COVID-19 results in lower emergency room visits and fewer flu patients

CALGARY (660 NEWS) – COVID-19 cases are stretching ICU resources, but other areas of hospitals, like emergency rooms, are seeing fewer patients.

“Our ED visit volume in Calgary is down by 22 per cent compared to what it was pre-pandemic levels and we’re admitting about 11 per cent fewer people to hospital per day for other conditions,” says emergency medicine physician Eddy Lang.

Those numbers are backed up nationally by the Canadian Institute for Health information which reported a 50 per cent drop nationwide in ER visits in April over 2019.

WATCH: Non-COVID-19 ER visits down

Lang believes one reason is many diseases and infections which get passed around at a high rate have been slowed down or stopped due to physical distancing, masks, and better hygiene.

“But it’s also a matter of patients being afraid of coming to the hospital.”

There has also been a big drop in flu cases.

At this time last year, there were already around 500 confirmed cases in Alberta, but AHS health data to the end of November shows no laboratory-confirmed cases.

National numbers show just 23 reported cases compared to more than 1,500 on an average year.

Another concern is surgeries, which have also seen a national decline of about 50 per cent, and could decline even further if COVID-19 cases rise and force hospitals to cancel them to make more space for infected patients.