The already overcrowded emergency rooms are forecasting a peak in traffic in the coming days. What will be the price to pay for waking up with family or friends for the first time after two years of restrictions?
“We would like to be wrong, but unfortunately, we have to plan for the worst”, warns the DD Judy Morris, President of the Quebec Association of Emergency Physicians.
The situation remains fragile in the emergency rooms of the province and may even worsen in the coming days.
Emergencies are particularly overwhelmed in Montérégie and Lanaudière, which posted a respective occupancy rate of 136% and 135% on Sunday. In Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, the Suroît hospital emergency room reached an occupancy rate of 219%.
Emergency rooms in the Chaudière-Appalaches (129%), Outaouais (128%), Laurentides (122%), Laval (118%) and Montreal (105%) regions are also overcrowded.
Increase in visits in sight
At the end of December, the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, warned the population that the holiday season would be “difficult”, particularly in emergencies. He had implored Quebecers to respect public health measures, in order to “give a hand” to health care workers.
Pandemic or not, the months of January and February are always the busiest of the year in emergencies.
These generally observe an increase in cases of influenza and pneumonia, after the parties of the holiday season. Added to this this year is the return of large gatherings since COVID-19.
Ideally, ERs should be 85% occupancy or less to be able to handle a sudden spike in traffic, says DD Morris. “When you reach 140%, 160% or 200%, it’s frankly worrying,” she says.
However, it has become a daily reality in some establishments.
“It’s become that we are happy when we are below 200%”, loose Mélanie Gignac, president of the Union of healthcare professionals of Montérégie-Ouest.
At the Suroît hospital, 39 patients had been waiting on a stretcher in the emergency room for 48 hours or more on Sunday, and 52 patients had been waiting for a day. According to Mme Gignac, the floors are also overflowing with patients.
“We have no staff to take care of the sick. It’s a tape that I feel like I replay every time,” she says.
With the end of the holiday season, Mme Gignac fears the increased pressure on the staff, while the rubber band is already stretched to the maximum.
“The health system holds together thanks to the conciliation of healthcare professionals” who agree to work overtime, she underlines.
In case of symptoms, the DD Morris invites the population to stay at home and to wear the mask in closed places. If your health problem is not urgent, call the 811 line before going to the hospital.
Travelers from China
Experts question the requirement for travelers returning from China to present a negative test. Effective Jan. 5, the requirement is “an absolutely political and not science-based decision at this point,” University of Toronto Temerty Faculty of Medicine assistant professor Kerry Bowman told AFP. The Canadian Press. Travelers from China, hit by a wave of COVID-19, but also from Hong Kong and Macau will have to present a negative result upon arrival in the country. The Dr Isaac Bogoch, also an associate professor at the University of Toronto’s Temerty School of Medicine, argues, however, that travel measures like this “do little” to prevent the spread of the virus in Canada or the appearance of new variants on the territory. A more effective measure would be to test wastewater from airplanes and airports to check for viral load and mutations, the D said.r Bowman.
With The Canadian Press