Janeway children's hospital sees increase in respiratory illness — and more could be on the way
Eastern Health says increase is manageable but N.L. usually sees virus trends later than rest of Canada
The Janeway Children's Health and Rehabilitation Centre is seeing an increase in the number of children with respiratory illnesses, according to Eastern Health — and a bigger surge may be coming.
When asked by CBC News if the Janeway's emergency room was, like other ERs across the province, operating above capacity, the health authority said in a statement that the number of children coming to the emergency room with respiratory illness, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus — or RSV — is rising but not overwhelming ER capacity.
"There continues to be capacity for patients in the facility on units such as in-patient, surgery and critical care. Surgeries are continuing as scheduled," says the statement.
Elsewhere in Canada, emergency rooms are facing extraordinary pressures as different respiratory illnesses circulate. Ontario's chief medical officer of health said Monday the province is facing a "triple threat" that requires immediate action, while health officials in Alberta have noted 17-hour wait times at the Alberta Children's Hospital since late September.
Eastern Health's statement suggests the surges in other provinces could be seen in Newfoundland and Labrador later.
"Typically, Newfoundland and Labrador sees an increase in the numbers of viruses circulating in the community later than the rest of the country," says the statement.
CBC News asked the Department of Health for numbers of flu cases and respiratory illnesses, but the department didn't provide them by the time of publication.
The spike in virus contractions has prompted some of Canada's top doctors to call for governments to reinstate mask mandates implemented to slow the spread of COVID-19.
"This is not just about masks and whether you like them or not, it's that we are in the middle of quite a nasty respiratory virus season," said Dr. Lisa Barrett, an infectious disease specialist at Dalhousie University.
"Not just COVID, but flu and RSV. Younger people, older people, all ending up in hospitals all at the same time, and we don't have a lot of capacity in our health system to manage that."
Barrett said it's easy to feel fatigued by mask mandates but it's one of several steps people can take to combat the spread of respiratory illnesses — not just COVID-19.
"There is individual benefit, even if no one else is wearing one. But the benefit is best and biggest if more people do it," she said. "It's also a pretty darn easy thing to do, especially when we're surrounded by lots of folks who are still vulnerable."
Illnesses, system impact creating 'perfect storm'
In Newfoundland and Labrador, a Corner Brook doctor says he's seen an onslaught of infections come through his clinic.
"There is a surge of sort of the classic rhinovirus, head colds coming through as well as a mix of things," Dr. Mark Smallwood said Monday.
"It's certainly a lot of upper respiratory, lower respiratory tract infections that are coming through like a surge we haven't seen in some time, given the recent circumstances, of course."
Smallwood said COVID-19 restrictions, mandatory masks and physical distancing reduced the number of common cold cases, rhinovirus, influenza and RSV in previous years.
But this season's surge is putting further strain on the struggling health system, he said, resulting in people having a harder time getting access to clinics and ending up in already overburdened emergency rooms.
"It has been a real strain … but certainly now we are seeing a surge of it. There's definitely more cases," he said — many of them children.
"This is sort of the straw breaking the camel's back in so many ways. There's such a perfect storm of difficulty in providing primary care in the area. So many people are underserviced. The lack of access to primary care is a big problem at the moment."
With files from Newfoundland Morning and On The Go