Across the country, hospital emergency departments and intensive care units have seen a decline in COVID-19 patients compared with a year ago, but the number of people admitted to hospital because of the virus hasfrom the Canadian Institute for Health Information.
“The increase in hospitalization in the most recent fiscal year, I think, is sort of telling us that COVID-19 is still here and it’s still having an impact on hospitals in Canada,” said Nicole Loreti, the program lead for clinical administrative databases atShe pointed out that older adults have been affected most. Those 65 and older made up the largest increase in hospitalizations.
Last winter, COVID-19 cases were overshadowed by the return of influenza and a surge in respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, that overwhelmed children’s hospitals across the country. CIHI’s data show the volumes of emergency department visits and intensive care admissions for COVID-19 did, in fact, retreat in the 2022 to 2023 reporting period.