The emergencies are not ringing off as respiratory viruses continue to progress in Quebec.
The Health Index Directory showed an overall occupancy rate of 129% in emergency rooms in the province around 1:30 p.m. Monday, in line with the last 10 days during which it fluctuated between 111% and 128%.
The situation was particularly critical in emergency rooms in Lanaudière (184%), Centre-du-Québec (160%), Outaouais (157%) and Laurentides (153%). Six establishments had occupancy rates of 200% or more, including two in Montreal and two in the Outaouais.
Late last month, Health Minister Christian Dubé created a crisis unit to tackle the situation in Greater Montreal emergency rooms, which have been regularly overflowing for months. Last week, Minister Dubé asked that a recommendation from the crisis unit be evaluated, namely to force the floors of an establishment to increase their hospitalization capacity to distribute the pressure when the emergencies are overcrowded.
“It’s a step in the right direction, but we still see overflowing emergencies,” said Monday the DD Judy Morris, president of the Association of Emergency Physicians of Quebec (AMUQ). The DD Morris noted that despite efforts to facilitate access to the network’s front line, many patients are still coming to the emergency room when they should be seen in the clinic instead.
At the same time, patients with a respiratory infection are still numerous in the emergency room, observed the DD Morris.
Influenza cases are indeed on the rise, according to the latest data from the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec (INSPQ), published Monday. We learn that there were more than 2,000 cases of influenza declared last week, against less than 900 the previous week. The positivity rate for the influenza A virus, which accounts for the vast majority of cases, reached 22.7% last week, also up from 13.4% the previous week.
The respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) seems to be on the decline with just over 600 cases reported each week, but a lower detection rate lately, again according to INSPQ data. It fell to just under 10% last week from 14.6% the previous week.
As for COVID-19, hospitalizations continue to increase while vaccination tends to slow down in Quebec, according to data published Monday by the Ministry of Health.
The situation is still difficult in pediatric emergencies, also strongly affected by the circulation of respiratory viruses, according to the DD Morris.
The occupancy rate at the CHU Sainte-Justine emergency room reached 181% at the start of the afternoon on Monday, compared to 258% at the Montreal Children’s Hospital, an establishment which has resigned itself to placing up to two patients per room in his intensive care unit earlier this month due to exceptionally busy conditions.
The Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) had not yet responded to questions from The Press about the situation in the emergency room and the recommendations of the crisis unit at the time of writing these lines.