Canada's health care workers brace for the painful blow of a punishing third wave
"For days now, as the
Covid-19 case count mounted and hospital admissions surged, Canadians seemed dismayed and asked: How could this happen here, where most people dutifully followed public health guidelines?
Provincial governments across the country are now reckoning with a damaging Covid-19 third wave that might imperil the universal health care system of which Canadians are so fiercely proud.
From coast to coast, across thousands of miles and hundreds of hospitals, many provinces are now anxiously watching the case count rise. That's happening as
variants of concern spread a more contagious virus to younger Canadians and send more people in hospital.
On Saturday, Ontario again shattered fresh records for both hospital and ICU admissions. Modeling released by the province's expert advisory panel Friday detailed a dire snapshot of the crisis already unfolding in hospitals and how the situation is likely to get even worse.
"Notice that our hospitals can no longer function normally -- they are bursting at their seams," said Dr. Adalsteinn Brown, Ontario's science advisory co-chair. "We're setting up field hospitals, and we're separating critically ill patients from their families by helicoptering them across the province for care. Our children's hospitals are now admitting adults as patients. This has never happened in Ontario before. It's never happened in Canada before."
Brown was strikingly blunt about a worst-case scenario: Ontario could be forced to ration care, especially for critical care spots.
Health Canada reported a 35% increase in hospitalizations -- and a more than 20% increase in ICU admissions throughout Canada in the week ending April 11. More troubling is the mortality trend, with a 38% increase in deaths in the last week alone."
For days now, as the Covid-19 case count mounted and hospital admissions surged, Canadians seemed dismayed and asked: How could this happen here, where most people dutifully followed public health guidelines?
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