The emergency rooms of several hospitals are overflowing, while the flu continues to attack Quebecers head-on.
The situation is particularly critical in the Montérégie region, where four of the eight emergency rooms posted a stretcher-care occupancy rate of around 200 per cent.
In Longueuil, the situation was such on Friday that the Pierre-Boucher Hospital forbade visitors or accompaniment for patients presenting to the emergency department, with the exception of children and people with cognitive impairments.
According to hospital offiicals, measures like the above will limit the transmission of infections to patients and staff, and will facilitate any necessary interventions between doctors and patients.
In Montréal, the average occupancy rate of stretcher-care was at 126 per cent.
In Quebec, the ER at Enfant-Jésus Hospital and the University Institute of Cardiology and Pulmonology were at their busiest Friday, with occupancy rates on stretcher exceeding 150 per cent.