Quinte Health Care hospitals are seeing a dramatic increase in admissions of children, as RSV, influenza and COVID-19 spreads in our communities.
Officials with the healthcare organization, which runs North Hastings Hospital and three others, are passionately urging people to take precautions, as a tough winter looms.
They say pediatric units are at 135 per cent capacity. And they say the admissions of children in October was up 20 per cent compared to last October, with children in the age 4 to 10 bracket driving the increase.
QCH President Stacey Daub and Chief of Staff Dr. Colin MacPherson held a press briefing on Monday. Their overriding message was for people to do many of the same things they’ve done throughout the pandemic to stop the spread of respiratory viruses. That includes getting vaccinated and wearing masks.
They say the increase of illness they’re seeing in kids is comparable to the increase in illnesses they saw in adults during the peak of the pandemic.