Read on Twitter
BREAKING: Hospitals across Ontario ordered to brace for spike in #COVID19 patients. Memo from Ontario Health, obtained by @CBCNews, tells hospitals to prepare to activate emergency plans, which could mean freeing up 15% of beds.
Scoop from @CBCQueensPark: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/hospitals-ontario-spike-covid-19-patients-memo-1.5842675
Scoop from @CBCQueensPark: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/hospitals-ontario-spike-covid-19-patients-memo-1.5842675
I should note that while this is news, healthcare leaders have been ringing alarms for *weeks.*
As @CBCQueensPark noted, hospitals in Scarborough, Brampton, Mississauga already cancelled scheduled surgeries, while hospitals in York Region, Hamilton warned about capacity crunch.
As @CBCQueensPark noted, hospitals in Scarborough, Brampton, Mississauga already cancelled scheduled surgeries, while hospitals in York Region, Hamilton warned about capacity crunch.
Back in *mid-November* I wrote about Ontario intensive care units hitting 150 #COVID19 patients, a key threshold to impact other procedures, and the numbers have been rising since then.
Today we're at 267. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-hospital-stress-dicharges-surgery-delays-covid-19-1.5807361
Today we're at 267. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-hospital-stress-dicharges-surgery-delays-covid-19-1.5807361
In early *October* there was a spike in ICU admissions not seen since June, which prompted alarm even then from clinicians watching the numbers closely. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-experiencing-spike-in-new-covid-19-icu-admissions-not-seen-since-june-data-shows-1.5755925
All this is happening as hospitals are still playing catch-up on a massive backlog of previously-cancelled procedures and appointments from the pandemic's first wave in the spring, impacting areas of patient care ranging from surgeries to autism services. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/health-toronto-kids-autism-covid19-1.5831380
It's also clear many patients with #COVID19 are people who can't easily avoid this virus. In Scarborough's hospitals, close to half the ICU patients are infected, and physicians say they're typically essential workers and/or from multigenerational homes. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/half-of-scarborough-icu-patients-have-covid-19-as-vulnerable-workers-families-bear-brunt-of-pandemic-1.5841390
