February marked CHEO’s busiest month ever in daily visits to the emergency room.
The department saw an average of 249 visits a day.
The second busiest month in visits per day was 240 per day in February 2016
The highest overall number for a single month was 7,248 or an average of 233 per day in December 2014.
CHEO’s Chief of Staff Dr. Lindy Samson says on one day in February, about half of the more than 300 patients seen had the flu.
There have been 704 lab-confirmed cases the flu so far, according to Ottawa Public Health. Of the 25 deaths that have been linked to the flu, 22 of them were among people 65 and older.
Ottawa Public Health says it’s not too late to get the flu shot.
Other ways to protect yourself: