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Source: https://www.thestar.com/news/canada...t-of-emergency-rooms-star-analysis-shows.html
Where have all the patients gone during COVID-19? Not to the ER. Star analysis reveals stark, nationwide trend
By Rachel MendlesonStaff Reporter
Megan OgilvieHealth Reporter
Andrew BaileyData Analyst
Sat., May 23, 2020timer10 min. read
For three days, a man in B.C. suffered at home through chest pain and shortness of breath, unaware he’d had a heart attack.
A woman in Ontario had a stroke that paralyzed one of her arms. She waited at home for 12 hours, hoping the movement would come back.
In Quebec, a woman endured abdominal pain for three weeks before finding out she had a bowel obstruction that required surgery to clear.
Each of these patients needed urgent medical care in the pandemic. All of them delayed going to the emergency room because they feared COVID-19.
Across the country, emergency room physicians report startlingly similar experiences of providing care during the pandemic. Emergency rooms, usually teeming with patients, are quiet. Many patients who do show up are sicker after trying to tough it out at home.
Now for the first time, a Star analysis of emergency room data makes clear these individual stories are part of a stark, nationwide trend: The number of patients seeking emergency care during the pandemic in hospitals across the country has plummeted, from Halifax to Vancouver, Whitehorse to Toronto.
Between March 11, the date the World Health Organization declared a pandemic, and April 30, the number of patients going to emergency departments in Canada dropped by about 44 per cent compared to previous years, according to the Star analysis. That means roughly 840,000 fewer people nationwide went to emergency rooms during those seven weeks...
Where have all the patients gone during COVID-19? Not to the ER. Star analysis reveals stark, nationwide trend
By Rachel MendlesonStaff Reporter
Megan OgilvieHealth Reporter
Andrew BaileyData Analyst
Sat., May 23, 2020timer10 min. read
For three days, a man in B.C. suffered at home through chest pain and shortness of breath, unaware he’d had a heart attack.
A woman in Ontario had a stroke that paralyzed one of her arms. She waited at home for 12 hours, hoping the movement would come back.
In Quebec, a woman endured abdominal pain for three weeks before finding out she had a bowel obstruction that required surgery to clear.
Each of these patients needed urgent medical care in the pandemic. All of them delayed going to the emergency room because they feared COVID-19.
Across the country, emergency room physicians report startlingly similar experiences of providing care during the pandemic. Emergency rooms, usually teeming with patients, are quiet. Many patients who do show up are sicker after trying to tough it out at home.
Now for the first time, a Star analysis of emergency room data makes clear these individual stories are part of a stark, nationwide trend: The number of patients seeking emergency care during the pandemic in hospitals across the country has plummeted, from Halifax to Vancouver, Whitehorse to Toronto.
Between March 11, the date the World Health Organization declared a pandemic, and April 30, the number of patients going to emergency departments in Canada dropped by about 44 per cent compared to previous years, according to the Star analysis. That means roughly 840,000 fewer people nationwide went to emergency rooms during those seven weeks...