest cohort of infants with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Severe disease in this age group is uncommon, with younger age and prematurity being significant risk factors for severe COVID-19. Disclosures Pierre-Philippe Piché-Renaud, MD, Pfizer Global Medical Grants (Competitive grant program) (Research Grant or Support, Investigator-led project on the impact of COVID-19 on routine childhood immunizations) Olivier Drouin, MDCM MsC MPH, Covis Pharma (Research Grant or Support) Shaun Morris, MD, MPH, DTM&H, FRCPC, FAAP, GSK (Speaker’s Bureau)Pfizer (Advisor or Review Panel member)Pfizer (Grant/Research Support)