Emergency room wait times are up at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital in Sydney, N.S., mostly due to seasonal flu and respiratory illnesses and a resurgence of COVID, according to an emergency department doctor.

“The emergency department is crazy busy,” said Dr. Margaret Fraser, a family physician who does shifts at the regional ER. “We’re seeing very long wait times for patients — 12, 14, 18 hours — and high volumes of patients with respiratory illness, unfortunately.”