Ontario emergency departments told to prepare for ‘extreme surge’ in demand – GLOBAL

November 14, 2022

Ontario’s Ministry of Health is instructing emergency departments to prepare for “an extreme surge” in demand.

Read An update from the Ministry of Health Monday said plans are also in place to expand pediatric capacity to 150 per cent, with a reduction in planned surgeries at most pediatric centres to create capacity.

Officials said making capacity for pediatric health care would mean other parts of the system are “impacted.” They said the system was “extraordinarily strained.”

The crisis plans to combat a surge in hospital demand, particularly from children, came as Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Kieran Moore, made a plea for people to return to regular mask wearing.

READ MORE: Ontario’s top doctor urges mask wearing, warns mandate could return

Speaking at a press conference at Queen’s Park on Monday morning, Moore said hospitals were facing increasing pressure from respiratory illnesses.

He said influenza season was “fully underway.”

“What we are facing is a triple threat,” Moore said.

The “difficult and complex fall that was predicted, has materialized,” Ontario’s top doctor said.