The Emergency Department at the Hamad General Hospital received 560 cases from 6am until 6pm yesterday, with the numbers expected to increase by night.
As many of these cases pertained to chronic diseases and stomach ailments, Dr Ihab Saeed, emergency consultant at the hospital, advised people to avoid overeating and also keep away from heavy meals that contain excessive fat.
He urged those suffering from chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension to be particularly careful in this regard.
Many of the cases reported at the Emergency Department also pertained to accidents, he said. While four cases of severe injuries due to different accidents were received during this period, the others involved mild injuries.
Dr Saeed stressed that the number of nurses and doctors starts to increase from the afternoon due to the possibility of more cases arriving at the hospital seeking urgent medical care.
The Emergency Department maintains close co-ordination with the Ambulance Service to ensure that cases of severe injuries are reported to the hospital before the patients arrive so that necessary preparations could be made for their treatment, according to a statement.
The Al Wakra Hospital Emergency Department, meanwhile, has received 509 cases over a 24-hour period, with 18 patients being admitted there for further medical attention. The rest were released on the same day after treatment.
 Dr Mohamed al-Amiri, assistant general manager of the Hamad Medical Corporation Paediatric Emergency Department, said the paediatric emergency centres had received 1,123 cases over a 24-hour period. Most of them were simple cases of children suffering from high temperature or minor respiratory issues. All of them received treatment there and were released on the same day.
The Ambulance Service received 254 calls of help yesterday until around 6pm, of which 16 were for traffic accidents, which resulted in minor injuries.
Ahmed al-Bakri, director of operations and public relations at the Ambulance Service, said 80 ambulances were in service yesterday in addition to 15 quick-response vehicles and 15 bicycles deployed in various parts of the country. Besides, the air ambulance made three trips.
He stressed that the ambulances had laid special focus on areas that are expected to get huge crowds, such as the Sealine area, the Industrial Area, shopping malls and Katara.