TORONTO — The third wave of COVID-19 is threatening the province’s intensive-care capacity as the number of severely ill patients approaches a previous peak, the Ontario Hospital Association said Friday.
Anthony Dale, president of the association, said 401 people with COVID-19 are currently in intensive care units across Ontario and it appears that number is set to rise past an earlier record of 420 people.
“Every day the situation grows more serious,” Dale said in an online post, noting that there are currently a total of 1,871 people in hospital ICUs across Ontario.
The rising number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care comes as provincial health officials say more contagious variants of the virus now make up half of new cases in Ontario.
The province’s top doctor said earlier this week that variants are causing more severe illness, leading to intensive care admissions and deaths.
Dr. David Williams also noted that more young people appear to be getting more severely ill from the variants.
The scientific director of an expert panel advising the province said Thursday that a strict provincial shutdown, similar to one imposed when the pandemic hit, is needed to curb the alarming spread of variants in Ontario.
Currently, even the strictest level of the province’s pandemic framework isn’t enough to reduce rising infections from more contagious variants, said Dr. Peter Juni of the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table.
Ontario reported 2,169 new cases of COVID-19 Friday and 12 more deaths linked to the virus.
On Thursday night, a rising number of COVID-19 cases prompted the government to move the Timiskaming Health Unit to the second-strictest “red” level of the province’s pandemic restrictions system.
The change went into effect Friday and was made at the request of the local medical officer of health, the province said.
Regions are moved to the red level when there have been repeated outbreaks in multiple sectors and settings that could overwhelm hospital and intensive care capacity.
Timiskaming’s case rate has increased from 3.1 to 24.5 cases per 100,000 people, an increase of 700 per cent, with more cases expected in the coming days, the province said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 26, 2021.
Shawn Jeffords, The Canadian Press
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