Quebec is facing an overcrowding crisis in its ERs. Outbreaks of the flu and RSV, coupled with the continuing circulation of COVID-19, threaten to make the situation in Quebec hospital emergency departments even worse.
A Quebec doctor took to Twitter Saturday morning to share the story of a patient who he says died in his care after unsuccessfully waiting 16 hours in another hospital. Radio-Canada was the first to report on the doctor's account. "I ended my night on a patient who died in front of me," Dr. Sébastien Marin of the Montérégie region's Barrie Memorial Hospital wrote. He identified the cause of death as a ruptured thoracic aorta.
Quebec's COVID-19 state of emergency is finally over after 811 days but that doesn't mean the end of all measures. The legislation to end the health emergency, Bill 28, passed by a vote of 68 to 42 in the National Assembly Wednesday, June 1. Its adoption puts an end to the formal state of emergency but empowers the government to continue to enforce some public health orders from the health minister until December 31.
Quebec's state of emergency could soon be lifted. Health Minister Christian Dubé has tabled a bill in the National Assembly that would by and large return the province to normal. If passed, however, the bill would extend some of the special government powers granted by the state of emergency through December 2022.