Ontario pediatric ICUs operating above capacity, provincial data shows

New data shows Ontario's pediatric intensive care units are operating over capacity, with the number of children receiving care exceeding the number of available beds across the province.

Critical Care Services Ontario's daily census shows there are currently 122 children in pediatric ICUs, up from 111 the day before.

Ontario has a total of 112 intensive care beds for children.

Pediatric infectious diseases specialist Dr. Anna Banerji told CBC News that across the country, hospitals are overwhelmed with sick kids with respiratory infections.

"It's a crisis," she said.

"We have the rest of the winter where this typically peaks, so it's only going to get worse before it gets better."

Pediatric hospitals have been inundated with sick patients for weeks.

Last week, Ontario Health directed general hospitals to accept children 14 and older who need critical care in an effort to ease the burden on pediatric facilities.

Children's hospitals have said the majority of kids in intensive care are five years old and younger.

WATCH | Toronto doctor talks hospital pressures:

Dr. Fahad Razak, an internist at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto and an assistant professor at the University of Toronto with research expertise in global health and health services, told CBC News Thursday that data from other parts of the world suggests it will be a difficult season for influenza alone, let alone COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.

He is recommending that Ontarians get vaccinated for both the flu and COVID now if they haven't already, and to start wearing masks again in indoor spaces.

"There is a limit to what individuals can do, and this is where there is a need for collective actions — public health measures," he said.

"Masks are a blunt tool. They are imperfect, but they do work. We've seen that over the course of the pandemic."