Pop-up hospital being planned for Hamilton

Hamilton Health Sciences is planning a pop-up hospital - potentially in a Wellington Street North parking lot - to be used as overflow while the pandemic strains the province's health-care system.

This temporary in-patient capacity will be housed in a self-sufficient structure, with up to 80 hospital level beds," HHS said in a statement. At present, we are only at the planning stage and assessing the lot for its potential use."

The structure is described as a provincial resource" with the parking lot chosen because of its proximity to HHS facilities - particularly Hamilton General Hospital, which houses a COVID unit.

It's still being discussed as to exactly how that would roll out," Paul Johnson, director of Hamilton's Emergency Operations Centre, said at a COVID briefing Monday. Don't expect to see anything erected in the next couple of days. This is still a ways away."

Overburdened hospitals in the Greater Toronto Area have transferred 58 COVID patients to Hamilton, Burlington and Niagara between January and March 4.

The potential pop-up hospital also comes as city and provincial public health officials become increasingly concerned about the spread of the more contagious variants, which now make up nearly one-third of Ontario's COVID cases compared to 19 per cent a week ago.

Hamilton is up to 125 presumed variant cases, which are believed to cause more severe illness. That compares to 37 presumed variant cases on Feb. 26. In addition, the city has four confirmed cases of B.1.1.7, which originated in the United Kingdom.

There is concern that these will become the predominant strain over the coming weeks," said Hamilton's medical officer of health Dr. Elizabeth Richardson. They have had accelerated numbers of cases and outbreaks in countries where that has happened so the continued vigilance around following public health measures is absolutely critical."

Richardson said public health now treats all new cases of COVID as if they are one of the fast-spreading variants.

We're in a race against time here," Ontario's chief medical officer of health, Dr. David Williams, said at a COVID briefing Monday. As (the variants) are rising, we are getting more vaccines ... We want to vaccinate as quickly as we can, as many as we can ... but that will take time ... If we just hold and be firm and be careful for the next number of weeks ahead, we can keep this - even the variants I believe - under control."

He said Ontario is being very cautious and reluctant to move quickly to opening everything up too soon because we've seen the impact of that in other jurisdictions, so we're trying to keep that as best we can under control and slow that rise and doubling of the variants while we try as quickly as we can to get those vulnerable populations and as many Ontarians vaccinated as soon as possible."

Williams pleaded with the public to go out only for essential trips to reopened businesses.

I know for some that was as much a social activity in the past," he said. I really discourage that at this time strongly because you don't want to risk exposure, especially with the variants of concern it doesn't take much to happen."

Six Nations reported a fifth pandemic death Monday amid a surge of cases that has seen 85 infected in the last seven days. It is in the midst of a two-week shutdown that is anticipated to lift March 19.

Overall, COVID numbers are showing signs of trending back up again in Ontario, including in Hamilton.

While the city reported only 30 cases of COVID-19 Monday, Richardson pointed out the weekly rate of new cases per 100,000 population is at 56, which is well in the red zone of the province's COVID-19 framework.

We continue to see these small waves when it comes to the incidence of COVID-19, but we're not seeing any continuing decline at this point," said Richardson.

The virus is still spreading in Hamilton's shelters with the largest outbreak at Salvation Army Booth Centre at 94 York Blvd. increasing to 59 infections since Feb. 10.

The number who have tested positive at Good Shepherd Men's Centre at 135 Mary St. has increased to 13.

Hamilton has 30 ongoing COVID outbreaks and three have screened positive for the fast-spreading variants - Juravinski Hospital's Unit B3, Electromart Inc. and AbleLiving Services York Supportive Housing.

Hamilton has four new outbreaks, including at Scharringa Greenhouses in Waterdown where three staff have tested positive, Supercuts at 80 Dundas St. E. in Waterdown where two clients and two staff were infected, Queensdale Elementary School on the central Mountain where there are two cases in students and the West 5th Campus of St. Joseph's Healthcare where four support staff have tested positive.

The outbreak at Extendicare Hamilton came to an end March 7.

Joanna Frketich is a Hamilton-based reporter covering health for The Spectator. Reach her via email: jfrketich@thespec.com