Canada's emergency rooms bear the brunt of a 'perfect storm'

FILE PHOTO: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland meet with doctors at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, in Ottawa, Canada, October 21, 2021. Sean Kilpatrick/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

TORONTO (Reuters) - Health authorities across Canada have cut the hours of hospital emergency departments and urgent care clinics in recent weeks, a move that in some cases may extend through the summer, due to a surge in patients and staff shortages.

The situation, clinicians say, is tied to a resurgence of viral infections such as COVID-19 among adults and children and a push by others to seek care delayed by the pandemic, and exacerbated by the high number of healthcare workers who are sick or burned out.