‘High stakes’ for overcrowded Hamilton hospitals as stores urged to avoid in-person Black Friday sales
Area stores are asked to avoid Black Friday in-person sales as the virus surges again in Hamilton and hospitals warn they don't have the capacity to absorb a significant second wave of COVID-19.
Our health system is in a very high-stakes situation," said Rob MacIsaac, CEO of Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS). We need our community to step up to help control the spread of COVID-19. If we are unsuccessful, our local health-care system will face this dire reality: We can't continue to address wait lists and backlogs if we don't have space in our hospital to provide care. In fact, the backlogs will get worse and that represents a lot of human suffering."
After a decline in rolling case rates from Nov. 7 to Nov. 17, numbers are shooting back up in Hamilton with 42 new infections Monday. In total, 154 cases were reported between Saturday and Monday.
Three more have died - two of them in seniors' homes as the virus continues its troubling march through Hamilton long-term care facilities.
Ontario saw a record daily increase of 1,589 new cases Monday and 82 per cent of those infections are in red zones Hamilton, Halton, Waterloo, York and Durham, as well as locked down Peel and Toronto.
While Peel and Toronto still account for the highest number of cases at 59 per cent, Ontario's chief medical officer of health says, That is actually down from what it used to be in the past."
It means we're having a lot more cases out in the other areas," Dr. David Williams said.
Leaders from the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) came out of their weekly meeting Monday urging stores to immediately announce they will not hold large in-person sales on Friday."
Such sales would inevitably produce crowd scenes which would only serve to undermine the fight against COVID-19 and negate the sacrifices being made by so many, including other businesses," the mayors and chairs said in a statement.
They also expressed worry that residents in lockdown in Peel and Toronto will travel to communities like Halton and Hamilton to shop.
Provincial officials have been clear that residents shouldn't be region-hopping at this time except for essential reasons," said the leaders. The mayors and chairs urge people to shop online and to support local retailers through ... the curbside pickup option."
Hamilton's hospitals are on the brink of having to again ramp down like in the first wave as their occupancy creeps over 100 per cent, which means there are more patients than funded beds. They also have significant numbers of beds blocked by those who are ready to be discharged but can't leave the hospital because they are waiting for other types of care like home care or long-term care.
MacIsaac says the log jam is very high, sitting at levels that look like we are at the peak of flu season."
In fact, it's not flu that is driving these numbers," he said. The bottom line is there is no slack left in the system."
How far HHS is from cancelling elective surgeries and non-urgent services depends on the response of our community to these public health measures," said MacIsaac.
It's not just about COVID, it's about preserving capacity in our system for the wide array of people who rely on it for a lot of different reasons," said MacIsaac. We're doing our part but we need everyone to do theirs."
Hamilton now has 360 active cases. Since March, 2,743 people have tested positive.
The death toll is at 78 or three per cent, with all but 16 dying in institutional outbreaks.
In fact, 28 have died in 21 days at outbreaks in seniors' homes from Nov. 2 to Nov. 22.
One of the deaths reported Monday was at a second outbreak at St. Joseph's Villa in Dundas, which has jumped to 14 cases at the south tower. A woman in her late 60s died Nov. 22
It's the first death at the south tower, but an ongoing outbreak in the north tower previously had a death. That first outbreak at the home at 56 Governors Rd. has now hit 39 cases.
Chartwell Willowgrove in Ancaster is up to 15 deaths from an outbreak that has climbed to 79 cases. A woman in her late 80s from the long-term care home at 1217 Old Mohawk Rd. died Nov. 22.
Hamilton's medical officer of health issued an order against Chartwell Nov. 17 under Section 22 of the province's Health Protection and Promotion Act.
It lists the following infection control breaches: inadequate screening of residents, staff or essential visitors; inadequate staff training on the use and reprocessing of PPE (personal protective equipment), which would prevent staff from safely providing appropriate care to ill residents"; inadequate hand hygiene education; inadequate compliance with physical distancing in staff areas; and an inadequate plan for enhanced cleaning.
The third death reported Monday was not connected to any of Hamilton's 17 ongoing outbreaks. A woman in her mid-50s died Nov. 20.
Other large outbreaks at seniors' homes also reported new cases with infections now standing at 43 at Hamilton Continuing Care at 125 Wentworth St., 32 at Baywoods Place at 330 Main St. E., 18 at the Village of Wentworth Heights at 1620 Upper Wentworth St. and 15 at Idlewyld Manor at 449 Sanatorium Rd.
The outbreak among staff at the Charlton campus of St. Joseph's Healthcare has gone up to seven cases on CTU central, which is a general internal medicine unit.
Of the regions in the red zone, Williams said York is closest to lockdown but warned the others it doesn't mean you can't go there."
He is expected to provide recommendations about Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year's and the holiday season later this week, but hinted family gatherings will be virtual.
It will not be normal," he said. If we go off the rails and go into a lot of contacts, breaking down all the social distancing ... we could see quite a big upswing of our numbers into the new year."
Joanna Frketich is a Hamilton-based reporter covering health for The Spectator. Reach her via email: jfrketich@thespec.com