Fewer Quebecers are now going to the emergency room with complications from respiratory viruses, according to Health Minister Christian Dubé.
“We are not out of the woods yet but there is definitely improvement,” the minister said as he arrived at his political party’s preliminary meeting held in Sherbrooke on Wednesday and Thursday.
Dubé said he is relying on the latest data from the Quebec Public Health Institute (INSPQ), “which shows that there is actually a decline in viruses.”
“Just before the holidays, I said we had almost 1,000 more emergency room visits every day, putting the number at over 10,000. Yesterday I checked and found it was 8,900,” he said.
“It’s good news, the number of viruses has gone down (…) We have to continue to be careful, (…) but I think it’s encouraging that we’re getting through this,” he added.
Dubé attributed the improvement in the emergency situation to more than just a stroke of luck because “our teams have done a lot of work (…).”
He gave the example of the Anna Laberge Hospital in Montérégie: “They changed certain measures (…) and there we suddenly saw that within two weeks there was an improvement in gestation times.”
“So, yes, things are getting better with the viruses, but our teams are doing a lot of work,” Dubé insisted in a press interview.
Last month, two people died in the crowded emergency room at Anna Laberge Hospital. One of the two patients died in the waiting room, as the media “La Presse” reported.
– This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Jan. 24, 2024.
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