Ottawa Hospital says it has been forced to activate the next phase of its augmentation plans to accommodate a growing number of COVID-19 patient cases while facing staff shortages.
The local hospital said in a statement Friday that it is “well positioned” to continue providing care, but has to take the next step in its increase plans to increase bed capacity, redeploy non-urgent care workers and adjust staffing models. to meet demand.
The Ottawa Department of Public Health reported Friday that there are currently 43 Ottawa residents hospitalized due to COVID-19, eight more than the day before. Five of those patients are currently in the intensive care unit, two more than those last reported Thursday.
The Ottawa Hospital statement cautioned that augmentation plans could warrant a change in setting for some patients receiving care.
“In some cases, this may mean that patients receive care in unconventional settings. These spaces are being adjusted to ensure that safety, comfort and the patient experience are maintained, ”the hospital said.
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OPH is also reporting an increase in COVID-19 related deaths on Friday.
Five new COVID-19-related deaths were added to the OPH dashboard on Friday, bringing the death toll from the pandemic in the city to 631.
Provincially, 43 new COVID-19 deaths were reported on Friday, although Ontario said 42 of these deaths occurred in the past 10 days.
An OPH spokesperson told Global News in an email that deaths attributed to COVID-19 may also take time to be accounted for locally, as hospitals, coroners and other reports take time to leak into the health unit system.
The spokesperson pointed to OPH’s open dataset, which lists new COVID-19 deaths by date, to get a clearer picture.
Data from last week shows that three new deaths were reported between Thursday and Friday, with an increase of five deaths in total over the course of the week.
OPH also reported 720 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, roughly 500 fewer than the day before.
But as the health unit itself noted in a long Twitter thread on Friday, “there is much more COVID than these numbers show” in the community because the testing facilities cannot keep up with demand.
The thread went on to explain that testing capacity is now being reserved for high-risk populations and to remind residents that staying home when sick, wearing a medical-grade mask, and getting vaccinated are the best ways to overcome the latest difficult wave. of the virus.
During the past week, the limited number of tests that were processed gave a positive result of 37.7 percent, according to OPH.
There are now 83 active COVID-19 outbreaks in Ottawa, most of which affect healthcare settings such as hospitals and communal living homes.
On the COVID-19 vaccination front, Ottawa delivered 30,711 more booster shots in the past two days, now reaching a total of 363,918 third doses administered locally.
However, there has been little movement among the five to 11-year-old age group in Ottawa, who have seen the absorption of the first dose remain stable at 63 percent.
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