One ‘good’ side effect of the COVID-19 crisis is emergency rooms at B.C. hospitals are not as busy.

That’s according to Health Minister Adrian Dix, speaking on Thursday, where he says that’s partly thanks to fewer drivers on the road.

“There are fewer car accidents for example. Fewer people are going to emergency rooms because they’re staying home,” he said. “We’ve increased the amount of virtual care. I just wanted to congratulate the people at 811. I think [on Wednesday] their wait times were under a minute.”

Dix says the numbers reflect what’s happening to prepare B.C. hospitals for a worst case scenario, should the pandemic spread.

“The front line often of health care is our emergency rooms and even though there are fewer cases, the level of stress is high and the extraordinary work done by people who work in emergency rooms continue,” noted Dix.

He added he is sorry that elective surgeries have had to be cancelled to free up now more than 4,000 hospital beds. Stress levels though, the Minister said remains high.

“I think that reflects what’s going on in society, but it’s just a moment in time, as we prepare our acute care sector to ensure that we have the resources in place to support people who will need hospitalization,” he added.

People are urged to stay home if they feel sick and call their local public health authority instead. People have been told to not visit an emergency room or urgent care centre to get tested for COVID-19.

– With files from Marcella Bernardo, CKWX