Janeway children's hospital sees increase in respiratory illness and more could be on the way

The Janeway Children's Health and Rehabilitation Centre is seeing an increasein 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 thatthe number of children coming to the emergency room with respiratory illness, influenza and respiratory syncytialvirus or RSV is rising but not overwhelmingER 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 theAlberta Children's Hospitalsince 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 offlu cases and respiratory illnesses, but the department didn'tprovide them by the time ofpublication.

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 butit'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 classicrhinovirus, head coldscoming through as well as a mix of things,"Dr. Mark Smallwood saidMonday.

"It's certainly alot of upper respiratory, lower respiratorytract 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 ofcommon cold cases,rhinovirus, influenza and RSVin previous years.

But this season's surge is puttingfurther strain on the struggling health system, he said, resulting in people having a harder time getting access toclinics 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 issort 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."

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