The Jean-Talon Hospital in Montreal made an appeal Friday, asking people who don't have medical emergencies to stay away from its overcrowded ER.

Hospital officials said they have been overwhelmed by an unusually high volume of walk-in patients and the ER is beyond maximum capacity.

The emergency room is still open to the public.

But staff will be applying stiff triage standards to give priority to the critically ill, the hospital said.

People who don't have medical emergencies were being urged to call Quebec's Info-Santé hotline for health information or contact information for walk-in clinics.

With files from the Canadian Press