Last Updated Monday, April 26, 2021 5:47PM EDT The Canadian Forces will deploy up to three medical teams in Ontario to provide support to hospitals that are struggling to deal with an influx of COVID-19 patients. Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair announced the support late on Monday afternoon in response to a formal request for help from Ontario’s Solicitor General Sylvia Jones. According to a news release, the Canadian Forces will be deploying up to three “multi-purpose medical assistance teams” which will primarily be composed of nursing officers and medical technicians as well as additional Canadian Forces members “for general duty support.”
TORONTO The Canadian Armed Forces will send up to three medical teams to Ontario in order to support hospitals overwhelmed by COVID-19 following a request from the province. The federal government made the announcement in a statement issued on Monday evening in response to Ontario’s Solicitor General Sylvia Jones, who formally asked for specialized nurses to assist in intensive care, as well as other medical personnel. In the statement, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair said the military would be deploying “multi-purpose medical assistance teams” comprised of nursing officers, medical technicians and other Canadian Forces members for general support.
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Ontario has a record number of people in intensive care, with ICU admissions still rising and hundreds more facing weeks or months of rehabilitation after defeating COVID.
Despite hopeful glimmers that the province may be nearing the plateau of the third wave, the situation remains very much critical and unpredictable, health experts cautioned Monday.
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Try refreshing your browser, or Hopeful signs Ontario s latest COVID wave may be peaking, but doctors fear really hot two or three weeks Back to video
“Any change in our collective behaviour can result in cases continuing to increase it would be way too early to conclude that wave three has peaked and that we have turned the corner,” said Dr. Irfan Dhalla, an internal medicine doctor at Toronto’s St. Michael’s Hospital and a vice-president at Unity Health Toronto.
Posted: Apr 27, 2021 1:52 PM ET | Last Updated: April 27
Ottawa is considering sending armed forces personnel to help at the Hamilton Health Sciences field hospital. (Talia Ricci/CBC)
The federal government is considering sending extra people such as members of the Canadian Armed Forces, Canadian Red Cross and other groups to help at field hospitals at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS).
Stephen Warner, a spokesperson for Ontario s Solicitor General s office, said on Tuesday that the province has asked the federal government find more people to help Ontario deal with the surge of patients filling intensive care units (ICUs).
TORONTO A team of nine healthcare workers from Newfoundland and Labrador have arrived in Toronto to help treat COVID-19 patients in some of the city’s hardest hit hospitals. The group, which includes the wife of Newfoundland Premier Andrew Furey, touched down at Pearson International Airport in a Canadian Forces Hercules aircraft early Tuesday afternoon. They are the first reinforcements to arrive in Ontario since the province issued a call for more than 600 healthcare professionals nearly two weeks ago. The Canadian Armed Forces also plans to deploy nine ICU nurses and up to three multipurpose medical assistance teams in the province, though it is unclear when they will arrive.