Quebec will give update on respiratory infections, ER crisis Wednesday

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Public health officials in Quebec will brief the media Wednesday on what's being called the "triple threat" crippling hospitals: the combination of flu, COVID-19, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in children.

Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé and public health director Dr. Luc Boileau will speak at the news conference at 10 a.m., along with Daniel Desharnais, the assistant deputy health minister.

The news conference will be carried live on ctvnewsmontreal.ca.

Even though respiratory diseases will top the agenda, the provincial government has already ruled out bringing back face mask mandates in the short term in public places.

Premier François Legault shut the door on the idea. "There is no question of reintroducing mandatory masks in public places," he told reporters in a media scrum Tuesday.

At the government's last news conference on Nov. 3, officials said Quebecers should wear masks when they are feeling sick with infections like COVID-19 and the flu.

Since then, Quebec's College of Physicians issued an urgent pre-holiday plea to Quebecers to start wearing masks in public as hospital battle a "worrying" surge of pediatric emergency room visits, while families are struggling to find children's medication on drug store shelves.

On Tuesday, Montreal's two children's hospitals were at 181 and 158 per cent capacity. 

Some health professionals said people should be extra cautious and wear a mask in public settings since COVID-19 is still circulating around people with waning immunity, the flu season arrived earlier than usual, and more children are ending up in the ER with respiratory infections than previous years.