Quebec's assistant deputy health minister said Monday that hospitals in the province had started to run training simulations involving the triage protocol for intensive care beds.

Montreal-area hospitals are dealing with a shortage of beds and staff as we enter the holiday period.

There are 10 hospitals in Quebec that are at risk of exceeding capacity as the COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to rise, according to officials.

The Lakeshore General Hospital is working to contain a second COVID-19 outbreak on the hospital's third floor.

Surgeries that require hospitalization are on hold at the Maisonneuve-Rosemont and Santa Cabrini hospitals in Montreal due to coronavirus outbreaks at both facilities.

The new measures will allow health care workers to apply COVID-19 criteria on every patient showing symptoms of an infectious disease.

'I want to reassure Quebecers that we are following the situation on an hourly basis,' says Quebec Health Minister Danielle McCann.

Union spokesperson Denyse Joseph called the current overcrowding issue in Quebec emergency rooms inhumane for both the patients and health-care professionals.

Among the highest occupancy rates are those of the Jewish General Hospital, the Lakeshore General Hospital and the Douglas Institute.

According to the findings in a coroner's report, the methadone dose was supposed to be given to the previous occupant of the patient's room.