Health officials said in mid-November that the Alberta Children's Hospital emergency department had been seeing more than 300 visits a day, compared to between about 180 and 220 before the latest surge.
As pediatric hospitals fill up with young children sickened by respiratory syncytial virus, doctors are worried that older adults will be the next wave to become seriously ill.
Some physicians with the health authority say the new tool won't solve longer wait times in hospitals, but it may help people with less urgent needs receive care more quickly.
Health Minister Adrian Dix says postponing non-urgent surgeries is one way to create room at hospitals for patients, especially children, who are fighting flu and other respiratory illnesses, including COVID-19.
Senior officials with Nova Scotia's Health Department were unable to answer a number of questions on Wednesday about the state of the province's emergency health system, which is struggling with overcrowding and staffing shortages.
