Canadians in some parts of the country saw surgeries postponed, access to COVID-19 testing reduced and back-to-school delayed as provinces continued to battle Tuesday with a sustained wave of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. .
Ontario health officials said all surgeries deemed non-urgent will be delayed starting Wednesday as the province faces double pressure from increased admissions and increased staff absences.
Chris Simpson of Ontario Health, the agency that oversees the health system, said staff should be reassigned to wards at hospitals facing shortages or to help admit people sick with COVID-19. More patient transfers are also likely to occur as hospitals reach capacity limits, he said.
“We need to be prepared for a period of time when the care that is being provided is not the type of care that we would like to provide,” Simpson said, adding that authorities are doing everything possible to mitigate the risk.
While fewer people experience COVID-19 pneumonia during the Omicron wave, many are being hospitalized for short stays or with chronic illnesses made worse by the infection, Simpson said.
COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have risen across the country, driven by the highly communicable Omicron variant.
Quebec announced Tuesday that it was limiting access to COVID-19 PCR tests to “high-risk” people and asking anyone with symptoms to stay home and isolate themselves rather than seek a test. The decision is meant to ensure that there is sufficient testing for vulnerable people, including hospital patients and nursing home residents, in the face of unprecedented demand and an expected supply shortage, a health official said.
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The province also became the latest to reduce the recommended minimum isolation time for vaccinated people to five days from 10. Health workers in direct contact with patients will have to stay home for seven days before returning to work.
Dr. Marie-France Raynault, Quebec’s public health strategic medical advisor, said in a technical briefing that, given the high levels of infection, a 10-day isolation period would “paralyze” society.
“If we don’t have firefighters to put out fires, if we don’t have police officers to guarantee safety, if we don’t have delivery men to provide food, if we don’t have bus drivers, that is also a problem. Consideration that we take into account in public health”, He said.
Canadian health networks are tense as COVID-19 hospitalizations rise. #CDNPoli # Covid19 #OmicronVariant
He said research suggests that people are most contagious in the two days before symptoms develop and two to three days after they appear.
Quebec reported an increase of 196 people in the total number of people hospitalized with COVID-19, as well as 21 more deaths related to the pandemic.
Booster injections are seen as key to fighting the pandemic, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday joined the growing ranks of Canadians rolling up their sleeves. He received a third injection at an Ottawa pharmacy and showed a thumbs up as he urged Canadians to get vaccinated.
Ontario opened eligibility for booster shots to all residents 18 and older in mid-December, but Quebec has taken longer to expand to the general population. Quebecers 55 and older became eligible to book appointments on Tuesday. The age limit will be gradually lowered to include all adults by January 21.
Saskatchewan, meanwhile, said it was opening the fourth dose to immunosuppressed people, provided three months have passed since their third vaccination.
Many provinces have also chosen to delay the start of face-to-face schooling in the new year in an effort to limit the spread of Omicron.
Manitoba, which had already delayed the return after the holidays to January 10 from January 6, announced that it would delay it for another week. Remote classes will begin next week, Premier Heather Stefanson said.
Alberta, which also delayed face-to-face classes until January 10, made no further changes since its school announcement Thursday.
“I have said that every day our children can stay in class is a small victory and I still believe it,” said Prime Minister Jason Kenney.
He said the government is prioritizing new shipments of rapid test kits for families with children returning to school.
The active case count has risen to more than 34,000 in Alberta, the highest number on record since the pandemic began. Kenney said the number is likely to be much higher considering that roughly one in three Albertans tests positive for COVID-19.
Prince Edward Island also announced that it will extend public health measures, including online learning in schools, until at least January 17.
British Columbia delayed going back to school a week after winter break and provincial health official Dr. Bonnie Henry said it will not be extended.
“We know that schools are safe and essential for emotional and intellectual development,” he said.
Henry also warned businesses, schools and healthcare facilities to prepare for the possibility that up to a third of their staff will be ill as the Omicron variant spreads rapidly through the population.
This Canadian Press report was first published on January 4, 2022.
– With files from Holly McKenzie-Sutter in Toronto, Jacob Serebrin in Montreal and Mia Rabson in Ottawa
Reference-www.nationalobserver.com