Quebecers urged to avoid ERs amid flu and respiratory virus ‘maelstrom’

A sign directs ambulances at Sainte-Justine hospital in Montreal, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

Quebecers are being urged to avoid unnecessary emergency-room visits amid what one infectious-disease doctor is calling a respiratory virus “maelstrom.”

McGill University Health Centre doctor Donald Vinh says the emergency room is “bursting at the seams” as the province grapples with a combination of flu, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.

He said the main culprit is the flu, with cases rising upward in an epidemiological curve he called “downright scary.”

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“Our flu curve now is increasing at such an alarmingly high rate it’s almost vertical,” he said Tuesday. And some of those cases are ending up in hospital, resulting in yet more pressure on an emergency room that was already full before flu season began, he said.

“(Patients) are on stretchers in the hallways, waiting for beds on the wards that are themselves filled by people who are sick,” he said. “So it’s not a pretty picture.”

He said the rush is happening when hospitals are more short-staffed than usual because of vacations.

Emergency-room occupancy data listed 15 Montreal hospitals above 100-per-cent occupancy as of Tuesday afternoon, with two of them over 200 per cent. The Monteregie region had eight over 100 per cent, while regions such as the Bas-St-Laurent, Chaudiere-Appalaches and Laurentians also listed several hospitals far over capacity.

The province is asking Quebecers who are sick to contact the 811 health hotline to seek advice from a medical professional before heading to the ER. It also said information on treating illnesses at home is available on its website.

Vinh says people can protect themselves by getting vaccinated against flu and COVID, as well as taking precautions such as frequent handwashing and wearing a mask when ill. He says most sick people are better off staying home, but they need to quickly see a doctor if they develop severe symptoms such as trouble breathing, a high fever that lasts several days, confusion or dehydration.

Vinh says he’s also worried about a measles outbreak in the province that has climbed to nine people as of Tuesday. A previous outbreak lasted from December 2024 to mid-April.

He notes that measles is a concern across Canada, which recently lost its measles elimination status. He believes that what’s needed is strong public-health messaging across the country, as well as “resounding” uptake from the public for vaccination campaigns.

“Unfortunately, over the last year, we’ve shown that if anything, we’re heading in the other direction,” he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 23, 2025.

Morgan Lowrie, The Canadian Press