As wary parents avoid taking their kids to the emergency room during the novel coronavirus pandemic, Ottawa’s local children’s hospital is becoming the first in Canada to offer a virtual option for non-life-threatening concerns.
With the novel coronavirus dominating headlines and health-care resources around the world, the number of parents taking their children to the emergency department at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) has plummeted. “In the past 60 days we’ve seen a significant decline in the number of kids and teens coming to our emergency department, and those who are coming are too often presenting with worse symptoms than we would normally see,” said Alex Munter, CHEO’s president and CEO, as part of a statement