Hospitals brace for capacity crunch in third wave
CTV News Barrie Videographer Mike Arsalides In the midst of what health officials call the third wave of COVID-19, hospitals report some of the highest numbers of ICU patients since the second wave s peak. In Orillia, there is one COVID-positive patient being treated, yet seven of Soldiers Memorial Hospital s eight ICU beds are in use. The hospital s chief of staff says the more contagious variants have the potential to overwhelm the system. It is going to be worse in the sense of the virus being more easily transmitted, causing more serious illness and affecting a younger age group in the population, Dr. Nancy Merrow says.
BARRIE, ONT. In the midst of what health officials call the third wave of COVID-19, hospitals report some of the highest numbers of ICU patients since the second wave s peak. In Orillia, there is one COVID-positive patient being treated, yet seven of Soldiers Memorial Hospital s eight ICU beds are in use. The hospital s chief of staff says the more contagious variants have the potential to overwhelm the system. It is going to be worse in the sense of the virus being more easily transmitted, causing more serious illness and affecting a younger age group in the population, Dr. Nancy Merrow says.
A devastating coronavirus outbreak at a long-term care home in Barrie has finally ended. Roberta place long-term care home said Thursday that the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit has formally declared an end to the outbreak that ravaged the home during the second wave of the pandemic, leaving 71 people dead. An outbreak was declared at the home on Jan. 8. Since then, the highly contagious U.K. variant (B.1.1.7) tore through the home infecting more than 250 people, including all but one of the 127 residents. An essential caregiver who frequented the facility also died. “Over the course of the past six weeks, Roberta Place has been devastatingly impacted by the UK variant of the COVID-19 virus, which was responsible for a much higher rate of transmission at the home,” Roberta Place said in its statement. “This variant resulted in immense loss and illness amongst residents and team members and proved to be an extremely challenging outbreak to contain and overcome.”